Hannibal - Dollar Bin Film

By: Brandon Sites of http://www.bigdaddyhorrorreviews.com/

Call me insane, but I thought Hannibal was an improvement over The Silence of the Lambs. As Hannibal Lecter is brought out of hiding by an intense search effort by his only surviving victim, Clarice Sterling is brought back into the limelight after being placed under police scuritney as Hannibal decides to make her the object of a cat and mouse game. With Hannibal there was always something interesting happening. There was always a piece of imagery to catch my eye. The film looks incredible.

It has it's own distinctive style and the effects and set pieces are striking. Two things that made me appreciate the film more so over The Silence Of The Lambs was the constant back and forth between Hannibal and Clarice. Hannibal knows it isn't all about the climax, but the foreplay leading up to the climax and the film consistenly titillates or excites the senses as Clarice and Hannibal get closer and closer to reconnecting with one another. Another element that stands out for me is Julianne Moore. Up untill that point I hated Julianne Moore. I couldn't stand her. I thought she was a whiny, annoying actress. That all changed when I saw Hannibal. Julianne Moore fully brought to life the Clarice character. She showed the strong side of Clarice, the compassionate side and the moral side. I found myself fascinated by Moore's play on Clarice struggling to hold onto her moral idols when everyone else around her is corrupt and crooked. She related the struggle in a way that it engaged me and made me fully invested in the story. Moore sold me 100% on her Clarice character. As if that wasn't enough, we have a warped finale involving wild boars and a climatic dinner scene that takes place between Hopkins, Moore and guest of honor Ray Liotta in which Hannibal cooks up some of his speciality dishes. Even right up to the final mins. of the film, Hannibal is still going full throttle with the foreplay and the cat and mouse between Clarice (Moore) and Hannibal (Anthony Hopkins). The only thing that disappointed me is, in the end we see Hannibal eating leftovers. For such a classy fellow, Hannibal would never ever be eating leftovers!