For a film with so much hype around it, viewers will find "Hannibal" to be anything but suspenseful and horrifying. Instead, the film is intelligent, reasonably paced, artistic and very humanistic-- something that couldn't be said about "Silence of the Lambs." What "Hannibal" does lack though is direction and strong female lead, and those two elements are what will keep this sequel from ever being as critically-praised as "Silence of the Lambs."
Anthony Hopkins once again brings Dr. Lecter to life, but this time he is much more relatable to viewers. Audiences will almost found this convicted killer charming and at times humorous, but this doesn't mean he isn't horrifying at the same time. Even when Hopkins portrays Dr. Lecter with a calmness and grandfather-like personality, audiences still see that glimmer of evil in his eyes that will send chills down ones spine. We know he is a psychopath yet we are drawn to him and feel sympathetic towards him. It is because of this that Hannibal is the ultimate villain.
For a film that centers around Hannibal, viewers will be disappointed at the lack of on-screen time Hopkins gets. It's a shame since the movie is at its best when the focus is on Hopkins. Instead, the film focuses more on Julianne Moore's Clarice Starling, who plays the part with such confusion that the film itself seems lost and without direction.
Julianne Moore starts off on a strong note, imitating both Foster's voice and the intensity she plaid Clarice with with such perfection audiences temporarily forget that she isn't Jodie Foster. Midway through the film, however, it also seems like Moore got the brainstorm that she could make Clarice her own character since audiences already knew she wasn't Foster. This would have been okay if she didn't get this idea an hour into the movie, but unfortunately for the audience that is when she thought of it. Consequently, the film almost appears to have two different Clarice Starlings within the film, with neither one having the strong on-screen chemistry that Foster and Hopkins shared in "Silence of the Lambs." In the beginning we have the original character audiences are familiar with from "Silence of the Lambs," but by the end we have a Zombie-like performance by Moore that is both confusing and not entertaining. Both the intensity of an FBI agent out to capture the killer she has been pursuing for a decade is gone, as well as the sexual tension Clarice and Hannibal shared. Moore replaces these characteristics with an emotionless Starling audiences are still supposed to believe is out for justice, as well as whom is the secret love interest of Dr. Lecter. It's too bad they don't.
