Red Dragon

October 6, 2002

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes, Anthony Heald, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Harvey Keitel, Mary Louise Parker, Emily Watson, Cliff Dorfman, Tyler Patrick Jones, Ken Leung, Anthony Reynolds, Tom Verica

Director: Brett Ratner

Official Website: http://www.reddragonmovie.com/

Red Dragon is a prequel in the Hannibal Lecter trilogy. Red Dragon is a psychotic serial killer hunted down by the same detective who arrested Hannibal Lecter a few years earlier. Hannibal and Red Dragon intertwine and cooperate in this thrilling FBI type movie, a better than I expected movie, given it is a prequel.

As you might know from my other links on my page, The Silence of the Lambs is my favorite movie of all time. I loved it mostly because of Hannibal and because it couldn`t be classified into a specific movie genre. That being said, Red Dragon lacks from the former in that it is clearly a "cop and bad guy" movie. Not only that, but the film tactics and the villain`s twisted mind sort of hints a little X-Files influence, without Scully. All the above don`t make this movie bad, it just isn`t better than the original Lecter flick.

Many of the Silence of the Lambs scenes and moods resound in this film. Red Dragon is close to as scary as Buffalo Bill from the first installment. And Hannibal, is Hannibal. His role is less prononced here, but his presence is immediately felt and his wit lifts this flick above the average thriller. The camera work is not noticeable, but is still effective.

One thing I didn`t like was Edward Norton. This guy can`t act plain and simple and I`m pretty sure the casting was done buy the same person who hired Julianne Moore to replace Jodie Foster (see my comparison?) Ok, so it probably wasn`t the same person. Let me know if you felt this movie was a little too X-file like, I seemed to tell myself that a lot throughout.

I loved that Anthony Heald from Boston Public was back to take his role from the original flick. I think one of my favorite scenes is the last one, gotta love that!

Anyway, this one is good, but without the magic of Foster-Hopkins and a competent lead character, this movie remains an average Cop and Bad Guy flick. (I should not have to mention this one is better than Hannibal, that one was a joke)

Rating: B