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What The Critics Say

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Hannibal

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The much-awaited sequel to The Silence Of The Lambs, sees Hannibal the Cannibal (Sir Anthony Hopkins, left) on the loose in Italy - and still longing to play games with FBI agent Clarice Starling (this time played by Julianne Moore). He also has to contend with a revenge-bent man who survived one of his attacks (played by Gary Oldman).

Elvis Mitchell

The New York Times

'Hannibal, a silly, though handsomely staged, adaptation of the Thomas Harris novel, directed by Ridley Scott, is a movie meant for the whole family - the Manson family. Mr Scott's presentation is mournfully beautiful; rarely has a director used so many variations on midnight blue. And he uses it as a visual palliative, a soothing contrast to the arterial sprays of crimson that occasionally flood the screen. The camera regards the displays of violence and maiming with a rapt awe; it is fascinated by layers of scar tissue and exposed organs. Yet despite the gruesome operatic staging, the movie is not particularly dramatic. It is Swift's Modest Proposal without a sense of humour, apt but pat and bizarrely respectful and florid. An exhausted sense of dread looms over the proceedings.'

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Kirk Honeycutt

Hollywood Reporter

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