Red Dragon Reviews

The hard truth is this: Brett Ratner’s a “for hire” director without any vision of his own. His background is in music videos and this has left him with the distinct inability to let things breathe or rest. A suspenseful story wilts under his eye because of this, and Red Dragon plays like warmed-over The Silence of the Lambs and/or Manhunter, depending on any given scene.

 

You know this story, the subject of the last chunk of episodes in Hannibal’s final season, a prior and better film adaptation, and divulged as verbal exposition for Claire in Lambs, Red Dragon doesn’t do anything special with the material. It’s two hours and never stops or ponders anything for very long. It feels like a longer, better film that’s been trimmed down and stripped bare for television syndication. So that means it’s a generic thriller that gets by the strength of the bare bones Thomas Harris’ story and the too talented cast occasionally slumming it here.

 

I wonder what this would look like under the guiding hand of Jonathan Demme, David Fincher, or any sort of director with an actual vision and this cast. Imagine the more moderate performance they’d nab from Anthony Hopkins, here he’s all camp and completely lost the edge and terror he brought to it originally, or from Edward Norton, who clearly wants to go for sweaty, nervous ball busting Method intensity but is muzzled from achieving this. And maybe we could’ve entirely missed out on Ellen Burstyn’s on-the-nose vocal cameo or found a better way to make it work that wasn’t so painfully, obnoxiously Freudian.

 

Red Dragon is serviceable, but if you really want to see this story done with justice then seek out Michael Mann’s stylish, expressionist film version or the back-half of Hannibal’s third/final season. They allow for silences, tension, and strange emotional textures to rise to the surface of the material. Red Dragon is a very good approximation of Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs, but a good approximation is not the same thing as a good film.

To be honest, I find it rather hard to judge this movie. Indeed, after waiting 10 longs years,'Hannibal' turned out to be a terribly disappointing sequel but it was still a box-office success and the producers thought they should really rush to make this prequel before Anthony Hopkins got too old so the whole thing felt like a lame cash grab. On top of that, it seems that they wanted to erase the criminally underrated and forgotten 'Manhunter' directed by Michael Mann. Finally, it was directed by Brett Ratner, possibly one of the most underwhelming directors at work at the time and still nowadays. And yet, I have to admit it, the damned thing was not bad at all, in fact, it was even miles beter than 'Hannibal'. Indeed, first of all, there was a terrific cast (Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes, Harvey Keitel, Emily Watson, Mary-Louise Parker, Philip Seymour Hoffman), they all delivered some solid performances and the plot was still quite entertaining. Sure, it never reached the level of 'Manhunter' but it was not far behind. To conclude, pretty much like 'The Silence of the Lambs', I still think that those Hannibal Lecter's stories are just too ludicrous to be taken seriously but this one was not bad and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

''I am the Dragon. And you call me insane. You are privy to a great becoming, but you recognize nothing. To me, you are a slug in the sun. You are an ant in the afterbirth. It is your nature to do one thing correctly. Before me, you rightly tremble. But, fear is not what you owe me. You owe me awe.''

A retired FBI agent with psychological gifts is assigned to help track down "The Tooth Fairy", a mysterious serial killer; aiding him is imprisoned criminal genius Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter.

Anthony Hopkins: Dr. Hannibal Lecter

Edward Norton: Will Graham

Ralph Fiennes: Francis Dolarhyde

Excellent installment to the Hannibal series. Red Dragon A very clever prequel.

Ralph Fiennes, Edward Norton, Anthony Hopkins and some of the best and loved Actors of mine in this to make this Masterful Prequel. Beautiful performances especially from Ralph & Anthony. Two players who know how to dance with villainy.

The start of the movie had me glued to the start and I watched this after a very difficult time in my life, the day my heart got broken. Thankfully Red Dragon succeeded in taking my mind of things, and I find that it deserves a decent Review and to go in my Favourites considering my fondness for the film.

The only thing that annoyed me about Red Dragon is that Anthony Hopkins looks alot Older and Lambs, it was hard not to compare and think of how young he looked in that. Considering Dragon is a prequel to make Hopkins look younger somehow is now possible even the mediocre X-men 3 has made use of CG smoothing for actors faces/facials.

It's got some nice twists, music, pace and alot of charm. Darkly immersed and satisfying Brett Ratner shows he can do the Dark Side, not just comedy or Action Set Piece movies.

"I am the Dragon. And you call me insane. You are privy to a great becoming, but you recognize nothing. To me, you are a slug in the sun. You are an ant in the afterbirth. It is your nature to do one thing correctly. Before me, you rightly tremble. But, fear is not what you owe me. You owe me awe."

Originally filmed by Michael Mann in 1986 under the title of Manhunter, the Thomas Harris novel has been adapted to the screen for the second time under the title of the actual novel Red Dragon.

Director Brett Ratner was brought on board to direct this latest adaptation of the successful novel. The man who helmed the Rush Hour films was indeed treading dangerous ground; not only was he remaking a critically acclaimed thriller, but it was also being filmed as a prequel to Silence of the Lambs. Because of the immense popularity and cultural following of Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lector it was essentially inevitable that the studio would want to continue pulling in cash by remaking the overlooked original film; instead of Brian Cox as Lector, we get a much older Hopkins.

FBI agent Will Graham (Norton) still exhibits physical and psychological scars that will never heal after capturing serial killer/renowned forensic psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lector. Graham retires from the FBI after suffering from near-fatal wounds inflicted by Hannibal. Several years after Hannibal is thrown behind bars Graham is called upon to examine case files and evidence of a serial killer who appears to be choosing random families to gruesomely massacre. Despite using great proficiency to solve the case he realises that it can't be done alone. There's only one man he can turn to that could provide a useful profile of the killer: Hannibal Lector.

I enjoyed Michael Mann's original version of the novel, more so than Red Dragon. I found this movie to be quite a pointless rehash that is almost a scene-for-scene remake (there are several drastic changes, but dialogue and scene layouts are glaringly familiar).

The reason for producing a remake was to include Anthony Hopkins and hence tie into The Silence of the Lambs. I was very disappointed when I looked at the shape and physique of Hopkins. He looks a lot older and fatter. I just could not buy this being a prequel. I picked up a few returning actors from Silence of the Lambs but they also look a lot older. It's quite nonsensical to actually believe this film is set before Silence of the Lambs.

Hopkins' character is placed back into the location where he is most chilling. This is of course that grotty cell where he is being held captive. There is a lot more intensity and smart interactions between the characters. It's just such a shame that the time for the movie came and went about 10 years ago. If Hopkins and the other returning actors didn't look so much older I could have bought the premise of this prequel. A wasted opportunity, really, because the ending perfectly ties in with the beginning of The Silence of the Lambs.

Norton shined in his role. I liked his acting more in the first half when I was fascinated by the way he did his work. He's still good in the second half but lacking intelligence and fascination. Ralph Fiennes is exceptional. The actor pulls off vulnerability and emotion with great talent. He wasn't nearly as good as the actor from Manhunter of course.

The filmmaking is quite skilful. Ratner's direction is classy and interesting. I felt that a more artistic approach by Ridley Scott in the film Hannibal was far superior to Ratner's (probably more of an issue with experience); however the directing is still fairly competent. For the most part, each scene is very well directed.

The score by Danny Elfman is atmospheric and occasionally chilling. Elfman's music is always exquisite and a treat for the ears. The good thing is that it wasn't too overwhelming.

Red Dragon should have been made about 5-10 years ago. Hopkins has aged and hence his performance could have been better. But considering how bad this film could have been, it's quite an impressive slice of filmmaking. Die-hard fans of the Hannibal Lector character may be disappointed.