The Silence of the Lambs was a masterpiece. I was delighted to hear that the sequel was going to be put into the capable hands of Ridley Scott, one of the greatest directors of the late 20th century. It was also a joy to hear that Hopkins would reprise his role as Hannibal, but it was a great disappointment learning that Jodie Foster won't return.
Comparing Hannibal to Silence of the Lambs is a mistake that many people make. As Scott himself puts it, Hannibal is more of a sequel to the characters of SotL, not a sequel to the film itself. Hannibal introduces new things that Silence left untouched. To many people, this change makes Hannibal unfaithful to the original. In my opinion, the best sequels are the ones that tread new ground. It is probably due to the rarity of these sequels that a series original is always quoted as being the best.
Anyway, Julianne Moore does a great job of bringing Starling back. I'm glad that they could find a suitable actress to replace Foster. Hopkins as expected, is a joy to watch from start to finish, he dominates every scene he's in with the same fashion that made him so great in SotL. The rest of the cast were very strong too. I was a little disappointed that Gary Oldman's unique talent of portraying bad guys was wasted on an unrecognisable guy in a rubber mask, but that was a minor setback.
Yes, the film is quite gory. Gore doesn't offend me much, but one scene near the end was quite hard to stomach (more on that later). The film was quite a tense affair, despite the large manhunt, Hannibal keeps his cool and allows us to do all the sweating. Ridley certainly brought a few directional techniques from his previous movie, Gladiator. There were lots of slow downs and camera effects that Gladiator fans should feel at home with. And as usual, Hans Zimmer provides a great soundtrack.
***The following paragraph contains SPOILERS!!***
The one part of the movie that left an ugly taste in my mouth was the dinner scene near the end. It seemed unrealistic for Paul to remain alive, let alone conscious, with the top of his head sliced off and his brain exposed. Since my first viewing it has come to my attention that this is possible. Exposing the brain obviously doesn't kill people, otherwise we wouldn't have brain surgery. Paul manages to stay conscious because of the heavy dose of morphine that Hannibal pumped into him, if it weren't for this, Paul would have most likely died of shock, or would have at least fainted. However, this evidence still doesn't help much. The scene still feels way too unsubtle and exposed to deserve a part in this film.
Apart from the inconvinience mentioned in the above paragraph. Hannibal is still a solid modern thriller, try not to compare to SotL, and you're in for a treat. It is probably one of Ridley Scott's worst efforts, but it still has plenty of entertainment value. Rating: 8/10.
Comparing Hannibal to Silence of the Lambs is a mistake that many people make. As Scott himself puts it, Hannibal is more of a sequel to the characters of SotL, not a sequel to the film itself. Hannibal introduces new things that Silence left untouched. To many people, this change makes Hannibal unfaithful to the original. In my opinion, the best sequels are the ones that tread new ground. It is probably due to the rarity of these sequels that a series original is always quoted as being the best.
Anyway, Julianne Moore does a great job of bringing Starling back. I'm glad that they could find a suitable actress to replace Foster. Hopkins as expected, is a joy to watch from start to finish, he dominates every scene he's in with the same fashion that made him so great in SotL. The rest of the cast were very strong too. I was a little disappointed that Gary Oldman's unique talent of portraying bad guys was wasted on an unrecognisable guy in a rubber mask, but that was a minor setback.
Yes, the film is quite gory. Gore doesn't offend me much, but one scene near the end was quite hard to stomach (more on that later). The film was quite a tense affair, despite the large manhunt, Hannibal keeps his cool and allows us to do all the sweating. Ridley certainly brought a few directional techniques from his previous movie, Gladiator. There were lots of slow downs and camera effects that Gladiator fans should feel at home with. And as usual, Hans Zimmer provides a great soundtrack.
***The following paragraph contains SPOILERS!!***
The one part of the movie that left an ugly taste in my mouth was the dinner scene near the end. It seemed unrealistic for Paul to remain alive, let alone conscious, with the top of his head sliced off and his brain exposed. Since my first viewing it has come to my attention that this is possible. Exposing the brain obviously doesn't kill people, otherwise we wouldn't have brain surgery. Paul manages to stay conscious because of the heavy dose of morphine that Hannibal pumped into him, if it weren't for this, Paul would have most likely died of shock, or would have at least fainted. However, this evidence still doesn't help much. The scene still feels way too unsubtle and exposed to deserve a part in this film.
Apart from the inconvinience mentioned in the above paragraph. Hannibal is still a solid modern thriller, try not to compare to SotL, and you're in for a treat. It is probably one of Ridley Scott's worst efforts, but it still has plenty of entertainment value. Rating: 8/10.