Tags:
Film: Hannibal
Year: 2001
Director: Ridley Scott
Writer: David Mamet and Steven Zaillian
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Julianne Moore and Gary Oldman
Review:
This film has Julianne Moore taking over the role as Clarice Starling. She is setting up a raid to apprehend a criminal, played by Hazelle Goodman. A local cop informs her that this is a local operation and clearly is defying what she is saying; he is played by Terry Serpico. The criminal comes out with a baby strapped to her so the mission is being called off, but Serpico ruins that. A shoot-out ensues and most of the henchmen are killed. It comes down to Moore and Goodman. Goodman reveals a Mac-10 machinegun and she shoots Moore multiple times in the stomach. Moore takes her shots, having a bullet proof vest on and she survives. She ends up killing her and spraying the baby with blood. She takes it and tries to wash it off.
The problem with this is that even though the mission succeeded, it is considered a failure. There is a hearing for Moore and Ray Liotta is sitting in. He is not officially there, but he is part of the justice department. Also in attendance is David Andrews. Some things happen and it is cut short.
We also have a victim of the infamous serial killer, Hannibal Lector. Lector has not been heard from for sometime, so he has been taken off the top 10 most wanted. This victim did survive his time with Lector, but not unscathed. Gary Oldman plays this victim and he is rich. Moore goes to visit him and he tells her what he went through, having taken a drug that was given to him and proceeded to cut his own face off. He is an invalid, bedridden and needs a wheelchair to get around. He is attended on by Zeljko Ivanek.
The film then shifts to our title character. He is living in Florence, Italy and played by Anthony Hopkins. He is going by the name of Fell now. He is trying to get a position as an expert on Dante, the famous writer. His path crosses ways with Giancarlo Giannini, who is an inspector. Giannini first meets him when there is a death and a position opens up that Hopkins is trying to get into.
Hopkins decides to reach out to Moore after her disgrace with the mission. He sends her a letter and she is asked by Liotta and Andrews to follow-up on it. Hopkins has great taste so that is where they start, trying to analyze the letter. They catch a lead when it comes to the smell of the letter, since it is from expensive hand lotion. Moore calls the cities around the world police offices, trying to get the security footage for all of the stores that sell it.
In Florence, Giannini asks his officer what he is doing and notices Hopkins on the footage. Giannini then accesses FBI website with his login and finds Hopkins on the most wanted list, as he was recently put back on. Giannini is interested in getting the large reward for him, especially to help him with his new, younger wife who is played by Francesca Neri. This brings him in contact with Oldman.
Oldman has his plans for Hopkins. It involves large hogs that haven’t been fed and have been trained to eat humans when they hear screaming. Moore discovers that she didn’t get the tape from the Florence office. She calls to get another one sent, but ends up learning that Giannini has been accessing the FBI site. Liotta also plants some evidence in Moore’s basement office and gets her suspended from the force.
Will Giannini take Moore’s advice and stop what he is doing? Will Giannini and Oldman’s thugs be able to capture Hopkins or is he too smart? Will Hopkins put an end to the chase on him? Will he reunite with Moore?
I first off have to give credit to Hopkins, because when you say the name Hannibal Lector, which is who I think of. He plays the role perfectly. He has the guile, cunning and we see he is still a monster. I think the acting across the board in this film is great as well. The story is interesting, keeps your attention and builds suspense until we get to the climax, which I think was good. There are some interesting death scenes and I like that they are different.
There were a couple of issues I had though. I don’t like Moore as well as Clarice Starling. Much like how I feel Hopkins is Lector, I just feel that Jodie Foster is Starling. The other issue I had with the film is that I don’t know if I could see someone in the government like Liotta doing what he does to another agent. It is possible, but just seems counterproductive. Then again, it probably is something that happens more often than I think.
With that said, I recommend seeing this film. If you liked the Silence of the Lambs, this is the continuation of that story. The acting is great, the story is solid and the death scenes are interesting and well done. I don’t think Moore is as good as Foster in the same role, but doesn’t ruin the film. I believe this one can be watched by itself or as the sequel that it is. Regardless, it is a very good film with some disgusting things which includes cannibalism.
My Rating: 7 out of 10