Purely Joyful Movie!

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Blistering performances.

First of all, I love this series to a fault. It's not perfect, but I just love it. It has some of the best TV episodes I've ever watched, but it also has some of the most scattered storytelling I've experienced.First, the positives.The aesthetics. BEAUTIFUL. Every frame in this series is designed to perfection, and it is just beautiful to watch. The slow motion sequences, the cinematography, the MUSIC. Everything falls together to be a feast for the senses.The performances!! All the acting is flawless, especially that by Mads Mikkelsen and Hugh Dancy. Their performances let you see through their friendship enough to both mesmerize you, and scare you to death. Hannibal cares for Will, but he also sees him as a test subject/plaything. Will knows, but let's himself be immersed into it all for the sake of the greater good. It's all a vicious circle that leads who knows where, but we want to be there to watch.The rest of the cast is amazing as well. Special mention goes to Richard Armitage, who played Dollarhyde frighteningly well, and the great Gillian Anderson.Seasons 1 and the second part of 3 are hypnotizing. All the best parts together to make a wonderful whole. The series works best when there's a concrete situation to resolve, no question.Now, for the not so positives.I understand we want inclusion and representation in modern series, but it sometimes feels forced. Freddie Lounds, for example. We are supposed to feel revulsion at this character, but making her a woman, and beautiful, doesn't help. Making Chilton go through what she should have, felt forced and contrived. Alana Bloom was a woman just because there were too many men, or at least it felt like that. Also, I hated her going from warm and caring to femme fatale style, and out of nowhere falling for Margo Verger. Talking about the Vergers, the first part of season 3 felt all over the place. Mason Verger was absolutely perfect, but the changes to make the story fit made the story and his ending underwhelming. He should have been eaten by his pigs, like Thomas Harris wrote. The bit they included about Hannibal Rising was completely out of place or context. I mean, Will gets thrown off a train and then he reappears with nothing but a few scratches?? The Japanese mysterious lady is introduced only to a act as Ex Machina to let Hannibal do his thing, killing those who would hurt/kill him. No, just no. There's too much going on at once.I understand they didn't have time. The series was cancelled way too soon, and as a result, the first part of season 3 (and a bit of the second part) is messy from trying to include too much in too short time. I wish we could have had at least one more season, so the stories would've been better told and better stitched together.I said I love Hannibal to a fault, and I stand by that. I tend to minimize its shortcomings because I think it's just that good. Don't let anyone's opinion influence you. Give it a try.

I started out enjoying Hannibal thoroughly as a psychologically rewarding take on the character, and the prospect of an engaging cat and mouse game between Will and Lector. Over the course of three seasons I saw that promise dissolve into a gore-full shockfest, which I did enjoy in the way shows like that are enjoyable, but I had hoped this show would become more.The writers did away with the cat and mouse eventually and made everyone around Hannibal so horribly inept that it was hard to imagine his Brilliance let alone see it (except as a chef/connoisseur). They repeatedly introduced good characters and proceeded to fumble around with their story arcs, reducing the show to a intertwined brooding incoherent mess.It was interesting to see how the Book and Movies were referenced and subsumed, enough to make me go revisit them which was an enjoyable indulgence. But by the third act all semblance of a story or structure were cast aside for egregious overindulgent psychological musings of macabre characters that you just wished would shut up already, in an attempt to make the writing appear intelligent I suppose. The promise it held in the initial season set up the finale to be a disappointment.Amazing background score, some great visual work, good but faltering storytelling and direction. I would rate Season I at 9/10 for the immense promise it held, Season II 7/10 for it still kept me interested, and Season III a 5/10 for what a shadow of itself the show became.

I rarely give 10 out of 10 stars. As a matter of fact, I only did this 2 times before "Hannibal".10 stars... What a truly wonderful show! Brutal yet sensitive. Gruesome yet artful. Highly intellectual, yet a careful homage to human fallacy. Love and hate depicted as an eternal dance of indistinguishable partners. IMPRESSIVE soundtrack, surrealistic, intricate plot, dialogues covering psychology, philosophy, art and history...And last but not least: breathtaking performances of Mads Mikkelsen, Hugh Dancy, Gillian Anderson, Rutina Wesley and so many more...

The first two season are extremly good and exciting, but in my opinion the series goes into an average third season, sadly not so good like the first two seasons.