(R)
February 9, 2001
Hannibal Lecter: Anthony Hopkins
Clarice Starling: Julianne Moore
Paul Krendler: Ray Liotta
Pazzi: Giancarlo Giannini
Barney: Frankie R. Faison
MGM Pictures/Universal Pictures presents a film
directed by Ridley Scott. Written by David Mamet and
Steven Zaillian, based on the novel by Thomas Harris.
Running time: 131 minutes. Rated R (for strong
gruesome violence, some nudity and language).
Cinemastuff Rating: 2 stars out of four
I should preface my review of Hannibal by saying that I was not a fan of the first movie. I like Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, but I did not enjoy Silence of the Lambs. This might make me weird, but it is how I felt. As near as I can remember, Silence of the Lambs was really about a sick bastard who kidnapped and murdered fat girls to do something weird with the skin he peeled off from them. Then Feds recruit Hannibal Lecter to catch the guy. To be totally honest, I don't get the appeal of Hannibal as a great villain. Ok, he is a cannibal. And hey, his name is Hannibal! The two words rhyme! What a clever writer that must have been who came up with that.
At least in the first movie, Hannibal is portrayed as an extremely clever and manipulative genius that, despite being behind bars, is always two steps ahead of everyone else. On that level, he is a well-crafted villain, but beyond that I still don't like him. This sequel does not even play up that angle of his character. If you want to see a really great psychotic movie villain I would recommend Seven, Unbreakable, Primal Fear, The Usual Suspects, Batman, Psycho and a whole list of other movies. But like I said, I am apparently in the minority when I say Hannibal is not a great villain.
I had low expectations for this movie, but somehow no matter how low I set the bar, this movie managed to slide under it. I actually got excited when I watched the opening credits and saw that the screenplay was adapted by David Mammet, a truly gifted writer responsible for some of my favorites including, The Spanish Prisoner, Wag the Dog, The Edge, and Homicide. The list of his credits goes on and on. In fact, instead of seeing Hannibal, make it a Blockbuster night and rent The Spanish Prisoner. Trust me. You will thank me for it. Actually, even if you were not planning on seeing Hannibal, you should still go rent The Spanish Prisoner…. Just to be clear, everyone reading this article as well as all of your friends should watch The Spanish Prisoner before the week is over.
Hannibal actually begins with a very realistic and gritty police bust set in Washington, DC. The scene is classic Mammet. The action is very well done. Once that scene is over we go back to the much less interesting story of Hannibal Lecter. The first half of the movie deals with the Claurice character (Julianne Moore) trying to track down Lecter. Meanwhile, Lecter is in Italy and an over the hill officer is trying to bring Lecter in on his own to collect on a huge reward. This is completely lacking in suspense since we know the Italian cop is going to be killed by Lecter and that Lecter will escape whatever trap he has set. The rest of the movie is kind of a dull blur. One of Lecter's victims, a deranged millionaire who cut his face off because of Lecter is trying to catch him so that his vicious pigs can eat Lecter alive. I guess I would want to do the same thing if a cannibal made me cut off my face.
For a movie about Hannibal the cannibal there is not a whole lot of cannibalism in it. The main cannibalism scene comes at the very end. If you get at all squeamish about gross stuff in movies, you may want to read this so you know what you are getting into. I have seen a lot of gross things in movies, but this one just about takes the cake. I am still trying to get the image out of my mind. Major spoiler alert: skip the rest of this paragraph if you want to be surprised by the end. Hannibal cuts off the top part of a man's head, revealing his bloody brain. He continues talking to the victim while cutting off part of his brain. Then he takes the brain chunk, cooks it up, and feeds it to the victim. The victim comments that it is quite tasty.
The movie will probably be a moderate hit. It is something of an "event" movie with all the hype surrounding it now. But if you want your money back at the end, or are haunted by the final scenes, you can't say I didn't warn you.
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