| “Red Dragon ” (2002)
Film Review by Adriana de Barros
"Red
Dragon" is a film directed by Brett Ratner,
a Jewish-American who began his career as
a music director, having worked for Jay
Z, Mariah Carey, and Madonna. He progressed
to filmmaking with high-level films such
as "Money Talks" (1997), "Rush Hour" (1998),
"The Family Man" (2000), and "Rush Hour
2" (2001) — all light-hearted films
in comparison to the dark turn of "Red Dragon"
(2002).
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| (Top) Will
Graham (Edward Norton) investigating
the crime scene for clues, as he
encounters all the mirrors broken.airy's"
MO. (Bottom) Hannibal
Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) wearing
his infamous security mask in high-status
prison. Photos © Universal Pictures |
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At present, his new film "Red Dragon" is a
remake of "Manhunter" (1986; directed by Michael
Mann), and a prequel to "The Silence of the
Lambs"(1991; directed by Jonathan Demme).
It is based on the highly acclaimed novel
by Mississippian author Thomas Harris (1988;
first novel, Red Dragon), and adapted
to the screen by Ted Tally (also screenwriter
of the powerful film, "The Silence of the
Lambs"). Its story revolves around Will Graham
(Edward Norton) a gifted FBI agent, whom captures
the eminent Dr. Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter
for suspicion of murders. Graham goes into
retirement, but ends up involved, and self-consciencely
forced to help with another case of a horrific-family-killer
nicknamed the "Tooth Fairy" (i.e. given media
name, from the bite marks he leaves on some
of the victims). He seeks help from Lecter
in a high security prison, to discover the
full MO of the killer; and once again there
is a cat and mouse chase resembling "The Silence
of the Lambs" (with Clarice and Hannibal and
Buffalo Bill). It always seems like a 3 way
film: two criminals, each connecting to each
other in some form, and one investigator trying
to solve the crime.
I had viewed this film, trying to not overflow
with preconceived ideas of the past, i.e.
of one of my all time favorite movies,"The
Silence of the Lambs." I think it's natural
to compare films, it's within our human nature,
however I watched it thinking as neutral as
possible, "Whatever comes of it, will.hopefully
it will just be better than 'Hannibal'" and
it turned out an interesting film. As a first
note, I knew that without the character of
"Clarice Starling," the film could
adapt into a fresh storyline, possibly more
convincingly within the cast. I.e. keeping
Hannibal (Anthony Hopkins) in role, but without
another actress substituting Jodie Foster,
as had had Julianne Moore in "Hannibal." Frankly,
I like Julianne Moore's fervent acting, although
Foster's presence is just marked forever as
"Clarice" —no matter who is chosen for
the role! I also think the Hannibal Lecter
films have been fortunate to have such great
actors and actresses portraying in them, as
now, Edward Norton, Anthony Hopkins, Ralph
Fiennes, Emily Watson, Mary-Louise Parker,
and Anthony Heald lead the "Red Dragon's"
cast. What else should one say? No flaws within
the acting here. Edward Norton plays Graham,
and does his usual good acting, but his role
here is not as "stand out" material
due to the character. It's more linear than
past films where he stormed the screen, but
as I say, I've never seen him do badly in
a film. Anthony Hopkins's is back to his charming
self as Hannibal Lecter, which consists of
fine dining with a cannibalism menu flavor,
flourishing with fancy clothes and a mansion,
and now, in a rejuvenated ponytail look. Remember,
we are flashed back in time to a type of start
of Hannibal, before the silence, the lambs,
and Clarice. "Red Dragon" reveals more to
the persona of Hannibal, although I expected
to find more details of him.
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Francis
Dolarhyde (Ralph Fiennes),
the atrocious killer with
an almost full body tattoo.
Photo © Universal Pictures
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Even though, in certain scenes, Director Ratner
revives the classic and immortal presence
of Hannibal (an evil genius), but in my opinion
the film inclines one's attention to the new
and intriguing character of Ralph Fiennes
(Francis Dolarhyde aka "Tooth Fairy"). Fiennes
mesmerises the screen; after his rise to fame
with "The English Patient" (1996) and his
less successful "The Avengers" (1998), he
managed to incorporate a completely different
character, a shy, abused person, who underneath
the surface, has anger, violence, and power
to retain. Despite the fact, he runs around
in the nude a few times to unfold his backside
to us — i.e. from his shoulders to his
back legs he has an almost full body black
tattoo, which truly gives cinematic and artistic
essence.such impact of "power" and "mythology"
to the film. I highly enjoyed the symbolic
details within the film (e.g. tattoo connecting
to mythology facts).
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(Top) The cat
and mouse chase is on, and once
again the FBI agent on the case
seeks Dr. Lecter's help — to
solving the crime. (Bottom) Actors
Ralph Fiennes and Emily Watson get
comfy in a shy but strange romance.
Photos © Universal Pictures |
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Reba McClane (Emily Watson) is the blind co-worker
who encloses attention to the quiet-bad-boy
Francis Dolarhyde. Jack Crawford (Harvey Keitel)
is the head FBI agent on the case, and I honestly
wasn't aware he was playing the well-known
character Crawford. I guess it didn't make
much a difference to me personally, until
I saw the film credts list.
The film was a good detective thriller,
not as original, mysterious and psychologically
intense as "The Silence of the Lambs," not
as distracting, gory, and vicious as "Hannibal"
(in my opinion, Ridley Scott's was the least
triumphant), but this is an opener
to a continuation of the storyline and proven
to be smartly edited within the violence
scenes, with some narrative sequences of
Will Graham's vision of the crime happening
(which is heavy, but not exaggerated). And
above all, the acting has saved the film,
and leads the viewer in interest throughout.
I wished the film was more original and
surprising, or containing more in-depth
studies/details of various criminology and
mythology aspects, as had had "The Silence
of the Lambs" . however, it's a film to
be watched of dark entertainment, but not,
a cinema marking stone.
Note: All
film images are © and property of their
respective studios.
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(3.0/5) By Adriana de Barros
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