Better than Silence of the Lambs

I agree. Silence is like a very well made procedural FBI thriller with horror elements. This is more like a slightly ethereal gothic horror art film. Thats Ridley for you. (and RedDragon is like a popcorn remake of Silence with a guy as the lead instead lol)

I'm probably the only one who likes maybe Red Dragon most. But this whole Hannibal-trilogy is most likely the best movie trilogy that I know. There's always some weaker link in trilogies, like Godfather III in Godfather trilogy, or Return of the Jedi in SW trilogy, but not in this one.

It’s good but it’s no Silence. The script isn’t nearly as sharp, and it goes for cheap yay-Lecter gags like ‘heavy as bodies’ and ‘why not?’ when SOTL had clever wit like ‘I’m having an old friend for dinner’.

Ridley knows how to build worlds and create atmosphere but he’s never been interested in character. Jonathan Demme gets deep into the characters’ souls and has the actors look right down the lens.

There’s lots of fast and slow shutter speed effects that harm the action scenes.

Finally, Julianne Moore portrays a moody bitch Clarice who isn’t nearly as endearing or attractive as Jodie Foster’s Oscar winning take.

Hannibal is still a fine thriller and a worthy sequel but Silence is in a class of its own.

That's what I felt too since watching it in the theater years ago. I remember I bought the DVD as soon as it was available. To me Hannibal was much more re-watchable than Silence of the Lambs. The European locales, the cast, the story, it was much more stylishly done overall. Even if we are in the minority of opinion, I'm ok with that.

If Jodie Foster would've come back as Clarice Starling, perhaps, but Julianne Moore just didn't fit the role and Foster turned this down for a reason