Movie Review - Red Dragon
- wadE
Red Dragon - The prequel to Silence Of The Lambs!!!
I didn't find out until after seeing this movie that it was pretty much a remake of the 1986 movie
Manhunter (directed by Michael Mann).
But...since I didn't see this movie, I'm not tainted by the performances of:
I won't ruin the movie for any of you, but I'll give you my overall impression:
Sir Anthony Hopkins is exquisite as Hannibal the Cannibal (would you expect anything less?) They removed the cheeky
catchphrases that made his character border on annoying in Hannibal. He is just as disturbing as he was in Silence
Of The Lambs.
Ed Norton...I'm not sure I liked him so much. He seemed to walk through his role as Will Graham (the FBI Agent).
Not much emotion...not much anything. But maybe that was how he was supposed to play this character...but I don't think so.
Ralph Fiennes...ok...you're name is Ralph... not "Ray-fff"... Regardless of the silly prounouciation of Ralph, he gives
a great performance of the "Tooth Fairy/Red Dragon". And damn...that boy has been working out! But seriously...if all you
did for a living was act, and you had months off inbetween projects, you have zero excuse not to be in great shape. Anyway,
rumor has it that in one scene where we see Ralph running upstairs naked, they had to use some CGI to reduce the size of
his manhood... in test screening people found the size of his schlong to be "disturbing". In that case, Ralph can call
himself whatever he'd like!
Harvey Keitel as Jack Crawford. Was Scott Glenn not available?
I couldn't watch Harvey with a straight face in this movie. I was either thinking "Hey, it's 'The Wolf'", or "It's Bad
Lieutenant!!!" the entire movie. Since Scott Glenn was playing Jack Crawford, I didn't even realize that the character was
supposed to be the same person. In a nutshell, Keitel playing a government agent does not resonate well with me. Just doesn't...
Overall the movie wasn't as gory as Hannibal, and the plotline was much better (pretty much followed the roadmap of
Silence Of The Lambs...but since this movie was written...and made once, before Lambs...I guess it's the other way around).
Even with some bad acting, seeing Anthony Hopkins is worth the price of admission.
Quick refresher on wadE's movie ratings:
10 - Go out and see this movie right away! In fact, see it twice!
9 - Go see it, it's really good!
8 - It's pretty good, worth your 8 bucks.
7 - It's alright...not worth 8 bucks, but maybe a matinee.
6 - It's ok, wait for it to come to the dollar theater.
5 - It's decent, wait to rent it.
4 - It's mildly entertaining, catch it on HBO.
3 - It's not so good... but if you are up at 2AM and it comes on USA, TNT, or TBS, go ahead and watch it.
2 - It's terrible...if you are up at 2AM and it comes on USA, TNT, or TBS, turn the channel immediately.
1 - It's a crime against humanity...absolutely awful.
0 - How does a movie like this even get made...I mean really...how much crack is being smoked in Hollywood???
With that being said, I would give Red Dragon a 7. If you liked Silence Of The Lambs, you'll like this movie.
- 10/28/2002
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