I've just seen this film ... Well, good things first. This film is well made, with attention to details, no stupid goofs, actors performance didn't make me uneasy for the most part. I'm from Lithuania myself, and Lithuania was displayed quite truthfully - thanks, Hollywood.
Now bad things ... I think that they bother me because I've seen the original Hannibal movie, and was expecting something else. But anyway:
1) First, I didn't like the idea of making a pervert serial killer a kind of positive hero, or martyr. Hey, Hollywood, you want youngsters to admire serial killers and try to be like them? You'll get it. The love story of Hannibal also fits here.
2) Second, the idea of making Hannibal a kind of samurai sword fighter is, IMHO, absolutely out of place here. I understand that sword fighting looks cool by itself, but we are making a good old western serial killer movie here, or don't we?
3) And, finally, the performance of the main hero. The Hannibal is very evil person, but he had personality, charisma. And conversion from normal person to a maniac seems a good place to demonstrate passions, emotions, TO ACT. This Hannibal spent all the film with the same blank face - he's the real killer ... of the movie.
To sum it up - a well done movie for teenagers, who want to see some cool action, some maniacs, some blood and killin' and don't pay attention to the actors performance (unless it is really bad) and the ideas of the film. And, of course, who never saw the original.
However, if You expect from this movie something similar to the original, just don't waste your time. Imagine a mix of samurai movie, teenage maniac thriller and love story, all with a good budget - You'll get the idea.
