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#225 - Red Dragon
Brett Ratner, 2002
Taking place prior to the events of The Silences of the Lambs, this film sees Hannibal Lecter once again being consulted on how to catch a serial killer, this time by working with Will Graham, the man who originally put him away.
As of writing, I'm inclined to choose Manhunter over The Silence of the Lambs as my favourite Hannibal Lecter film (though I am due for re-watches of both), so I was naturally less than enthusiastic at the idea of watching Red Dragon, which is adapted from the same novel as Manhunter only with the inclusion of Anthony Hopkins instead of Brian Cox. Given its proximity in release to Hannibal, it's hard not to see this as a soulless cash-grab that exists for the sake of having Hopkins appear in one more adaptation featuring the notorious cannibal. Having Brett Ratner behind the camera probably doesn't do much to make one enthusiastic, nor does the addition of star power and The Silence of the Lambs' Oscar-winning screenwriter doesn't seem especially promising either.
If Hannibal's biggest flaw was the result of trying to distance itself from The Silence of the Lambs, then Red Dragon's biggest flaw is perhaps trying too hard to mimic it. The basic plot is virtually the same with a few variations, namely that the protagonist this time is Will Graham (Edward Norton), a retired investigator with an almost supernatural gift for mentally retracing a murderer's actions, which results in him being brought out of retirement in order to try to catch a serial killer. Unlike naive FBI rookie Clarice Starling, Graham is a worn-out and troubled veteran who is given the appropriate level of weariness by Norton. The killer, meanwhile, is played reasonably well by the effortlessly creepy Ralph Fiennes while other actors - such as Philip Seymour Hoffman as a sleazy tabloid journalist or Harvey Keitel as Graham's firm yet sensitive boss - do reasonably well given the material. Hopkins still does Lecter reasonable justice. Unfortunately, this somewhat engaging procedural builds to a very trite third act and resolution - granted, that's how it played out in the book, but Manhunter definitely changed it for the better. On that note, Red Dragon may have a slight edge over Hannibal due to its keeping things within the realm of a straightforward police procedural instead of a loosely plotted manhunt, but it still comes across as a fairly uninspired thriller even for its time. The actors are good enough to make up for it somewhat, but not even the presence of Hopkins is enough to give this the edge over Manhunter.
Brett Ratner, 2002
Taking place prior to the events of The Silences of the Lambs, this film sees Hannibal Lecter once again being consulted on how to catch a serial killer, this time by working with Will Graham, the man who originally put him away.
As of writing, I'm inclined to choose Manhunter over The Silence of the Lambs as my favourite Hannibal Lecter film (though I am due for re-watches of both), so I was naturally less than enthusiastic at the idea of watching Red Dragon, which is adapted from the same novel as Manhunter only with the inclusion of Anthony Hopkins instead of Brian Cox. Given its proximity in release to Hannibal, it's hard not to see this as a soulless cash-grab that exists for the sake of having Hopkins appear in one more adaptation featuring the notorious cannibal. Having Brett Ratner behind the camera probably doesn't do much to make one enthusiastic, nor does the addition of star power and The Silence of the Lambs' Oscar-winning screenwriter doesn't seem especially promising either.
If Hannibal's biggest flaw was the result of trying to distance itself from The Silence of the Lambs, then Red Dragon's biggest flaw is perhaps trying too hard to mimic it. The basic plot is virtually the same with a few variations, namely that the protagonist this time is Will Graham (Edward Norton), a retired investigator with an almost supernatural gift for mentally retracing a murderer's actions, which results in him being brought out of retirement in order to try to catch a serial killer. Unlike naive FBI rookie Clarice Starling, Graham is a worn-out and troubled veteran who is given the appropriate level of weariness by Norton. The killer, meanwhile, is played reasonably well by the effortlessly creepy Ralph Fiennes while other actors - such as Philip Seymour Hoffman as a sleazy tabloid journalist or Harvey Keitel as Graham's firm yet sensitive boss - do reasonably well given the material. Hopkins still does Lecter reasonable justice. Unfortunately, this somewhat engaging procedural builds to a very trite third act and resolution - granted, that's how it played out in the book, but Manhunter definitely changed it for the better. On that note, Red Dragon may have a slight edge over Hannibal due to its keeping things within the realm of a straightforward police procedural instead of a loosely plotted manhunt, but it still comes across as a fairly uninspired thriller even for its time. The actors are good enough to make up for it somewhat, but not even the presence of Hopkins is enough to give this the edge over Manhunter.