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 Gary Oldman, Ray Liotta, Giancarlo Giannini, Francesca Neri Martha De Laurentiis and Ridley Scott Rated R for stong gruesome violence, some nudity and language. RATING CANADA... Rated R for scenes gruesome violence, torture, language and subject matter. |
 Thriller He's back and he's hungry. |
Your first question will be, did I enjoy it? Yes I did. Was it what you expected? Yes but I was somewhat disappointed. I was only disappointed in hte ending but the rest was enjoyable. Well, as enjoyable as a film can be about a guy who eats humans can be. I must say though, Dr. Hannibal Lector is a very cultured man with excellent tastes, in music and art that is. |
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There are lots of good reasons to see this film....once. I say this because it does not have the bite (no pun intended) of the first film, SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. What this sequel has going for it is the excellent, talented cast. Director Ridley Scott has chosen well. Hannibal Lector is once again played with style and panache by Sir Anthony Hopkins. He plays the part with that biting edge that the character needs. Listen I am not going to keep saying no pun intended when I refer to biting, okay? Hannibal is still very cultured and still veryevil, even though the writes seem to go out of their way, this time around, to actually make him the protaganist, almost the hero. With all the nasty characters we meet in this film you will start to believe that Clarice and Hannibal are the heroes of the piece. Clarice Starling, this time around is played by Julianne Moore. Jody Foster declined the role as she refused to be part of the ending as written, similar to the book. She believed it would be too disturbing for her as well as the audience. The ending in the book is extreme in it's depictions but I still would rather have seen that ending. The producers did succumb to pressure to change the ending but Moore was still chosen to play the part. She very good in the role but I think Foster would have made it better. Ray Liotta plays Paul Krendler an ambitious and corrupt FBI official who is responsible for Clarice's downfall from grace. His role seems friviliousat first but I can guarentee you that it is far from the reality. His subtle role becomes crucial by the end. You will remember is part in the ending for many years to come. It a scene I don't believe has ever been shown in a film before. The pivotal role of Inspector Rinaldo Pazzi is played by Italian actor Giancarlo Giannini. He gives us the best performance that I have seen him do in an English language film. I have always enjoyed him since I first saw him in Lina Wertmuller's SWEPT AWAY... by an unusual destiny in the blue sea of August (1975). Now, the walk away role in HANNIBAL belongs to Gary Oldman. This man never seems to have a bad role. He is too good an actor. Last seen in 2000's THE CONTENDER, he gives us the best performance of the film, every time he is on screen. He is the real villian of this piece, Mason Verger. He, in my opinion is worse than Dr. Lector. Mason was the fourth victim of Hannibal's verbal games and the only victim to survive. Why is he worse than Hannibal? Well he was a child molester put under Dr.Lector's care. Mason sliced his face off bits at a time in front of Lector because at the time he thought it was a good idea so as to impress his doctor. He thought it was a good idea at the time. The make up that Oldman wears is absolutely amazing. You would not be able to tell who the actor was if it was not for Oldman's voice. Hannibal Lector is a monster by cilivilized man's standards. I see him as an intelligent and cultured man who is a force of nature. He is not evil or good, he is just plain ammoral. He is not capable of differentiating between good and evil. He does what comes naturally to him. He does what is right for him and because of this he can be your best friend and teacher one minute and your executioner the next; all of this without a moment's thought or remorse. In his eyes he is not doing anything wrong. He even feels love as can be seen whenever he is with Clarice. Warped love but still it is love. This is one of the reasons why I said he does not come across as the real villian of the piece. The writer's go out of their way to tell us that all his dead victims were evil people not good people. This is shown, as well, when he has the option of killing and eating Laura Pazzi (Francesca Neri) he does not because she is innocent in the events that have occurred between Hannibal and Inspector Pazzi', her husband. Using Mason as Hannibal's nemesis makes Lector look even better, after all I think most people see a child molester as the lowest of the low; much lower than a man who kills and eats undesirable, bad people. The writer's have Clarice saving Hannibal's life a few times. In reality an agent would have just let him die at the hands of Mason Verger and be done with him. After all know one would care. If he went back into an insane asylum he would probably end up hurting more people and escaping again. Clarice, under the surface, identifies with him in some ways and Hannibal, knowing this plays to her emotions of betrayal by her friends. He never betrays her. After seeing HANNIBAL sit down and think about this and I think you may come to the same conclusions. The books ending confirms this, but not so the films ending and more the pity. It has been 10 years since Clarice Starling first got involved with Hannibal Lector. In the time since their last meeting she has gone on to become one of the FBI's top agents. She does her job and respects her superiours but unfortunately her superiours do not seem to respect her. During a stakeout between the FBI and the local police things go terribly wrong when the locals do not obey her instructions. The stakeout utns into a massacre and the news turns it into another FBI fiasco. Clarice is blamed for it and accused of bad judgement. Unbeknownst to her Mason Verger is pulling the strings in the background to get her back on the Hannibal case so he can use her to him out into the open so he can have his revenge on him. Mason Verger has plans of an exruciating revenge for Hannibal. It does involve some nasty boars and their taste for meat. To find him he has been offering a $2 million dollar reward for information and capture of Hannibal. He has men ready to move as soon as he is found. While Hannibal is in Florence as a professor he comes to the attention of Inspector Rinaldo Pazzi. Pazzi finds out about the reward and dogs Hannibal until he can get proof that he is definitely the wanted man. Pazzi has a hunger to give his wife a better life and for that he has forsaken his principlas and even causes the death of others to get what he wants. This starts off a chain of events that will draw in Clarice and Verger in a battle for possession of Hannibal. One of the best suspensful scenes involves a cat and mouse game between Hannibal and Pazzi. The setup and execution of this sequence was excellent. it is probably the best sequence except for the ending. |
When Hannibal realizes that Verger is also after him he decides to return to the United States where he continues his game. Clarice
becomes the pawn in a vicious game that is beautifully played. There will be lots of twists and turns and surprises to keep you
on the edge. The ending will absolutely stay with you for a long time even though it was changed from it's rougher version. I
recommend this film and you should see it at least once. Have your snacks early because it will be hard to eat later in the film.
This film is not for children so please do yourself a favour and leave them at home, it is to violent for them. It is not as gory as
SILENCE OF THE LAMBS but it still would not be a film for impressioable minds to see. See ya at the movies. |
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vjm@metrocity.com