I am finding it tricky to review this film without keeping referring to the book. To be honest I had waited for this film so long that it was almost certainly likely to disappoint me. It did but, in different ways to what I thought it would.
For those of you not familiar I need not bother explaining the Silence of the Lambs, as its far better reviewed elsewhere. This is the sequal. The story is of a trap, set by Mason Verger a wealthy farmer, who is the only surviving victim of Hannibal Lector. Verger will use Clarice Starling as bait to lead Lector to his death.
There should be far more story but they seem to have cut it out.
So lets get the good stuff done with.
· The acting is superb. Hopkins as good as ever, doesn’t seem to have the same menace he had before, although 10 years have passed both in story and real life. Jullianne Moore is an adequate replacement for Jodie Foster as Starling, but is not given the huge role or amount of character that she could have had.
· Ridley Scott made it clear he didn’t want this film to be like the first. The atmospheres different. Actually this is the first Scott film I have seen set on Earth and in the present day. His directings up to scratch.
· Beautifully shot and edited.
· Wonderful soundtrack
So what don’t I like?
· The Character of Lector has been ruined. They obviously wanted to please the moral American brigade and have made him into a bad guy. The whole point of Lector is that he isn’t. He’s a charming, polite caring Gentleman, who loves culture and likes quality in everything. Its just that he likes eating people. The book explained his personality and mental problems, in which as a member of the Lithuanian Jewish aristocracy he fled the Nazis as a child. The gypsies served him a delicious meal which he later found out was his sister. Towards the end when he strikes Starling is unthinkable – quote “I came half way round the world to see you run Clarice” – Lector idolises Starling and would kill anyone hurting her.
· They cut out a far more interesting way in which Mason Verger is killed. I wont spoil it for you by saying what happens in the film but in the book he has an electric eel stuffed down his throat.
· Half of the books missing. The book concentrates on Lectors background and his feelings for Clarice. They eventually run off together after Lector drugs and hypnotises her, as Clarice’s career is finished. In the film the usual bravado of a convoy of cars turns up at Lectors place to arrest him and Clarice is left behind Lector escaping . The brilliant scene on the plane which should have been half way into the film finishes it off.
· What is left is an above average murder thriller which still isn’t a patch on Seven or similar thrillers. It had the potential to be the very best, and probably even better than the original. It doesn’t come remotely close.
· There are very few in the cast and few have as much screen time as they should.
· Mason Verger looks comical and only scary when you first see him. He looks like a corss between Stephen Hawking and the Elephant Man.
So what do you want? I’m not sure whether I like it or not. If you have not seen Silence, or read the novel, then sure go ahead. If you’re a devout follower of the book forget it. What you have is a spectacular above average thriller that is sadly more like a premature birth than the king of all.
· Acting: 70%
· Story: 30%
· Sound: 85%
· Thrills: 50%
· Suspense: 60%
· Directing: 85%
Overall: 45%