One of the creepiest and most frightening movie villains ever, the cannibalistic Dr. Hannibal Lecter from 1991's "Silence of the Lambs" has finally returned.
One of the most anticipated movie releases ever, "Hannibal" -- the sequel to "Silence" -- now ranks as the third-highest movie debut ever at $58 million, coming in behind "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" ($72 million) and "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" ($64.8 million).
The hype and excitement leading up to the release of "Hannibal" was not unfounded; after all, many critics consider "Silence" to be the best horror film ever produced. In fact, the movie stands as the only of the horror genre to have received an Oscar for Best Picture.
With all this buildup, it's no surprise that "Hannibal" disappoints, but thankfully, the movie does not totally fail.
Overall, "Hannibal" is a lot of fun, although some of it is quite perverse. A millionaire named Mason Verger who Hannibal wronged -- by forcing him to cut off his face and feed it to dogs -- obsesses over finding Hannibal and torturing him in unspeakable ways involving wild boars. Meanwhile, an Italian cop named Pazzi (Giancarlo Giannini) discovers Hannibal in Italy and decides (stupidly) to take matters into his own hands. Unfortunately for him, he has no idea that his fugitive is "giving very serious thought to eating [his] wife."
The entire film has stylized cinematography, but the best scenes appear in Florence, when shadows and light combine to create an eerie and uncomfortable atmosphere. Watching Hannibal glide through a crowd on Italian streets or ominously put on gloves in his beautiful Italian home is a delight.
One of the best parts of "Silence" -- Anthony Hopkins's performance as Hannibal -- is the key to the partial success of "Hannibal."
Once again, Hopkins sufficiently creeps viewers out by emanating the perfect amount of insanity with a healthy amount of wit and sophistication. Serial killers have never been more stylish or charming, and shivers will go down viewers' spines when they hear Hopkins over a cell-phone connection utter, "Is this Clarice? Well, hello, Clarice."
Hopkins has repeatedly shown his considerable acting talent in "Remains of the Day" and "Amistad," and he certainly does not fail here. Along with Hopkins, all of the other actors in this horror film do a fine job as well.
Gary Oldman turns in an uncredited performance as Mason Verger overflowing in suffering and vengeance, although his disgusting and grotesque makeup makes looking at him on the screen almost impossible.
The much-publicized decision Jodie Foster made to not appear in "Hannibal" resulted in Julianne Moore's (from "The End of the Affair" and "Magnolia") appearance as FBI agent Clarice Starling.
While Moore is an accomplished and capable actress, the script gives her little to work with here, which is probably why Foster chose to pass on the film. While Clarice's character had a large amount of psychological depth in "Silence," "Hannibal" spends enough time on the actions of Hannibal himself that viewers learn little new about Clarice.
In the end, this is the major problem with "Hannibal" -- like almost every mediocre horror movie -- director Ridley Scott found himself more concerned about gore and visual shock value than about character development.
Every scene becomes increasingly disgusting and hard-to-watch, until finally the special effects become so repulsive that they seem silly. The already-famous brain-eating final scenes seem as though they are out of place and would serve a slasher movie such as "Friday the 13th Part VIII" better.
For "Hannibal" to have risen above the ranks of typical horror, it needed to have continued exploring the relationship between Clarice and Hannibal -- investigating their strange love for each other, Clarice's insecurities, and Hannibal's bizarre refinement that hides behind his psychosis.
Nevertheless, Ridley Scott manages to deliver "Hannibal" in an eloquent and attractive package that makes the movie a great weekend diversion.
Just remember not to eat anything immediately before or after the film -- and never, ever ask a serial killer whether you can finish the plane food he's eating.
