Tracking him with more hatred and a much bigger budget is millionaire Mason Verger, an unbilled and unrecognizable Gary Oldman portraying a character whom Lecter had once convinced to slice off his own face and feed it to the dogs. The sole survivor of a Lecter assault, Verger is bent on a revenge that will depend on a dozen man-eating, wild boars that somehow clear international customs in record time. Hopkins often smiles, perhaps aware that his part has been reduced to caricature, while talented Julianne Moore, as Starling, tries to lend importance to a character already reduced to a pawn. Most noticeable, though, is the decision by writers and Scott to focus more on gore and goopy special effects than a continuation of a test of wills. True, the film is photographed beautifully.
Production design is exquisite.