An average movie

To be honest, I find it rather hard to judge this movie. Indeed, after waiting 10 longs years,'Hannibal' turned out to be a terribly disappointing sequel but it was still a box-office success and the producers thought they should really rush to make this prequel before Anthony Hopkins got too old so the whole thing felt like a lame cash grab. On top of that, it seems that they wanted to erase the criminally underrated and forgotten 'Manhunter' directed by Michael Mann. Finally, it was directed by Brett Ratner, possibly one of the most underwhelming directors at work at the time and still nowadays. And yet, I have to admit it, the damned thing was not bad at all, in fact, it was even miles beter than 'Hannibal'. Indeed, first of all, there was a terrific cast (Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes, Harvey Keitel, Emily Watson, Mary-Louise Parker, Philip Seymour Hoffman), they all delivered some solid performances and the plot was still quite entertaining. Sure, it never reached the level of 'Manhunter' but it was not far behind. To conclude, pretty much like 'The Silence of the Lambs', I still think that those Hannibal Lecter's stories are just too ludicrous to be taken seriously but this one was not bad and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

6/10