‘Hannibal’: Gory second-rate flick
If “Hannibal” were just another movie you would go and see, I would give it praise and high reviews, but it’s not. “Hannibal” is a sequel, and therefore has a different rating scale than a first-time movie.
The follow-up to the successful “Silence of the Lambs” had a couple strikes against it before the movie even started production.
The very nature of the movie shifted the plot to revolve around Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), and less around Clarice Starling (Julianne Moore). Instead of getting inside the head of the fragile but uncompromising FBI agent, it flutters around the psyche of the cannibalistic Hannibal. Due to this, there is more gore and blood in the show than the first one – and less mystery.
Starling’s character had issues of her own that changed her character, the same way that the Ethan Hunt character changed between “Mission: Impossible” and “Mission: Impossible 2.”
The other strike came when Jodie Foster turned down the opportunity to reprise her role as Starling in the sequel. This is not to say it cannot be done. Harrison Ford successfully pulled off the “identity switch” when taking over the role of Jack Ryan in the series of movies produced from Tom Clancy novels.
The real problem begins when you mix the change of actresses in Starling’s role and the shift of focus to the Hannibal character. These things combined completely disconnected the movie from “Silence of the Lambs” for me. I went to this movie to see the progression of two characters I had a connection with and found myself having to be reacquainted all over again.
In a brighter light, the movie is visually stunning and extremely captivating. Director Ridley Scott (“Gladiator,” “GI Jane” and “Alien”) keeps the story moving with gripping photography and intelligent angles.
Both the performance by Anthony Hopkins (“Titus,” “Meet Joe Black”) and Julianne Moore (“Magnolia,” “The End of the Affair”) were unblemished and, on the part of Hopkins, often very unnerving. Gary Oldman (“The Contender,” “The Fifth Element”) also plays an uncredited role that is wonderfully creepy.
I would not suggest going to this movie if you drop your cookies at the sight of blood or any major organs in the body, because you see almost all of them in the course of the movie.
“Hannibal” is a very good movie, but a very poor sequel.
Grade: B-
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