DVD Review: Red Dragon (2002)

Anthony Hopkins is one of the few geniuses of the movie world. In the Hannibal Lecter trilogy, he has completely owned the character and made Hannibal very memorable.

In Red Dragon, the movie takes us back to Hannibal’s arrest and incarceration during which time Will Graham (Edward Norton) is asked to track a new serial killer called The Tooth Fairy. The FBI feels that Graham’s insights into the mind of killers such as Lecter will give them the advantage to catch the serial murderer.

In order to solve the case, Graham asks Lecter for advice, much in the same vein as the original Silence of the Lambs. In fact, this movie appears to be a re-write of the original with some clever plots and sub-plots thrown in to amplify the storylines.

The biggest downside to this movie is Edward Norton. I don’t rate him very high as an actor. However, Hopkins has a perfect performance and removes focus from Norton’s character which the movie tries to portray as being strong and in control with an underlying psychology of fear. The chemistry between Hopkins and Jodie Foster was better orchestrated and more intense than that found in Red Dragon.

When you throw in actors such as Hopkins and Harvey Keitel, one cannot feel less than compelled to watch this movie. The script was very good, but I felt Will Graham should have made the connection between the murders much sooner. It was a disappointment that too many clues were given at such an early stage in the movie. As such, one has to rely solely on the characters journey and not the destination.

Lecter is such a polished character, the likes of whom are rarely seen in fiction. I wonder whether any other actor could have portrayed him any better. From the moment the film started, the audience is touched by the man. Lecter’s intellectuality and creative genius coupled with the barbaric may not be a new combination for a psychopath or even a sociopath, but he can effect with words what most poets cannot.

The film runs full circle to where Lecter meets Clarice the moment before The Silence of the Lambs. It is this one crucial scene, this one small moment, which makes the ending satisfying. Despite Lecter’s brutal inclination, I cannot imagine any viewer wanting him dead. He is too spectacular a character to die. He must live.