Red Dragon (**1/2)
review by Jon Waterman

Before starting this review, I had to decide something.  Should I take the route I took with my Insomnia review and compare and contrast the original against the remake, or should I judge "Red Dragon" purely on its own merits.  I chose the latter.  A “Manhunter” review will show up on this site, but not here.
 
“Red Dragon” tells the tale of Will Graham, a detective who enlists his famous catch, Hannibal Lecter, to help him catch a new serial killer dubbed the “Tooth Fairy.”  For those that don’t know already, this is the first part of a trilogy based on the books “Red Dragon,” “Silence of the Lambs,” and “Hannibal” written by Thomas Harris.
 
I want to focus first on the acting, because it is something that really stood out for me this time.  The film is full of top-notch actors who have proved themselves several times over.  However, none of them seem to be able to muster up anything more than average.  The person most people will be talking about is Anthony Hopkins as Lecter, after all, the movie seems to have been made just to have the story done with Hopkins as Hannibal.  I’m sure many would say that he does a fantastic job playing the creepy guy.  I would say he phoned it in.  He knows the character well enough by now, that much we know.  But, he’s running off the connotations brought about in “Hannibal.”  He’s now seen as a playful, joking type with a creepy side instead of a creepy, scary guy with a playful side.  This is the first of the series, but Lecter is in the fourth of the series.
 
Edward Norton as Graham was pretty pathetic.  I understand the character is supposed to be muted and monotone, but that doesn’t mean he has to be stripped of all his emotions.  I didn’t see the conflict or the pain or struggle or exhaustion that is insinuated by the story.  In short, I was bored of him.
 
I was bored of all of them.  When I got sick of seeing one character, there was no subplot I could look forward to.  The most interesting of the bunch was Phillip Seymour Hoffman who played a tabloid reporter.  He wasn’t exactly fun to watch, but he played a mockery of a stereotype, which was odd to see.
 
Ralph Fiennes plays the Tooth Fairy, a tortured youth who grows up to become a schizophrenic killer.  I just didn’t really believe it, and the pity he was trying to evoke was forced.  I didn’t feel it.
 
Now, aside from the acting, the rest of the movie is relatively decent.  My first worry was with the director.  Brett Ratner has little experience and none in terms of suspense thrillers.  You may have seen him show off his skills in such diverse films as “Rush Hour,” or perhaps “Rush Hour 2.”  I think he handled everything pretty well.  The movie looks great thanks to cinematographer Dante Spinotti (“Manhunter”).  The room for improvement is with Ratner’s ability to get worthwhile performances.
 
The script would have come off as being much more amazing had the acting not fallen apart, but the material is right there.  Ted Tally (“Silence of the Lambs”) adapted the novel with sharp and biting (no pun intended) dialogue.  He attempts to gain more sympathy for Fiennes’ character by letting us into his motivations and we see Hannibal’s capture by Will Graham.  Both are meant to be effective backstory pieces and probably would have been.
 
Now, put everything you read above together, and I never felt much suspense or danger.  The pacing was at times too slow.  The musical stings (provided by Danny Elfman) that have become so conventional and overused are ever-present and somewhat laughable.  In fact, the creepiest part of the movie was the make-up on Emily Watson, who plays the blind co-worker of Fiennes.  The artist made her look like a porcelain doll and her big eyes only accentuated it.  Nice work.
 
People will dismiss “Manhunter” just because Hopkins doesn’t play Hannibal Lecter (Brian Cox does).  However, I feel it tells the “Red Dragon” story more effectively than “Red Dragon.”

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