Review

We recently went through the Hannibal films (not Hannibal Rising, we don't speak of it), and I think this one was far and away my least favorite. Not an exceptionally surprising position going off the ratings. There are things in it that are enjoyable, but I don't feel it comes together for a litany of reasons.

First and foremost, I think Clarice is miserably wasted. Obviously, we all would have preferred Jodie Foster. Julianne Moore does a fine job, but that's not what I'm unhappy with. What bothers me is she really gets nothing to do in this film. If you were to remove Clarice Starling from Silence of the Lambs, the film does not happen. Buffalo Bill keeps killing, Jack Crawford and the rest of the FBI embarrass themselves spinning their wheels. Clarice is the one that can get Hannibal to talk and eventually takes down Buffalo Bill. The film's plot can't happen without her.

What does Clarice really get to do in Hannibal? How would the film change without her presence? Well, none of what happens in the first half in Italy changes. Inspector Pazzi is our POV over there. And he's totally out of his depth. His and Verger's goons presences turns up the heat a bit. But we saw how it ended in either case. Once Hannibal is back stateside, Clarice eventually makes her way to Verger's mansion and stops Verger from feeding Hannibal to the pigs. Which is notable. But like, it seems to me that it would be rather easy to imagine a world where Hannibal is able to free himself. Because in the previous film we saw him do just this. So Clarice saving him feels somewhat weak in terms of overall notability. Other than that, she's mostly just forced to sit around looking at vague documents and listening to the tapes.

It's worth calling out for anyone that doesn't know, in the book (and in certain other adaptations...) our Clarice here falls in love with Hannibal and runs away with him. (Hannibal is a vampire.) Ridley Scott chose not to adapt this plot element. And that's fine to want to remove things you don't feel would work when you're adapting something. It is the nature of the thing. An adaptation that is a plot-for-plot retread of the original serves no purpose and doesn't justify its existence. But I think in this case it leaves a bit of a void. The film flirts with the Hannibal-Clarice relationship, but chooses not to commit. There's a not insignificant amount of time we spend with Clarice listening to the tapes of Hannibal. Gesturing at the idea that she remains fascinated with him as he is with her (she mentions as much to Barney), even though in the end she lands on "No, you're fucking crazy". But again, those tapes don't really serve a purpose in the narrative. They don't help Clarice find Hannibal, he finds her. So it all just feels sort of wasted to me. Like we're filling time, waiting to get to the end.

The brain scene. It's a little much. I'm not a queasy person with regards to body horror, but it felt a bit much.

One thing I do enjoy about the film is that we give Anthony Hopkins a lot more to do than in Silence or Red Dragon. Even if the Silence performance is more holy. He does seem like he's having fun and it's spooky seeing him outside of a cell. The film is well-cast in general. Gary Oldman does a good Mason Verger, even if I've got a bit of a soft-spot for Michael Pitt's wacko. Ray Liotta plays a nice asshole that you hate but also he does it in a charming smarmy way that makes me not really hate him.