Hannibal

For a whole decade since Silence's release (in February 1991), movie-goers have been rooting for the return of Hannibal Lecter to the big screen to display his brilliant mind and taste for fine wine, not to speak of his flair for bizarre cuisine. However, there were many hurdles in the rough trip from page to screen. To begin with, Thomas Harris' 1999 bestseller, particularly its romantic ending, was so outrageous it was considered unfilmable. Serious doubts also prevailed as to what extent the public would accept a more compassionate and suave Lecter.

It's therefore good news to report that the nearly impossible task and insurmountable problems have been handled by Scott and his team in a proficient if unexciting manner, resulting in a perfectly watchable, sporadically entertaining movie. Aware that he can't possibly meet viewers' expectations, Scott has made a film that's totally different in tone and style. Hannibal is more florid, baroque and tongue-in-cheek, but not as scary or involving as Demme's movie. If Silence was sharply focused in its psychological thrills, Hannibal is a more diffuse and rambling film, a series of linked set-pieces rather than a tight narrative.

Ten years have passed since Hannibal escaped from custody, and 10 years since FBI agent Clarice Starling (Julianne Moore) interviewed him in a maximum-security hospital for the insane. Living in Florence, Lecter is now pursuing his own interests, savouring the essences of an unguarded world. For her part, Clarice, now an experienced career officer, hasn't forgotten her encounters with Lecter, particularly his unique voice, which continues to haunt her dreams and reality.

The script (more the product of Zaillian than Mamet) throws out the book's climactic Hannibal-Clarice bond, instead steering the plot's focus onto Lecter's only surviving victim, vengeful millionaire Mason Verger (an unrecognisable, uncredited Gary Oldman). Hideously disfigured, with no eyelids and no hair, Mason is a knot of bulging eyes, twisted lips and blistered, suppurating skin. The solitary heir to his family's fortune, he's obsessed with revenge to which he's willing to commit his wealth and influence. However, after several futile attempts, Mason realises that to draw Lecter out into the open, he must dangle an irresistible bait, Clarice, the only person Lecter can't resist.