Red Dragon: Much Needed Improvement

After reading and enjoying Thomas Harris’ original novel by the same name, and being rather disappointed in the first film adaptation Manhunter, I was excited to see the newly released Red Dragon.

Red Dragon is the much anticipated prequel to the award-winning Jonathan Demme film The Silence of The Lambs (1991). And, in plot, the two stories are surprisingly similar though set in a different time period. At the center of Red Dragon is Will Graham. Graham is a former F.B.I. investigator who had a violent and unexpected run-in with Hannibal Lecter in 1980. This encounter led to the imprisonment of Lecter.

After recovering from his injuries (physically, not psychologically), Graham is tapped to do what he does best…to find a serial killer known among the police force, F.B.I., and tabloids as The Tooth Fairy. So, as with The Silence of The Lambs, the talented agent asks Lecter for help in locating the bad guy. It’s this tension between Graham (played nicely by Edward Norton) and Hannibal Lecter (of course Anthony Hopkins) that sets the mood for the rest of the story.

Graham’s quest is to both locate and stop The Tooth Fairy (whom we come to find out is the insane hair-lipped Francis Dolarhyde) from killing at the next full moon. The story changes for a time (after the audience is introduced to Graham) and follows Dolarhyde (Ralph Fiennes) through his motivation, anxieties, love interests, and employment. This time that we are given to become acquainted with the antagonist is wonderful…rather than a faceless freak we are instead given a man with a personality and problems…a man with which we can somehow sympathize.

If you’ve seen Manhunter, you’ll find that little has been changed. The clothing is less dated (a major drawback to the original adaptation), the acting is better, instead of inexplicable action it seems that now the characters have reason, and the sets are a bit more realistic to the book. But, I do think that much of the reason that few situations have been changed (aside from the ending) is because of producer Dino De Laurentiis. De Laurentiis was also in charge of the earlier adaptation, and I suspect he realized that the film needed to be a bit less dated and fit more neatly into the now classic trilogy of books and films.

The casting choices in Red Dragon are fitting. Edward Norton (Fight Club, American History X) is fine as Graham. He’s a good enough actor, though he isn’t quite convincing in the role. He just doesn’t seem sure enough of himself. Of course Anthony Hopkins is terrifying as Lecter. He reprises his role with clarity and ease…the audience must just forget that he looks older than he did in The Silence of the Lamb. This task of forgetting isn’t difficult.

Ralph Fiennes (Quiz Show, Schildler’s List) pulls off the impossible. On the surface, Dolarhyde is an uncomfortable, intelligent, wounded soul. Beneath those layers lies the Red Dragon…his insane and uncontrollable alter ego. It’s this vengeful self that Dolarhyde appeases when he kills. In a strange turn of events, a blind woman named Reba McClane enters the story as Dolarhyde’s love interest. Emily Watson (Angela’s Ashes, Gosford Park) is the wide-eyed misguided soul…a role that seems to have perfected.

Supporting Graham are Jack Crawford and his wife Molly. Crawford helps to recruit Graham back to the F.B.I. to investigate this rash of gruesome murders. As Crawford, Harvey Keitel (Reservoir Dogs, The Piano) seems at home. A great casting choice. Molly has little impact in the story until the end. We see her, we hear her, and we don’t feel her. But, as the story nears it’s climax Molly becomes very important. As Molly, Mary-Louise Parker (Fried Green Tomatoes, Boys On The Side) is less awkward than normal. She’s a strange actress with few roles that seem to fit her. Molly is like a glove, I do believe.

Finally, in supporting roles are the equally sleazy and self-promoting Freddy Lounds and Dr. Chilton. Lounds is the perfect character for Philip Seymour Hoffman (Talented Mr. Ripley, Magnolia). He’s dirty, overweight, sweaty, and exactly what one would expect from the role and from the actor. Anthony Heald is the only returning actor from Silence of the Lambs aside from the obvious. The interaction between Dr. Chilton and Graham is priceless with Chilton wanting nothing more than to write the definitive character analysis of Lecter.

Red Dragon is a better than average film. The strangest choice here isn’t with the actors. Rather, it is with the decision to use Brett Ratner (Rush Hour, The Family Man) as director. In general, his films (especially the Rush Hour series) are commercially successful. But as far as critical success goes, praise is few and far between. I suspect that Ratner was a good puppet for De Laurentiis. In this case it worked out much better than one could have hoped or thought.

Creating the musical landscape of the film is the uber-talented Danny Elfman (Edward Scissorhands, Spider-Man). Part of my beef with the original film Manhunter was with the horrible soundtrack. The extremely melodramatic music never stopped. The film was topped by the strange usage of an Iron Butterfly classic. Red Dragon is much more intelligently composed as a result of perennial music man Elfman who managed to improve upon the former mistakes.

I went into Red Dragon hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. What I got was something nearing the best. It’s not as good as The Silence of the Lambs. It’s much better than Michael Mann’s Manhunter. It’s on par with Hannibal. It’s a must-see film for fans of the book and movie series. Red Dragon isn’t great cinema, but it’s good enough to entertain and to shell out full price at the ticket counter.

Rating: 4/5 stars