The Diva's "Hannibal" Review

(click here to skip to this movie's rating) Hannibal (2001) Viewed at Loews' Factoria Cinema R; running time 130 minutes Directed by: Scott Ridley Written by: Tom Harris (novel) David Mamet (screenplay) Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Julianne Moore, Giancarlo Giannini, Frankie Faison, Hazelle Goodman, Zeljko Ivanek, Ray Liotta, Gary Oldman Genre: Thriller/ Horror WARNING - SPOILERS BELOW. The Digest Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) has been gone for 10 years now. Dr. Lector has planted himself in Florence, serving as curator for a museum. To his credit he has been very good, hasn't eaten one person in a good 12 years. Meanwhile, Clarice (Julianne Moore) has built a solid reputation with in the FBI. She has been placed in charge of several big cases, most notably the capture of Evelda Drumgo (Hazelle Goodman), a local drug Kingpin (she's a woman, does that make her a Queenpin?). Because of the burning desire for revenge on Dr. Lecter. Their paths are about to cross again. Mason Verger is the only victim of Dr. Lecter's to survive. I'm not completely sure what happened. I closed my eyes, BUT it would seem that Mason took to molesting children and was sent to Lecter for psychotherapy. At some point, Mason invited Dr. Lecter over and Dr. Lecter offered him some drugs. Dr Leccter then convinced Verger to hang himself up and slice his face off while Hannibal fed the pieces to dogs. I gotta admit, I'd be pissed too. So anyway, Verger is very pissed and has been searching for Hannibal in order to get him back. He finds him with the help of the Florence police department. Back in D.C., Clarice is in hot water over the Drumgo bust that went wrong. She has been forced by this jerk from the justice department, Paul Krendler (Ray Liotta), to go on leave until everything is straightened out. Verger has taken advantage of this and has decided to use Clarice as bait. He knows the Lecter won't be able to resist a Clarice in distress, even if it's not physical distress. The Dish Um. Eewww. This one was much grosser than the first. How gross was it? You'll have to click on the spoiler button, but I will tell you this much, I'm giving up pork. Blech. This is NOT for the squeamish. I'm not squeamish and I had trouble. All in all it wasn't that bad. Julianne Moore did a good job of portraying Clarice, but I missed Clarice's vulnerability. I've refused to read the book, so perhaps she has changed significantly in the book as well. On the one hand, Clarice is now 10 years older and a seasoned FBI agentso maybe she has matured to the point where she doesn't feel like a fish out of water. On the other - other hand, Hannibal reigns supreme when it comes to finding weaknesses in people. Their relationship was such that Clarice was trying to be a "big girl" and Hannibal was always able to knock her back down to Earth. the fact that this was missing was disappointing to me. Gone was a good sense of a "cat and mouse" chase. I was equally disappointed by the portrayal of black folks in here. All of them were drug thugs and the one who wasn't was making illegal profits on the name of Hannibal Lecter. Click on the spoiler button to see what Drumgo did to piss me off. I found no use for Mason Verger (Gary Oldman). He was there for the creepy factor. While I would be angry about my appearance as well, he did do it to himself. Hannibal pushed him towardsit, but he was holding the cutting utensil. I have a spoiler question about him. Click on the button. The Directive This one was mediocre. It was nearly as bad as "Red Dragon/Manhunter" and it wasn't nearly as brilliant as "Silence of the Lambs" I would caution you again that this one is really gross. I almost didn't make it to the end. I'm giving it a double rating. A greenlight for fans of the series; you'll want to make sure you don't miss it. A flashing yellow for those who have never read the books or seen the previous movies. As I said, you may be disappointed because it not as tight as it could have been. It's still eating at me. back to top Copyright Kamal "The Diva" Larsuel-Ulbricht, 2001 EMAIL: thediva@3blackchicks.com ICQ: 8690410 http://www.3blackchicks.com/ Use the feedback form below to send your comments to The Diva