Another Stab at Manhunter

RED DRAGON (2002)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

"Red Dragon" is a needless remake of a film that has already claimed a devoted cult status. The original film version of Thomas Harris's novel is Michael Mann's underappreciated "Manhunter," the 1986 thriller that was filled with quiet unease. Some have seen it as the "Miami Vice" version of Harris's novel, and others have declared it as good as the film version of "Silence of the Lambs." In any case, seeing "Red Dragon," I was instantly aware that there was only one reason for its existence - Sir Anthony Hopkins replaying the role that made him a household name, Hannibal Lecter. The original role of Lecter (or Lektor as deemed by "Manhunter's" credits) was played by Brian Cox, again displaying complete understatement as Hannibal. In many ways, Cox and the film were quite chilling. With Hopkins back on board, director Brett Ratner ("Rush Hour") and producer Dino De Laurentiis are trying to make people forget "Manhunter." How awfully rude!

Set before the events of "Silence of the Lambs," "Red Dragon" introduces at Lecter at the start and how he got captured by FBI agent Will Graham (Edward Norton). The incident was so traumatic that Graham quit the agency and retired in his Florida home with his wife and child (nursing a couple of gunshot and stab wounds). Lecter was naturally imprisoned in that plexiglass jail we all know too well from "Silence of the Lambs." But a new killer is on the loose, known as the Tooth Fairy. This killer methodically butchers his victims, usually families in their own homes, in a ritualistic fashion. Graham is recruited out of retirement for his old brilliant intuitive methods of catching killers, leaving behind his family to focus on the mind of a serial killer. Meanwhile, Francis Dolarhyde (Ralph Fiennes), who is the Tooth Fairy, starts a sweet romance with a co-worker at a film processing company, a blind woman named Reba McClane (Emily Watson). But Francis also obsesses over William Blake and artistic renditions of the Red Dragon, a mythological figure, and hearing the voice of his dead grandmother (an uncredited voice over by Ellen Burstyn). Will is getting to closer to catching the killer, thanks to some professional help from Lecter, and Francis is growing more mad each day.

The novel of "Red Dragon" was a tight, suspenseful read, and extremely detailed in the quality of Graham's meticulous work in finding the killer. I also grew to like Francis, despite his murderous ways because of the humanity invested in his character. Brett Ratner's film version of the novel is jazzed-up and frenetic with thunderous music and sound effects employed every few seconds to remind the audience to stay awake because something terrible is about to happen. There is none of the introspectiveness and atmosphere of Mann's version (despite using the same cinematographer, Dante Spinotti). The camera focuses lingeringly on close-ups of characters but rarely is much communicated beyond facile reaction shots. Even the subterranean lair of Lecter's prison is lacking in any tension, compared to Jonathan Demme's similar sequence in "Silence of the Lambs."

The pluses are few and far in between in "Red Dragon." On the positive, there is none of the gory dismemberments or brain food of "Hannibal" - most of the violence in the film is suggested (though not as disturbingly as in "Manhunter"). Ed Norton does a workmanlike job as Graham, though he does not have the cool charisma of William Petersen's original incarnation. Hopkins can play Hannibal without really trying, and still succeeds in evoking malice and wit with body language and dialogue. Ralph Fiennes is studiously intense as Francis, but I think Tom Noonan had a less conspicuous appearance - he just did not seem like a serial killer which is why it worked. Emily Watson is a delight as Reba, blind to the evil she does not see. There is also a wicked cameo by Frank Whaley who tries to woo Reba.

"Red Dragon" is not bad per se, just plainly conventional and mediocre. If it had not been for Hopkins' return, nobody would have dared take another stab at "Manhunter."