Red Dragon Review

Red Dragon is a prequel to Academy Best Picture winner Silence of the Lambs. Francis Dolarhyde (Fiennes) brutally murders two families and leaves evidence to suggest their will be a third. Down on their luck the FBI decide to summon retired detective Will Graham (Norton) to work the case, the man who caught Hannibal Lecter (Hopkins). Graham is forced to try and pick Lecter’s brain in order to try and solve the case, before Dolarhyde finds his next victims.

Red Dragon is not a masterpiece like Silence of the Lambs, but it’s a thoroughly enjoyable thriller that is extremely scary. One of the most significant differences between two movies is that Dolarhyde is the most terrifying character in the movie, opposed to Lecter. This is down to a brilliant performances from Ralph Fiennes who seems to be at his best when playing villainous characters. Dolarhyde is a conflicted character who suffered at the hand of an extremely abusive grandmother. He is not a killing machine as he feels remorse and emotion, especially towards blind co-worker Reba McClane who he appears to be falling in love with. However when angered, best represented in a scene with sleazy newspaper writer Freddy Lounds (Seymour-Hoffman), Dolarhyde is a fearsome killer capable of horrific atrocities. Emily Watson, who plays the part of Reba McClane, also gave a notable performance and shone amongst an impressive cast. Her portrayal of Dolarhyde’s love interest was especially impressive considering the character is blind, which is kept up throughout by Watson.

I was less impressed with Anthony Hopkins portrayal of Hannibal Lecter, formerly the role for which he won the Best Actor Academy Award in. Hopkins lacked the edge and intensity of his usual work and became slightly comic at times, constantly over dramatising lines. I do believe that he wasn’t helped by the script which was probably the most inferior aspect of the film in comparison to Silence of The Lambs, famed for it’s quotability. Another weakness of the film was it’s direction from Brett Rattner, which fell short of Jonathan Demme’s work in Silence of the Lambs. This was especially evident in the scenes were Graham investigated Dolarhyde’s murder crime scene. Rattner’s insistence to overuse extreme close up stills were predictable and ineffective in setting the tone of the scenes.
The makers of Red Dragon can be proud of what is a drastic improvement from Hannibal (2001) and cannot be blamed for not matching the success of Silence of the Lambs. The film has a great plot with interesting characters, elevated by some very good performances. If your a fan of the Horror/Thriller genre than this is definitely worth a watch.