It's been nearly ten years since Silence of the Lambs graced the screen. A few years back, Thomas Harris released the follow-up novel, and it instantly became a hot property in Hollywood. Sadly, Silence director Jonathan Demme and actress Jodie Foster decided not to participate in this sequel. There places have been taken, respectively, by Ridley Scott (Gladiator) and Julianne Moore (End of the Affair).

In Hannibal, years have passed since psychopath Dr. Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) has escaped his jail cell. He's made a new life for himself in Florence Italy, where he poses as a literary scholar (echoing similar plotline used in The Talented Mr. Ripley). Virtually unbothered, Lecter leads a surpisingly normal existence. Time has not been so kind to Clarice Starling. She has come to realize that heroes can be broken just as easily as they are made. Her life seemed to be moving in the right direction following her capture of Buffalo Bill in the first film.

Following a drug bust gone bad, however, Starling soon discovers that the FBI is not what she hoped it would be. Always the trooper, Starling struggles to make her life work. Meanwhile, Lecter's real identity is in danger of being revealed thanks to a Florence police officer (Giancarlo Giannini) and one of Lecter's former victims, the hideously disfigured Mason Verger (Gary Oldman). It seems that Verger has put a bounty on Lecter's head, and is obsessed with catching the madman that nearly cost him his life and left him a deformed monster.

Hopkins once again seems to be having a devilishly good time slipping into the role of the intellectual monster Lecter. He spouts his dialogue with the greatest of ease and really takes pleasure in playing this character. It's also a lot of fun watching him function inside the real world. Moore is merely adequate in the rather thankless role of Starling. No longer the sort of innocent and vulnerable woman we know from the first film, this Starling is a more mature and self assured FBI agent, but the focus is not on her so she doesn't seem to be as important to the plot this time out.

Ray Liotta shows up as a sexist FBI agent who will do just about anything to tarnish Starling's rep in the bureau. He plays the role with a feindish glee, and he's a lot of fun in the part. The brilliant Gary Oldman goes uncredited as the creepy Verger, and I never would have guessed it was him behind all that twisted flesh. Surprisingly, my favorite performance in the picture comes courtesy of Giannini as the hapless police detective. Although his character is far from developed, he seems more human than anyone else in the picture.

Screenwriters David Mamet and Steven Zaillian had the awkward task of adapting Harris' novel, a book that was not critically well-recieved. They have managed to capture the heart of the novel, and even came up with a more acceptable ending. Still, Mamet, Zaillian and director Scott know that audiences are familiar with Starling and Lecter, so they don't feel compelled to develop any of the other characters, thereby hurting this fairly entertaining film. There is a lot of background to these characters in the book that is sorely lacking in the adaptation but such is the case when your trying to transform a huge novel into a screenplay. Hannibal also lacks the emotional and psychological core of Silence of the Lambs, substituting it for visual flare and buckets of gore. The climax of the picture (which is in keeping with the novel) is silly bordering on absurd, but I had fun with it. What I applaud most about this story, is that they haven't turned Lecter into a one liner spouting killer ala Freddy Krueger. No, Hannibal is still very much human making him all the scarier.

Ridley Scott has a great eye and most of Hannibal is beautiful to look at. The locations are breathtaking, and as usual, Scott knows how to light a scene. This picture is very stylish to say the least, and I especially the moments that take place in Florence. One sequence in the picture even has a French Connection ring to it.

My biggest problem with Hannibal is it's surprising lack of tension. I never got the feeling that Starling was ever in any danger, because it's already been well established that Lecter isn't interested in killing her. On the other hand, this story is about Lecter himself and he's kind of an anti hero here. Everyone else in the picture is so much more despicable, that Lecter sort of comes across as the good guy, and I guess that's what Harris was going for in the novel. Hannibal portrays a much bleaker look at the world than Silence of the Lambs did. This is a world in which even the supposed good guys seem to have a mean streak. In that respect, Scott really makes the material work. He's good at capturing the ugliness and his sense of humor is perverse.

I actually toyed with giving this picture four stars because, although not really intense, I liked the look and the feel of it, and never once looked at my watch. But then I took into consideration how much I liked Silence of the Lambs and Michael Mann's Manhunter (based on Thomas Harris' Red Dragon), and I realized that this picture isn't as good as it's predecessors. I appreciate that Hannibal wasn't retread. It is it's own story, but I felt that it was lacking in character. And with a character as interesting as Hannibal Lecter, it really could have been better. Still, Ridley Scott really was the perfect director for this project, and with Hopkins and a pretty talented supporting cast, this thriller is hardly a waste.