Reviewed by Mike R. Richardson
Recently, I was privy to the first-ever test screening of the new Hannibal Lecter film, RED DRAGON, the prequel to the Academy Award masterpiece SILENCE OF THE LAMBS that was also made into a 1986 movie called MANHUNTER. The premiere screening last night in San Diego, California (the Proud Host of Comic-Con 2002 which just ended) drew a full house and the audience was very enthusiastic to see the film.
First, off let me get this out of the way. I am a HUGE Lecter fan, and Sir Anthony Hopkins absolutely steals the show in every scene he is in, playing the now immortal Dr. Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter. It's almost as though the film exists only to see him once again behind the legendary glass bars of his cell. He plays it off with the exact same sparks he had in SILENCE, the same spark that might earn him a Best Supporting Actor nomination. While he has been reduced to a mere 35 minutes of screen-time, he literally grabs the attention of everyone when he emerges on scene. He still plays some of the "Hannibal" charm, the okie-dokey stuff and the good humor of a genius madman.
Edward Norton plays Will Graham, the man who originally captured Hannibal Lecter in 1980 and almost lost his life in the process (this takes up the first 5 minutes of the film and it is weird to see Hopkins with a pony-tail). He's now a disgruntled but still gifted FBI investigator. After years of seclusion from the Bureau, Jack Crawford, (played to perfection in SILENCE by Scott Glenn and mentioned only briefly in the deleted scenes of HANNIBAL) played this time by Harvey Keitel, (I still wish Glenn had returned), persudes Graham to lend his expertise in solving the gruesome murders compliments of a man called "The Tooth Fairy". After realizing that they cannot do this without help, Graham reluctantly confronts his demons by going to Baltimore State Hospital and asking the good Doctor for his expertise (a la SILENCE).
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Keitel just really had some trouble grasping the part and he wasn't very believable. Sorry, I think Keitel rules when he works with Tarantino but he just cannot reproduce Scott Glenn's performance and depth.
Back to Norton, he works brilliantly with Hopkins in all the scenes they have together. They play off each differently than Jodie Foster did with Hopkins, the reason being that Lecter and Graham had worked together and had a history. In the case of Clarice Starling and Lecter, they were thrown together and they played by Lecter's rules. Norton brings youth and charisma to the film and also the right amount of intensity in his eyes; the same intensity I saw in FIGHT CLUB.
Actually, the huge performance (other than Hopkins) comes from the now-legendary Ralph Fiennes, a man I have admired as an
actor ever since I saw him play Nazi Commandant Amon Goeth in Spielberg's SCHINDLER'S LIST (I still think politics
robbed both he and Liam Neeson of an Oscar win). He plays Francis Dolarhyde, aka "The Tooth Fairy", a full
body-tattoed man who believes he is becoming the equivalant of a biblical - apocalyptic God which he calls (and the film's
title, I might add) "the Red Dragon." Dolarhyde is an emotionally / psychologically scarred man, a man whose brutal,
abusive childhood has turned him into a psychotic killer. The things he does to his victims (whole families, for that matter) is just plain disturbing and I must admit some viewers had to turn their heads at the site of the crime scene images (images I will not go into in this review; just go and see it for yourself). His strange relationship with Hannibal Lecter is very interesting and adds another disturbing element to the plot.
One of the most interesting elements of the film is the supporting cast. They have brought back regular characters Barney, Lecter's personal orderly (played once again by Frankie Faison) and the evil and` boo-able' Dr. Frederick Chilton (played with brilliant evil by Anthony Heald) but they have added interesting characters such as Emily Watson who plays the blind Reba McClane, Dolarhyde's twisted love interest and also the slimy tabloid reporter, Freddy Lounds, played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
The score to this film is basically identical to SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, but with Danny Elfman taking over for Howard Shore. Dark ominous tones play in exactly the correct cues gives the film an audible chill to it. Very cool! I will most definitely buy the soundtrack!
I must add that I was expecting Brett Ratner's voyage into action-suspense to be a bit hokey (given his RUSH HOUR and FAMILY MAN past) but I must say that he has absolutely out-done himself by getting a great cast, an amazing script (Ted Tally once again working off of Thomas Harris' novel) and an amazing editor. Mark Helfrich cut and paced this film magnificently with only one scene dragging the movement of the film. I wrote on my comment card that I hope it gets cut and just put on the DVD.
I will not spoil any of the film because it is mostly a visual film and many of the things I could say could not properly justify the brilliance of this film but I will say this: Tally or Ratner, whoever was responsible, had a great vision / idea for the last scene of the film and that was the scene that takes you directly into the film, SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. I thought it was a genius stroke and it got an huge applause from the whole theater. (I must also add that some idiot on the "Internet Movie Database" listed Jodie Foster for a cameo as Clarice Starling and that IS NOT TRUE).
So all in all, RED DRAGON does for Dr. Hannibal Lecter what George Lucas could NOT DO with EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES, it redeemed HANNIBAL by giving us a magnificent, psychological drama. After a summer with few movie highlights, it is nice to see a film that will hopefully draw the movie fans in masses to see Lecter do what he does best, scare the hell out of people.
If this doesn't get a Best Picture nomination, my faith in Hollywood will have ended. Between this, ROAD TO PERDITION and FULL FRONTAL, the Best Picture race is on!
Out of 10 - A definite 10+
Navy Journalist 3rd Class Mike Richardson does not now, nor has he ever, worked for Dark Horse Comics
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