Ten years after Hannibal 'The Cannibal' Lecter went missing, he re-emerges in Florence and decides that it's time to eat again...

Clarice Starling (Julianne Moore replaces Silence of the Lambs star Jodie Foster) is suffering at the FBI for her trigger-happy reputation and is beginning to suspect that Lecter is on the loose again.

Millionaire Mason Verger is a disabled and horrifically disfigured victim of Lecter's who is determined to catch him and torture him by offering a reward of $3 million if he can be brought to his New England estate for some sick fun and games.

Altogether the premise is less promising than the original. For starters, there's no real victim to worry about except Hannibal himself.

No one is in distress, which detracts from some of the thrills, but this is certainly compensated for with enough action and gruesome detail to satisfy the hungriest Hannibal fan.

Hannibal's piercing intellect and wonderful use of language bring a spark and a touch of originality to what many critics have called an inferior sequel.

As events fly between Washington, New England and Florence, the pace quickens and your heart rate will too.

A thriller in the true sense of the word, Hannibal will take you to gruesome places you'd never expect to be in such a mainstream Ridley Scott movie.

Hopkins is chilling to the core and Moore takes on a difficult role to reinvent, but she manages to remain true to the original character.

She perfects the accent as well as the lost little girl look previously embodied by Jodi Foster.

Natalie Stone