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Hannibal - (2001)
10 years after
The Silence of the Lambs, the public had an appetite when it came to Dr. Hannibal Lecter - the gleefully wicked character had escaped at the end of that film, and we wondered what came next. Most who went to see
Hannibal however, including me, felt very well let down. The first major blow was when Jodie Foster decided not to reprise her iconic, Oscar-winning role as Clarice Starling - instead, Julianne Moore would take over. I must say, the Clarice is so different in this film it's impossible for me to see this as a continuation. Regardless, the film as a whole doesn't have that thriller vibe anymore - instead opting for out-and-out horror. Nearly every character in it has a dark twist to them, and Hannibal Lecter is seen from an anti-hero perspective as the lesser of half a dozen evils. Gary Oldman came aboard as the ghoulish Mason Verger - an old victim hunting for the doctor and out for revenge. Ray Liotta features as Clarice's misogynistic, cynical boss - who lusts after her. Francesca Neri plays a corrupt, greedy Italian detective. Because Lecter only kills bad people, we're meant to cheer him on? The story, and movie, were too dark and too complex - worst of all, it doesn't compare with the brilliant
Silence of the Lambs. It's a half-decent stand-alone horror movie at best. There should be a light shining somewhere lest a movie be too dark and depressing.
5/10
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Red Dragon - (2002)
Coming only a year after
Hannibal, as if to make up for it,
Red Dragon took an older Thomas Harris story which was much closer in spirit to
The Silence of the Lambs adapting it anew - and the results are much better. The cast is absolutely first-rate - making this a fine ensemble piece in which a mincing Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins again) is just a part, instead of a silly super-villain-like whole. Edward Norton is aboard as detective Will Graham, who catches the famed Doctor and depends on him for information. Ralph Fiennes is superb as crazy serial killer Francis Dolarhyde. Harvey Keitel, Emily Watson, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Mary-Louise Parker round things out. The horror serves the story instead of the opposite, and there's that interesting psychological element to it that was missing in
Hannibal - we have to work out why the killer is doing what he's doing. I really enjoyed catching up with it again.
7/10
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The Golden Child - (1986)
A long, long time ago, all Eddie Murphy had to do is stand in a room doing nothing and my friends and I would start cracking up with laughter. Funnily enough, that's nearly what
The Golden Child is - a fantasy film where Murphy riffs and improvises at times, but has no big funny moments, because it was never meant to be a comedy. Coming from two different places, the
Big Trouble in Little China-like movie was awkwardly bent and squeezed into an Eddie Murphy vehicle. He still has oodles of charm and charisma - and I still grin when I watch him - but there are no big laughs in the film. It's not serious enough to be fantasy, and not funny enough to be included amongst the great films of Murphy's golden era. The Hollywood process at it's worst - the making of the film is a story unto itself - and I can see though it now, which takes a lot of the fun away. A product of ego, charming as it's star may be.
5/10
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Traffic - (2000)
Rewatch - On letterboxd : "Powerful drama about the drug trade, and the what, why, when, where about addicts, crooks, cops, politicians and couriers - I've always underrated this Steven Soderbergh film, and I don't know why. It's edited with finesse, finely performed by an impressive ensemble, and written by Stephen Gaghan - who is obviously a genius, and yet went on to pen that Robert Downey Jnr. film, Dolittle. How does that happen? Anyway, Traffic has grown as far as my esteem is concerned since I last watched it, and I can see just how finely crafted this piece of cinema is."
8/10
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Incantation - (2022)
Rewatch - I think I enjoyed it even more the second time around.
7/10