Hannibal

December 11, 2004

Rated: PG-13 Runtime: 131 min Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Let me just say that if you take a date to this movie, you aren’t gonna be getting any loving for a long long time. There’s enough gore in this movie to make most women hide under their seats, and no guys, that’s not a good thing.

Hannibal

Ten years have gone by since Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) escaped and in that time he’s led a fairly quiet life. When we first join him he’s aiming for a job as a museums curator in Italy, just the type of job that would suit his highbrow taste. Clarice Starling (Julianne Moore) on the other hand has seen better days at the FBI. She’s still a tough no-nonsense agent, but that doesn’t seem to have gotten her much in the way of promotions or favor with her bosses.

Hannibal and Clarice are not the only key players in this movie however, there is also Mason Verger, a very wealthy early victim of Hannibal who is quite determined to get his revenge. Seems that he turned to Dr. Lector once for some comfort, and the good doctor had other plans. (On a side note here, while the movie brushes by why Mason needed the doctors help, suffice it to say that he deserved everything he got. Read the book for details.)

There is also an Italian detective named Pazzi who upon discovering Dr. Lector aims to make a quick buck by turning him over to Verger. Not the best idea he’s ever had.

I found the movie to be very entertaining though it might be a little slow. No matter though, it’s worth the slow parts just to get up to the ending. Also, there’s some details left out of the story when compared with the book as is always the case in a book to movie conversion. They did an amazing job of keeping the key parts of the story intact, and you won’t really miss the edited parts if you’re familiar with the book.

As advertised, the movie has a much different ending than the book, and I think that’s a good thing. If you’ve read the book you know what I mean, if you haven’t, don’t worry about it. Just go see the movie and enjoy. Keep in mind that it’s not for the squeamish, and don’t make it a date movie!

Posted by John | Filed Under 4 Stars, Anthony Hopkins, DVD, Drama, Francesca Neri, Giancarlo Giannini, Julianne Moore, PG-13, Ray Liotta., Thriller