Forgotten Sequels: Hannibal (2001)

Trump keeps bringing up Hannibal Lecter.  I need to get rid of this DVD.
It's a win-win!

2001's Hannibal was the long-delayed Sequel to The Silence of the Lambs based on the 1998 Book of the same name.  The Film allegedly had around 15 Rewrites in order to convince Jodie Foster to return.

So now Julianne Moore is playing 'Clarice Starling.'
By the way, does anyone remember the 2021 Show about her?  It was only 3 years ago.
Nobody?

The Film tells the tale of Clarice as an FBI Agent and Lecter's vacation in Italy.  Is it a coincidence that Dino De Laurentiis held the rights to these stories and Thomas Harris set the Book there?

To see how over a dozen rewrites can't make you great, read on...

In 2001, a rich guy- Gary Oldman disguised as a wad of chewed up gum- is a rich guy obsessed with Lecter, buying stuff from the Guard.

For what it is worth, Frankie Faison got THREE paychecks out of this role, coming back for the Prequel.

Meanwhile, Starling is an FBI Agent leading a raid to take out a drug dealer.

One of the Cops blows things, leading a few Agents to be killed and the Dealer is shot while her baby was strapped to her.

She did nothing wrong, so...

She's publicly shamed for it, with actual News Coverage of this FBI Raid.

Remember how this happens all of the time today- News Coverage of FBI Raids.
Yes, I know that this is based on Waco, but the Book came out 5 years later and this Film 8 years later.

Over in Italy, famous wanted killer Hannibal Lecter is an Art Dealer and Lecturer.

Nobody can tell it is him because he wears this hat.

In the Book, he has plastic surgery, but they didn't bother here.
Enough Book talk- that's for another Article.

Barely a thing happens in the first hour here as we get an Italian Detective (who else- it's Giancarlo Gianini) tries to prove it is Lecter (he's not blind, so...).

To find out that he's the real deal, he looks up the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List and... this sure will be awkward later in 2001, no?

Oldman and his ally Krendler (Ray Liotta) get Starling in trouble by writing a fake Lecter letter (because nobody could figure that out).

In Italy, Lecter realizes that Gianini is working for Oldman and kills him.  He only foreshadowed it so much that it was literally blocking out the Sun.

Lecter escapes to America- traveling internationally as a Wanted Criminal is super easy, barely an inconvenience- and taunts Clarice some more, before he's grabbed by Oldman's men.

She rescues him, but is then hit by an invisible bullet (the guy fell dead and somehow he also shot?).

Bye, agency!

Earlier, we saw him break into Liotta's House and spook his dog into silence.  Symbolism much?

He convinces the Doctor to kill Oldman and leaves with Starling.

She awakens in a dress (ew!) and with her impossible wound closed.
She's drugged still and taken to a famous Dinner Scene.

FYI SNL parodied this with Liotta in 2003.  It's mysteriously NOT on YouTube.

He tries to seduce her (double ew!) and she cuffs herself to him.

He pulls out a large blade and...escapes?

I guess he cut his hand off and got on ANOTHER flight.  He'll return in...nothing.  The End.

Sir Anthony Hopkins.
Sir Ridley Scott.
(Not Sir) Thomas Harris.

How could it all go so wrong?!?

To begin with, the Story is not great.  It is all about how amazing Lecter is and how out of sorts Starling is.  People conspire to hurt her, and she struggles to survive.  People conspire to kill him, and he thrives, always 5 steps ahead.
I can see why Foster and Demme turned this down.

Lecter was always a male Mary Sue (Harry Stu?).  Things didn't change here.  They got worse!

The pacing is the biggest killer here as Scott is way more interested in how to frame Scenes than he is to make interesting ones.  It takes a good hour for a big moment to happen.  Said moments are telegraphed so far in advance that I read them in 1991!

The Film also went out of its way to be extra gross and disturbing.  Mind you, that's still nothing on the Book- again, more on that later.  One of them is memorable- I'll grant you that- but so is, for instance, the 'R*pe Scene from Cannibal Holocaust and that wasn't really necessary either.

This is excess in its truest sense and it even goes out of its way to mess with past Films.  Remember the shocking description of the 'Nurse being attacked' from Lambs?
Well, they show it, taking away the ability to visualize it as truly horrific in your mind's eye.

Joy.

At last, I can put Hannibal Lecter to bed...unless I cover the TV Show.  Not yet- let's go back to the '80s.  Stay tuned...