Hannibal was everything I expected after reading the novel.
The acting is excellent: Anthony Hopkins maintains the powerful, yet elegant aura of Hannibal Lechter and Julianne Moore steps into the Clarice Starling role very well, although she has lost her southern accent a bit. But, this film is based 10 years after Silence of The Lambs so that is understandable.
The other main characters are Mason Verger (Lechters 4th victim - who he gave LSD and made him cut his face off) played by Gary Oldman - but you'd never know, the make up is that severe, Paul Krendler, from the Justice Dept, is played by Ray Liotta, his character is the one who decides to use Starling as bait to lure Lechter out from hiding. Inspector Pazzi is played by Giancarlo Giannini although he features only a little, as does his wife (played by the gorgeous Francesca Neri). The only character who returns also is Barney (played by Frankie Faison) the guard from the sanitarium basement where Lechter was formerly imprisoned.
The story abandons a lot of the early part of the book where we see Lechter in Florence and also Clarice struggling against her enemies in the bureau and goes straight into the action, a shoot-out, the discovery by Pazzi of who Lechter is (not Dr Fell as he claims), the parallel chases by Starling and Mason Verger's men. Through to the very strange ending.
I won't give too much of the story away.

The film is filmed differently to Silence of the Lambs (and Manhunter, the 1st and least known of the trilogy) it is very busy at times, with lots of people in the shot, it is not as bleak as Silence of.. . Florence is shown as a busy, bustling and beautiful city, a perfect hiding place for Lechter.

There are some particularly gruesome scenes, especially the end sequence, which did cause a couple of people to leave the cinema I was in.
I would advise making sure you haven't just eaten (or will need to eat straight after) as a couple of sc
enes are real stomach churners. At the same time though the end scene as well as being gruesome is also quite humourous.