Red Dragon (2002)

After coming in with tempered expectations, I think I actually enjoyed the movie even more than the very solid book. The casting was excellent - Keitel is perfect as Crawford, Fiennes is great as Dolarhyde, and I liked Norton as Graham a lot. I found the atmosphere tense and on edge throughout, and think it's the movie's biggest strength. The ending was just as electric as in the book. I thought they did an effective job in providing key character context without too much pure exposition, which many movies (eg the Godfather imo) find it a difficult balance to strike. Red Dragon is just an intense, atmospheric, really well directed crime movie.

"Red Dragon" is a movie for all those that want to know the story behind one of the most popular villains in modern cinema. It matches the tone of its elder brother, benefiting from the ongoing portrayal of Dr. Hannibal Lecter by Anthony Hopkins. It works very well for fans of his universe and provides some further background to gain an impression of how this fragile cooperation initiated in the first place.What impresses me more is that it also works well for people that don't know the older movie at the time of viewing. Of course it is always easier to place a second movie before the first, trying to make it accessible as easily as possible. And of course the movie loses some layers if you don't get the plot between the lines. But apart from all that, what we see enrolling here is nothing else than an exceptional thriller.To me, creating such is always quite a task. It sometimes feels like we've seen everything in this genre, and very rarely a movie really stands out of the flood of solid thriller movies that are ongoing produced year after another. "Red dragon" achieves so in providing more. An additional side story, brilliant acting, a believable villain and the result that bad and evil are not always contrary but sometimes share a body.While this is not a creative movie in terms of presenting anything never seen before or after it clearly holds its promises. I recommend a watch and I believe not many viewers will find this one really bad.

Brett Ratner's Red Dragon, although pretty darn stylish, is just cursed with being the least engaging and unique Hannibal Lecter film out there. It's not that it's a bad flick, but when you have Silence Of The Lambs, Hannibal and the far superior Manhunter to compete with, you're trucking down a rocky road. The strongest element this film has going for it is Ralph Fiennes, who plays the hell out of the role of Francis Dolarhyde, the disturbed serial killer also known as the Tooth Fairy. Previously played by an introverted and terrifying Tom Noonan, Fiennes gives him a more rabid, haunted vibe and steals the show, but then he always does. Edward Norton is a bit underwhelming as FBI behavioural specialist Will Graham, sandwiched between William L. Peterson and Hugh Dancy's modern day, definitive take on the character. Graham has the tact and luck to ensnare notorious cannibalistic murderer Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins purrs his way through a hat trick in the role), whose help he subsequently needs in pursuing Dolarhyde. Harvey Keitel clocks in as rock jawed Jack Crawford, Graham's boss and mentor, solidly filling in for far mor memorable turns from Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Farina and Scott Glenn. All the scenes with Dolarhyde fare best, given some truly impressive rural cinematography that sets the mood for the killer's twisted mindset nicely. The cerebral jousting between Graham and Lecter only half works here, dulled in comparison to the crackling exchanges that Jodie Foster masterfully handled with Hopkins, who was far, far scarier back then. Emily Watson lends her doe eyed presence to the blind girl that brings out the only traces of humanity still left in Dolarhyde, Philip Seymour Hoffman shows up as bottom feeding tabloid reporter Freddy Lounds, and Mary Louise Parker, grounded as always, plays Graham's wife. You could do worse in terms of films like this, but in the Lecter franchise it falls pretty far short of any of the other entries, save for the few inspired moments involving Fiennes

This film is a sequel to "Silence of the Lambs" and has a very similar story: with a new serial killer around, the FBI will again request the help of the dangerous and manipulative Hannibal Lecter, the most famous cannibal ever. Directed by Brett Ratner and written by Ted Tally, this film has a cast headed by Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton and Ralph Fiennes.It's a good movie, but there is no comparison with the film that gave rise to it. The script is good, but it misses on two fundamental points: the first is to immediately tell the killer's identity, albeit discretely, removing some interest to the narrative; the other is to tell a story that is almost identical to "Silence of the Lambs." Both films have very similar plots, which gives the audience a sense that this film is more of the same. One difference, however, is the level of violence: this movie, even though it contains scenes of great action, has so many shocking scenes as their predecessors. Nevertheless, it is a movie with quality and entertains. The actors were up to expectations, particularly Ralph Fiennes, who plays the killer and managed to give the character a real aura of madness. Anthony Hopkins, again in cannibal paper was able to be perfectly equal to the expected. The special visual and sound effects, although discrete, are competent. The soundtrack seemed to discreet but good.