I read the book Hannibal this past spring on the subway rides I would take to and from school. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the movie when it was released in the theatres, so I rented it on video.

Hannibal is about Anthony Hopkins living it Italy. Unfortunately, Gary Oldman wants to get revenge on Anthony Hopkins for giving him drugs so he peeled own face off. Julianne Moore is interested in finding out about Hopkins's whereabouts as well.

Hannibal is a lot different than Silence of the Lambs. Clarice Starling really isn't dealt with much in this movie at all. A good portion of it deals with hijinks between an Italian cop and Hannibal Lecter. It was relatively faithful to the book, although some of the more interesting details were left out.

Anthony Hopkins gives Hannibal more of a jokey feel than the original with a lot of puns and such this time around. Julianne Moore is OK, but not as good as Jodie Foster was in the original. Gary Goldman is entertaining as Verger with a great Jimmy Stewart swagger throughout.

I give Hannibal *** out of ****.