If you regard Hannibal as a sequel to The Silence Of The Lambs, the only possible result is disappointment.

Here's a handy solution: Just go into this one expecting little more than a slasher flick with great music and an unusually (and unnecessarily) good performance from Sir Anthony Hopkins. There. Wasn't that easy?

In Hannibal, Hopkins returns as Dr. Hannibal Lecter, the dapper serial killer with a penchant for snacking on his victims. Last seen on the run from authorities, he has found himself a new identity as an academic in Florence, Italy.

Also returning is FBI Agent Clarice Starling (Julianne Moore takes over the role from Jodie Foster), the woman who sought Dr. Lecter's help -- and unwittingly attracted his personal interest -- in the first movie.

By chance, Starling is back on the trail of Hannibal Lecter after several years occupied with other FBI work.

Also on Lecter's trail is the grossly disfigured Mason Verger, a rich man who was Dr. Lecter's victim but lived to talk about it. Well, mumble about it. The guy looks like a smear of melted Silly Putty(TM). You're not supposed to be able to tell who it is behind the latex, but come on -- it's always Gary Oldman.

And furthermore on Lecter's trail is an Italian detective (Giancarlo Giannini, for crying out loud) who is after the financial reward offered for Lecter's capture.

Also in the cast are Ray Liotta and Francesca Neri.

Hannibal, based on the novel by Thomas Harris, is plot-heavy on the big screen. It plays oddly flat -- there is meant to be suspense and fear and humour and maybe even a pinch of pathos, and you can see it all coming at you, but it just doesn't register. The film is uniformly dark in mood, lighting, dialogue and action. It drags.

Thanks to close-ups of throat cuttings and man-eating pigs and various other bloodletting episodes, the only response open to a viewer is to be grossed out. This is not exactly the same as being engrossed.

Those who remember assuming the fetal position in their theatre seat out of sheer terror while watching The Silence Of The Lambs will understand that the curious relationship between Lecter and Starling -- rather than either character on his own -- fuelled much of what was going on in the first movie. Julianne Moore in Hannibal never even gets a chance to do what Jodie Foster did in Silence; Moore has very little screen time with Hopkins, her character is thin on the ground and -- oh, yes -- the script for Hannibal is a big fat mess.

Bon appetit, and blah, blah, blah.

And, by the way, don't take the kids.

(This film is rated AA)

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