Hannibal

Rating:
Summary: Good but just doesn't add up to the first one.
Review: The biggest mistake they made in makeing the sequel to the silence of the lambs was not bringing back Jodie Foster as Hannibal's rival.

Rating:
Summary: Everyone underestimates this movie!
Review: I do not join the popular trend for hating this movie. I loved it in fact!

I am a person who likes to read books that movies are based on. In many cases this helps me to understand the movie better. I have noticed that many reviewers on this movie have been overly disgusted with it. I would like to suggest to all of you that you try the book. I can guarantee that the story follows better, and the man-eating pigs will make more sense....

The movie actually follows the story-line from the book very well, with minor scenes cut out for time and movie-boredom-factor. The book does get into Lecter's head quite well and you begin to know the man better and understand him. Hannibal is more directed toward the relationship between Lecter and Clarice than an outside source, as Silence... was. Meanwhile the makeup affects are outstanding and the acting is of amazing calibur.

You must understand at the same time that there was a different director involved (Ridley Scott)and so he has his rights to portray the story differently from Jonathan Demme. It may not have been as dark and scary at The Silence of the Lambs, but is by no means following the trend of cheap thrillers.

Overall, one of the best movies of the year so far. but if you have any doubts... read the book first.

Rating:
Summary: SLIENCE OF THE LAMBS 2!!!!
Review: It's been ten years since FBI agent Clarice Starling interviewed convicted serial killer and admitted cannibal Hannibal Lecter. Now,after assuming responsibility for a a botched drug bust that resulted in her shooting the suspect who was holding a baby,Clarice is on the hot seat.About to be punished by Justice Dept.official Paul Krendler,she gets a reprieve when Mason Verger,a wealthy and influential recluse,asks that she be put back on the Lecter case and that the killer,who's been on run for the past decade and now living in Italy,be reinstarted on the FBI'S ten most wanted list.A geat horror thriller!!!Also see The Silecne of the Lambs.Stars Anthony Hopkins and Julianne Moore.Very cool and exciting movie!

Rating:
Summary: "OH GOODY, GOODY, ......... SHOES TOO!"
Review: Well, it does make sense if you see the movie.......

With the ongoing Kubrick klockwork kid controversy this sequel to "The Silence of the Lambs" is a worthy rival. Where do you go when you've practically perfected a masterpiece although the book in both cases is much better? "Silence" unleashes all of those old primal urges that gets under one's skin -"Hannibal"? Not, sure, I am still machete-ing my way through this tome.

There are major script problems here which obviously affects the editing - trying to encapsulate too much into what is it? - just over two hours? We lose Starling's mentor in the book during a botched shootout [Scott Glenn / Jack Crawford] where is he in the movie? That would have made more sense for Starling's fall from grace. Hazelle Goodman as the doomed Evelda has brief, but effective moments, a good, strong presence, but wasted. Then there's Mason Verger - whatever happened to his sister? [Would have been great to see a kind of a "Graceless Kelly on steroids type" in this role,a missed opportunity for Mariel Hemingway she would have been a beauteous counterpoint to Gary Oldman's grotesquely disfigured "in your face" Mason Verger - AND AM I the only one who thought that this was the moonlighting Jim Carrey doing his "Fireman Bob" routine from the TV series "In Living Color"?] There's a general unspoken consensus that a great deal of film ended up on the cutting room floor - the future TV versions and "Director's Cuts" should be quite a revalation.

Sir Anthony Hopkins could have "phoned" this performance in - as a matter of fact he did that - quite a few times, and most effectively; BUT we deserve better from him. He seemed still lost in "TITUS" land - and the similarties are too close; the revenge cycle, the instant amputation of the hand, the carniverous dinner ...... we didn't learn anything new about "Hannibal" in this movie [there's so much more in the book]. Would be nice to pair him with O'Toole and Rod Steiger during a gourmet fest - a future treat! Perhaps in the potential remake of "Red Dragon, first in the series.

The always versatile Ray Liotta, as Starling's brainless, macho boss is wasted in this part - Hannibal could have used him as a "carry-on meal on wheels" at the conclusion. All these missed opportunities, "Hannibal" perhaps bumping into a remaining "Fat Lady" in the gourmet store, or Julia Child for that matter [the Dan Ackroyd sketch - mute] on TV somewhere during the fatal banquet! Maybe even a Babe tribute with the Sicilian Hogs?

A waste - some of the movie [like the parson's egg] is quite good, the "tentative" meetings between Hannibal-Hopkins and the greedy, gutless, Giancarlo Giannini, who comes to a suitable [ Armani?] ending [so, the smoking would eventually have killed him]. Now, Francesca Neri as the Missus is rather fetching - a breath of clean air! The Italian cops are stereotyped, lots of pasta eating and crotch-grabbing so is the local crew for that matter.

Florence could have been CGI'd - just a little too murky.

Tech. values as usual with a Ridley Scott movie, are excellent. Humor? There is some dark humor present, but the look and style of this movie is too close to "Gladiator" [perhaps that's the "TITUS" connection?], more humor, no, I don't mean Zucker Brothers or Leslie Nielsen, that would be quite devine though!

The shoes? Well, Starling does get her expensive Italian shoes in this one - wrong bird though, [the superbly talented Julianne Moore aptly fills them], it's the wrong ball too, so NO BELLS!

Rating:
Summary: Terrible, Terrible Movie
Review: I can't believe so many people went to see this movie. I went opening weekend after just watching Silence of the Lambs. Maybe that is what caused me to hate this movie so much. This movie is flawed on so many different levels. First of all, you can tell that the script is bad based on Jodie Foster's decision to turn it down. That leads to another problem of Julianne Moore playing the role of Gillian Anderson playing the role of Agent Starling. They try waaaaaaaaaaaay to hard with Gary Oldman, who has his first ever awful role here, in my opinion. The movie also takes place in Italy revolving around an inspector there. Then they throw in some pigs or something which they borrowed from Snatch, not even being original here. Some man eating pigs. O.k., if that's not bad enough, Lecter actually touches Starling's hair as he's going around on a merry-go-round thing. Corny, Campy, and just plain BRUTAL. Next time, and there is a next time since they are re-making the prequel, they should make a real attempt at re-creating what made Silence of the Lambs so good, which is getting in your mind. Any movie can show you guts if the MPAA allows it; it takes a special movie to get inside your mind the way silence of the lambs did. All I wanted to do during this movie was fall asleep. I wished it would end. It finally did. If you want to see a bad movie that Anthony Hopkins cashes his paycheck in and does nothing else (see all his other recent movies first, they're better, even Instinct). This movie is the worst movie I have ever seen in my entire life.

Rating:
Summary: One Of Thee Worst Movies Of All-Time
Review: Hannibal was one of the worst over hyped [movies] I have ever seen... The movie took so long to finally show the star himself Hannibal. Too many boring moments in the movie and a lot of scenes that do not mean anything. The death scenes are way over reacted, and to see such an old man like Hopkins be portrayed as so dangerous, seems funny to me. The movie trys to gross people out but I've seen worst from the childish Friday the 13th movies. The movie felt long and boring and I could not wait to leave the movie theater once it was over. Do yourself a favor and bi-pass this one...

Rating:
Summary: More Chills then "Silence of the Lambs"
Review: Hannible can only be described as a slasher film with smarts, style and plenty of chills. The title character Hannible Lecture has been on the lose for seven years, after having escaped in the film "Silence of the lambs". Yet now one of Lecture's victims whom survived his encounter from Lecture, only to be a paralyised disfigured psychotic bent on revenge, Mason Verger. Clarice Starling also returns in this film as an FBI agent tring to capture Lecture while being made a sacrifical lamb for a drug bust gone bad and trying to stop Verger from killing Hannible. The cinematography and art direction are both superb and the acting is top rate from Anthony Hopkins, Julie Moore, and a very unrecognizable Gary Oldman as Mason Verger. The make-up effects are stunning especially on the imfamous "dinner" scene. A fair warning though Hannible contains plenty of strong graphic violence, gore, mature themes and language. The films content can be compared to the likes of Seven, and 8mm. This is strictly for an adult audiance only! For anyone who wants a psychological thriller and a horrifying slasher film with top rate direction by Ridely Scott, whom graced us all with Blade Runner and Gladiator, then you need look no further then Hannible.

Rating:
Summary: A little gruesome, but overall well done
Review: The key to liking this movie is two-fold. First, have a strong stomach. If you become ill over violence and gore very easily, do yourself a favor and skip this one. The second key is to not expect another Silence of the Lambs. This movie is NOT like SOTL at all. However, it still has it's strong points. It is suspenseful, has excellent action at times (opening sequence esp.), and actually does teach a few good moral values. One of which comes when Starling is suspended from the FBI for her involvement in a gunfight that cost several lives. Another good moral value comes in the end, but I'm not gonna ruin the ending. My only problem with this movie is that it was gory at times when there was no need for gore. However, the movie does a good job of developing the characters which helps to give this a 4 rating in my opinion. One word of caution: Imagine a cannibal on the streets. That is this movie.

Rating:
Summary: A Flawed Mastrubation
Review: Ridley Scott is an ok director. I will always be a big time fan of Blade Runner and Alien. Unfortunately, none of his other movies are any good, with only Legend and Gladiator being a little interesting.

Hannibal is his best effort since Blade Runner. It's not the best, in fact it's not even very good. But it is quite interesting.

Just as Legend was, in my opinion, a mastrubation in elaborate set designs and camera games, Hannibal is a mastrubation with sound. Scott mutes some sounds out, leaves others in, makes the action completely silent, or leaves it to Hans Zimmer to preform.

Example- The italian police chief (whose name I forgot) is in front of a telephone booth. At first we only hear a clinging- the sound of the coins in the cops hands. He shakes them with unsure determination (!). Then, slowly, the other sounds in the streets- bikes, cars, people walking, chatting- are faded in. Finally the chief goes and calls.

The clinging of those coins signifies the descsion the cop has to make: To call in for the bounty of Hannibal or not to? If he did, his life might end up in danger. He decides to do it, grasps the coins with determination, and then inserts them into the phone.

I like it when Scott does such things. I smile to myself whenever I detect stuff like this.

One thing I didn't like was the screenplay. Before I saw it, I thought it would be the movies biggest strength, with people like Steve Zallian and David Mamet behind it. Unfortunately it ended up being my major problem. I wasn't a fan of Hannibal Lecter's Okey-dokeys, and other such phrases. Yet my biggest problem are the conversations between Lecter and Clarice. Gone are the intense, almost scary talks of them from Silence of the Lambs. The worst part is that, eventhough the movie IS about Hannibal, the way he psychologically terorrizes people is very weak. The conversations with the Italian Police Chief and Hannibal try to bring such horror to the movie, but fails.

That was my major gripe with the movie. Perhaps it's more Thomas Harris' fault than Zallian and Mamet's, but I wouldn't know as I haven't read the novel yet. But you couldn't perceive it a major fault if it is Harris' fault, because he ultimately God over his characters. The fact that he should respect the fact between characters of the book and perception of the readers is something he should think about though. I do guess that he could argue that it has been 10 years after the events of Silence, and that people do change in such a period.

There are some other interesting things in the movie- just like in the first movie, there is the perception of Clarice from the outer world. Observe the reactions people give to her, according to what she wears.

The main question that Scott wants us to think about though is Hannibal himself- monster or protector? Are Hannibal's actions justified? Is he, in all essence, a good man who wants the good of his "friends"?

The actors themselves are alright. Sir Anthony Hopkins is gives off a similiar preformance as in "Silence". He is different though, mostly because of the screenplay probably. I never liked Ray Liotta, but I only saw him in Goodfellas and this. I found him miscast and annoying. Yes, he is supposed to be annoying, but his annoyence is caused by the fact that he can't pull the charcter off correctly. I laughed most at Gary Oldman as Mason Verger- that man was made for that role. Who else could you imagine but him? I love him, great and mostly scary actor.

The greatest task was Julliane Moore's. She tries hard, and while she can't recreate Jodie Foster's preformance, hers is quite good. She is one of the best actresses in the buisness.

Despite the horror from Pearl Harbor, I will always like Hans Zimmer. The music of the movie is great, and I will definetly buy the soundtrack.

This is Ridley Scott's best movie in a long time. From all his movies since Alien, I have only missed Thelma and Louise and I hope to see it soon. Gladiator was overhyped, and not extremely good. This is a lot better than a lot of stuff that came out this year, but I would never name it a very good movie. It's probably one of those movies I'll forget soon. Okay effort Mr. Scott- I hope Black Hawk Dawn will be good (despite Jerry Bruckheimer's involvement in it.)

Recommended for a rent.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best movies I've seen by an Incredible actor
Review: I absolutely loved this movie!!! Anthony Hopkins is a spectacular actor and this movie proved that this Academy-Award winning actor has not lost his touch. I must inform everyone who has not seen it if you are looking for the same horror that we fell in love with in "Silence of the Lambs" this is not the movie for you. Julianne Moore did a great job considering that she had to pick up after Jodie Foster. I loved that the way they depicted Italy and I was amazed at the adaption from the book despite the ending. I recommend that anyone with a strong stomach see this and I plan to watch this for years to come.