TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

AboveDeepBuggy Some things I liked some I did not.

Teringer An Exercise In Nonsense

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Majikat I always felt this was more on par with SOTL than the other two films and better than its original 'Manhunter'. Once again kudos has to go to the killer being hunter, Ralph Feinnes pulled off a great character here. Nice little links as a prequel to SOTL and a great introduction to Will Graham for the box set series.Great plot, enjoyable characters.

pieterwesselsbiz Yep. Headline says it all. It looks good and has a cast of top notch actors. The opening sequence was mildly interesting but the rest is just one long flatline. The main reason for this is Brett Ratner. He has no idea how to build and deliver suspense properly and his sense of pacing is the main reason for the flatline effect. He also relies too much on stock cinematography. See "Manhunter" instead.

andrewroy-04316 After coming in with tempered expectations, I think I actually enjoyed the movie even more than the very solid book. The casting was excellent - Keitel is perfect as Crawford, Fiennes is great as Dolarhyde, and I liked Norton as Graham a lot. I found the atmosphere tense and on edge throughout, and think it's the movie's biggest strength. The ending was just as electric as in the book. I thought they did an effective job in providing key character context without too much pure exposition, which many movies (eg the Godfather imo) find it a difficult balance to strike. Red Dragon is just an intense, atmospheric, really well directed crime movie.

Rickting Red Dragon is the prequel to The Silence of the Lambs, where another FBI agent, this time one who has some bad history with Hannibal Lecter, must seek his help to stop a serial killer. It doesn't sound promising at first, especially considering it's directed by the much maligned Brett Ratner but the final product is unexpectedly solid. It has various glaring similarities to TSOTL which are occasionally jarring and Hannibal Lecter himself feels somewhat marginalised. Anthony Hopkins is still excellent, although he seems a little weary of the role, and this time the other villain steals the show. Ralph Fiennes is excellent as the serial killer being hunted, who is a fully-rounded character and a (at times) sympathetic villain. As the lead, Edward Norton does a good job although Jodie Foster overshadows him. The film is reasonably well-made, but ultimately the layered, tense and affecting screenplay makes it a success. It still has its issues. The marginalisation of Hannibal Lecter, parallels to The Silence of the Lambs, predictable plot and frequently superficial nature make this a more standard thriller than TSOTL, and one which certainly won't be remembered nearly as much. I enjoyed it though, and it does not tarnish the legacy of the legendary original.7/10