He has enjoyed monstrous success ever since author Thomas Harris first breathed life into him.

He is the quintessential villain turned anti-hero turned monster.

He is as precise with the scalpel as he is with his insight into the human mind.

I mean, whoelsewould have morning breath with hints of lavender and saffron?Hannibal Lecter.

In this, his first incarnation, Lecter is despicable.

He is sly and cunning.

There is narcissism there, and bitterness.

The animosity between them is personal, but it does not stem from a sense of betrayal.

Lecter was a Goliath brought down by an emotionally damaged David.

The situation galls him.

Here, Will had interviewed Lecter while investigating the sixth victim in a series of killings.

The victim had been treated at a hospital while Lecter had been on call.

As he was making the connection, Lecter snuck up behind him and attacked.

Will was the hero.

Lecter (and the Tooth Fairy) the villains.

They both attacked Will to defend themselves.

Interestingly, what he described sounds a lot like a scene from Wills life in theHannibalTV series.

Only this time, since Wills utter ruination, Crawford decides to exploit atrainee.

Despite the similarities, the tenor of the story had changed.

WhileRed Dragonhad been successful, the accompanying movie,Manhunter, had failed to impress the critics.

Within the context of the novel, Lecter had spent a good amount of time incarcerated.

He was used to being a doctor, a physician, a psychologist, and a mentor.

In her honest naivety, Clarice afforded him the opportunity to experience those things again.

He could guide her, and like Crawford, exploit her.

Once he was a total villain.

However, Lecters character starts to become sympathetic.

At this point in the series, Lecters transformation into anti-hero is plausible.

Sir Anthony Hopkins was handsome and debonair; even in a straight jacket.

A silver fox who could send shivers up a ladys spine; especially if that lady had daddy issues.

Sure, you bet.

In a naked sort of way.

And apparently everyone got the message; including Harris.

Hannibal completely changes the game.

The story drops the investigative crime drama aspect and becomes a full blown thriller.

Everything is topsy turvy.

Well, if Batman was 60-ish.

The real villain is Mason Verger, one of Lecters surviving victims.

A sadistic pedophile who spent a lifetime perfecting the ability to torment the people around him.

Verger is a monster so grotesque that he makes Hannibal the Cannibal look sexy.

For the first time, Lecter takes center stage while Harris provides us with direct insight into his thinking.

Instead all of his wit and verve are at the fore.

Here is an oft maligned intellect too great for the cattle of the world to comprehend.

Will I say it was a good ending?

A plausible finality to the trilogy?

If Hannibal was pie, cannibal Clarice was the fluffy and completely superfluous whip cream.

Literally all of them.

One of my favorites isSpaceballs.

No, but what a coincidence thatDexterpremiered thesame year.

Have we have taken thepsychoout ofpsychopath?

Have we neutered the devil and turned him into a mighty ferociouslookingtrophy?

If we are going to be snobbish about franchise content, lets go all the way!

Sure, there is a little creative license.

Lecter becomes Lektor and his victims were all female college students.

Still, he and Will were not characterized as having had an expansive relationship outside the investigation.

Instead,Brian Coxs Lektor is just an unsexy, evil, son of a bitch.

He kills, he is sadistic, he enjoys tormenting Will.

As for the film itself, the set design is a vision of 80s color and symmetry.

The majority of the sets, from Wills home to the Baltimore Asylum, are white on white.

The movie that transformed Lecter from creepy villain to iconic anti-hero.

And oh,what a villain!

Hannibal, Directed by Ridley Scott (2001)

Exactly where it belongs.

Scott, as an artist, knew what Harris had forgotten.

There is no reason for these stories to end tidily; let alone happily.

Remember the last two chapters?

Didnt Will deserve a happy ending?

The story endings were satisfying, cathartic even, but happy?

And Nortons Will does not take any of Lecters shit.