Hannibal
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | Release Date: February 9, 2001 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
57
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
17
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Even by its own dark standards, the movie's conclusion is as dramatically dissatisfying as it is disturbing. Read full review
60
Washington PostStephen Hunter
It is not bad on its own terms, and it is certainly engrossing, but it comes nowhere near the power and sordid glory of the original. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
The audience for Hannibal is far more primed for a good time; if the film is a hit, it will be because Lecter has been cartoonized; his ghoulish panache, his double entendres about cannibalism, and his pet phrases like "goody-goody" and "okeydokey" all serve to make him a figure of fun. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Though Hannibal the movie is unresolved in ways the book is not, that isn't Mr. Hopkins's fault. He's still a star for all seasons, and seasonings.
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Though the movie is clearly meant to work on its own, the relationship between Starling and Lecter plays best if you're familiar with "Lambs." Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Has almost none of the nail-biting suspense and fascinating character interplay that made the original so authentically terrifying. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Creepy and grotesque rather than terrifying. It's more distasteful than anything stronger, a sour bottle of a celebrated vintage that a gourmet like Lecter wouldn't hesitate to send back with the sommelier. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
The picture is willfully gross, fundamentally stupid and in no way worth the discomfort of watching it. Yet it may be the most well-crafted piece of garbage this year. Read full review
50
USA TodayMike Clark
Hopkins' Hannibal is no longer mysterious, Clarice is no longer vulnerable, and the overextended Florence scenes dash any hopes of early momentum, even if Giancarlo Giannini is perfect as the cop. Read full review
50
Mr. ShowbizKevin Maynard
Every frame of Scott's film is gorgeously lurid and baroque, but it just hangs there like bad art, even during the gore-spilling, Grand Guignol climax.
50
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Strikingly devoid of suspense. It’s not always clear who’s the protagonist and who’s the antagonist. Nor is it scary—at its most intense moments, it’s merely yucky.
50
SlateDavid Edelstein
"The Silence of the Lambs," was morbid but also a rich and satisfying serial-killer thriller—a cunning weave of the fairy tale, the forensic, and the fetishistic. Hannibal, on the other hand, is simply a fat slab of sadism. Read full review
50
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Hannibal, a silly though handsomely staged adaptation of the Thomas Harris novel directed by Ridley Scott, is a movie meant for the whole family -- the Manson family. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Less monster than monstrosity—albeit, as superfluous sequels go, not on par with the memorably idiotic "Godfather III." Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Misfires on so many levels that we have to wonder if there is more than one meaning to this story's wild boars. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
The flabbiest of cop-outs. Moore gives a flat, spiritless performance, almost matched by that of Anthony Hopkins, who, notwithstanding the Armani threads, shuffles around like a pensioner in bedroom slippers. Read full review
40
Dallas ObserverAndy Klein
More than just a disappointment. It is also a spoiler, possibly weakening the impact of "Silence" for its fans. Read full review
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