MOVIE - RED DRAGON - Review Rating $$$$$ $$1/2 (out of 10)
STARRING - ANTHONY HOPKINS, EDWARD NORTON, RALPH FIENNES, HARVEY KEITAL, EMILY WATSON, MARY-LOUISE PARKER & PHILLIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN.
Anthony Hopkins returns as Hannibal Lecter in a prequel to The Silence of the Lambs. The movie is based on the 1981 novel, of the same name, by Thomas Harris (the author of the subsequent The Silence of the Lambs). Red Dragon may also be the only prequel that is also a remake. Red Dragon was originally brought to the Silver Screen, in 1986, in the movie Manhunter (See link - Greg's Previews).
The Silence of the Lambs (1991) won five Academy Awards. We had to wait ten years for the sequel, Hannibal (2001), which was as forgettable as The Silence of the Lambs was memorable. Red Dragon, while not about to win any Academy Awards, is far superior to Hannibal.
The secret to the success of The Silence of the Lambs was its focus on the psychological dimensions of the relationship between Clarice and Lecter. Hannibal suffered for deviating from this formula. Red Dragon is smart enough to exploit it. In fact, the relationship between Hannibal and another young FBI profiler, played by Edward Norton, is Red Dragon's saving grace.
Red Dragon is notable for one of the worst incidents of bad casting I can think of. While Edward Norton, is an excellent actor, he is so wrong for this role that the movie's producers must have had their collective fingers crossed. Norton, is not only too young for the role, but in this incarnation lacks credibility. His oddly dyed hair doesn't help.
Ralph Fiennes does a fair job, of impersonating Anthony Perkins, who portrayed Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Not having read Red Dragon, I can't tell you if the similarity between the two characters is intentional, or not. Numerous movies have struggled to portray the psychotic dimensions of such characters (Bloodwork is a recent example). In the movie version, of The Silence of the Lambs, the one weakness was its portrayal of the same type of character. The fault, for this lack of originality, may well lie with Ted Tally who wrote the screenplay for both Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs.
The rest of the movie reflects a certain laziness as well. The plot, and the discovery of the vital clues, are simultaneously conventional and just a little too convenient. There are a few plot holes as well. Two of the most notable are 1) the unexplained ability of Fiennes's character to travel extensively without being missed at work and
2) his unscathed appearance in the final act after having suffered a nasty self-inflicted wound in the previous scene.
It is a testament, to Anthony Hopkins's portrayal of Tom Harris's fascinating Hannibal, that what would otherwise have been just another bad movie succeeds in the end.
Red Dragon, is an example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts, rather than the other way around.
Alternative Reviews:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/814468.asp?cp1=1
http://www.suntimes.com/output/ebert1/wkp-news-dragon04f.html
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/RedDragon-1116177/
Official Website:
http://www.reddragonmovie.com
MY TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2002 LIST
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2003
David Schwartz.
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