Hannibal Reviews

Since making his debut in 1991's The Silence of the Lambs, the cinema's favourite cannibal has gnawed his way into the popular consciousness. But this long-awaited sequel didn't have a smooth journey to the screen, with both original Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) and original director Jonathan Demme rejecting the project. However, Anthony Hopkins does reprise his Oscar-winning role as Hannibal Lecter, this time with his tongue in his cheek. Top FBI agent Starling — played with creditable conviction by Julianne Moore in the absence of Foster — is faced with the aftermath of a failed drugs raid. To escape the bad publicity, she's sent to the house of a former victim of Lecter's, Mason Verger (an extraordinary performance from an unrecognisable Gary Oldman), who hopes to revitalise her search for his attacker. Fans of the first film will be disappointed with the lack of mystery, suspense and psychological resonance here, but there's loads more Lecter for the money (as the title suggests), and plenty of gory action and black humour. This film's opening in the States was the third biggest in cinema history — it took ?40 million in three days.

A movie that edges towards the gruesome style of a big budget Hammer horror, presenting a bogeyman as superhero. No explanation is provided as to how Lecter manages to stay undetected as he moves effortlessly between countries; we have to take his genius

"...Tantalizing, engrossing....HANNIBAL imparts its own pleasures by painting a portrait of a man of ultimate civilized refinements whose dark side always threatens to lurch out violently..."

Since making his debut in 1991's The Silence of the Lambs, the cinema's favourite cannibal has gnawed his way into the popular consciousness. But this long-awaited sequel didn't have a smooth journey to the screen, with both original Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) and original director Jonathan Demme rejecting the project. However, Anthony Hopkins does reprise his Oscar-winning role as Hannibal Lecter, this time with his tongue in his cheek. Top FBI agent Starling — played with creditable conviction by Julianne Moore in the absence of Foster — is faced with the aftermath of a failed drugs raid. To escape the bad publicity, she's sent to the house of a former victim of Lecter's, Mason Verger (an extraordinary performance from an unrecognisable Gary Oldman), who hopes to revitalise her search for his attacker. Fans of the first film will be disappointed with the lack of mystery, suspense and psychological resonance here, but there's loads more Lecter for the money (as the title suggests), and plenty of gory action and black humour. This film's opening in the States was the third biggest in cinema history — it took ?40 million in three days.

A movie that edges towards the gruesome style of a big budget Hammer horror, presenting a bogeyman as superhero. No explanation is provided as to how Lecter manages to stay undetected as he moves effortlessly between countries; we have to take his genius

"...Tantalizing, engrossing....HANNIBAL imparts its own pleasures by painting a portrait of a man of ultimate civilized refinements whose dark side always threatens to lurch out violently..."

"...Handsomely staged....[The] presentation is mournfully beautiful; rarely has a director used so many variations on midnight blue..."

"...Gruesomely engrossing....Lecter remains a riveting figure of fear..."