Unfortunately, this may be the least of the 4 films.

The momentum was off in this one, which was very noticeable right after watching the perfect pacing of "The Silence of the Lambs." I'm not sure in what ways having Jodie Foster back would have changed the overall tone and integrity of this movie, but it was nice to see other returning actors.

I think most are more upset than I am about Jodie not coming back for the role of Clarice, but I actually really like Julianne Moore as an actress too and that probably makes me feel more forgiving than I otherwise would. She did a fine job, but still, she just didn't do the character justice following Jodie's portrayal; and I'm not sure that anyone could. (I mean, who could top Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter?) Julianne's version of Clarice seemed, I don't know, perhaps too bold and too confident. Jodie's version was obviously very intelligent and able to hold her own, but she had a humble like quality about her that Julianne's didn't manage to hit the mark on. One could attempt to explain it away by saying that she just grew from her work experience, but no; that just doesn't seem quite right.

I feel that in comparison to "The Silence of the Lambs," much of the visuals as they're presented are over the top and meant for shock value more so than only lending to tell the story. I know there are novels that these movies are based on, but I haven't read them; so some of my personal impressions could be way off from the actual story lines as they're meant to be. Although from what little I've read about the novels vs the movies; there are portions that are not at all the same. I'm considering putting the books on my reading list, but I'm worried doing so will ruin how much I enjoy my current mindset of Hannibal and Clarice.

Now, I do believe there were definitely interesting ideas in this film. My personal favorite was the way in which they further dove into the fascinating relationship between Hannibal and Clarice with [spoiler]the whole hand chopping scene near the ending. I personally would have liked a movie past that point where they crossed paths again. I wonder if Hannibal would have invested in a prosthetic, and if not having the use of two hands would lead to his doom.[/spoiler] To be perfectly honest, another favorite part of mine was when [spoiler]Cordell allowed Verger to "drive off" into the pig pit.[/spoiler]

I can't say exactly why, but when Hannibal [spoiler]feeds the brain to the kid on the airplane, [/spoiler]it feels out of character for him somehow. I've wondered if I'm alone in that perception. It also felt strange to imagine Hannibal [spoiler]dressing and undressing Clarice.[/spoiler]