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Red Dragon- 10/4/02 - R - 126m
Anthony Hopkins
Edward Norton
Ralph Fiennes
Director: Brett Ratner
LYN
Where to begin with a sequel (or prequel) to the infamous "SILENCE
OF THE LAMB" thriller? Or perhaps I should say a remake of the first
and original movie in the series, "MANHUNTER" made in 1986,
five years previous to "SOTL". But I'll get to that in a bit…
In and of itself, "RED DRAGON" was a good movie with a very
strong cast. Anthony Hopkins was and is the definitive sinister Hannibal
Lecter. A part in which he plays to perfection, and stills manages to
make the little hairs on the nape of my neck stand up. : ) Ed Norton portrays
FBI agent Will Graham with equal and convincing authority, sent with the
daunting task of hunting down the "Red Dragon". Ralph Fienes
playing Francis Dolarhyde was on the other hand a little less than believable
in the role of the "Red Dragon". This would better suited to
an actor that could convey a more compelling and disturbingly deep seeded
evil character with a vacant demeanor. Perhaps someone like…gee…
I don't know…how about Tom Noolan? : )
Anyway…Unfortunately I kept comparing this movie to "SOTL"
and it fell short in everyway and seemed hauntingly familiar to in its
supposed suspense. That is the unfortunate part about sequels to good
movies, they are expected to surpass or at least equal the original. And
please don't mistake me, I have liked some sequels and the occasional
remake, but I think this movie would sit better with me had it been released
on it's own conviction. But, with that said, I guess it couldn't because
they did that back in 1986 with the original "RED DRAGON" offering
in the movie "MANHUNTER" that didn't fair too well by itself.
It wasn't until the sequel "SOTL" came out that the series grabbed
more of the movie-going audience's attentive eye. Sad, but that's what
Hollywood does, they grab onto something successful, reprocess it, put
a nice bow on it, and then spit it out, because they know that the mindless
sheep will eat it up because it's in a prettier package. : (
Regardless, if you have never seen any of the Hannibal Lecter movies,
then by all means go see this one. In that light, it was fantastic. But
knowing what I know, I give it the rating it deserved.
P.S. Philip Hoffman who played the soulless reporter Freddy Lounds was
wonderful, He is truly a fine (and underrated) character actor.
Unrelated, it would have been nice to see Scott Glenn reprise his role
as Jack Crawford, but you can't have everything. : )
Lyn