The movie stars Edward Norton and Anthony Hopkins in a 'prequel' to Silence of the Lambs'. I put 'prequel' in quotes because it really ISN'T a prequel since the book was the first in the Hannibal Lechter appearances but it was the second to be made into a film (so Silence is actually a sequel even though it was made into a motion picture first... confusing isn't it?). The film concerns a retired investigator who is pulled out of retirement to catch a serial killer dubbed "the Tooth Fairy" by the press for his gruesome trademark of biting his victims to death with his jagged teeth (a plot point NOT covered well in this movie). His qualifications? He's the investigator who 'caught' "Hannibal the Cannibal" and very nearly died in the process. As he tries to solve the Tooth Fairy murders, he is forced to consult with Lechter to solve the crime. OK; so it's an EXACT rehash of the plot of Silence of the Lambs. The difference? The lead is a male who has a family and does not want to be involved in police work. That's about it. Does this wind up tired and trite like most plot rehashes? Surprisingly not. The cast is ridiculously pedigreed. Even the bit parts are filled by journeymen actors and actresses. The only 'actors' I did not recognize were some of the children and house-pets. Even the victims are recognizable as "saw that guy on TV" types even though they appear only in stills or flash-backs. It sure doesn't hurt to have a trio of heavy-weights in the lead roles either- Edward Norton as Will Graham (the central investigator), Ralph Fiennes as Francis Dolarhyde (aka the Tooth Fairy), and Sir Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lechter. Personally, for my money, Sir Anthony Hopkins is THE best menacing character in recent movie history. NO ONE has come close to capturing the menace and just-beneath-the-surface insanity that Hopkins exhibits when portraying Hannibal (even though, for the record, I thought Hannibal (the 'third' film) stunk and that Hopkins 'wrote in' his performances for that film). Hopkins outdoes his Silence of the Lambs effort for this film. Truly outstanding. I'm a grown adult, who loves horror movies, who KNOWS Anthony Hopkins is 'just an actor', but DANG if I wouldn't avoid being left alone in a room with him just because of his performances as Hannibal in these films! Everyone else turns in outstanding performances even down to the bit actors and the cameos from actors for the other two films (Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal). The only gripes I do have regard salient plot points from the novel that were left out of this version of the film which make the 'motivations' of some of the characters make sense. Chances are they were simply edited due to time concerns. The running time for this film is over 2 hours and there are no real lulls in the plot to take a break. I'm looking forward to seeing if the DVD has added content that might have been edited out for time. There is little 'direct gore' but there are LOTS of gruesome crime-scene photos and more than a few disturbing flash-backs that are FAR more effective than mere gore could be (IMO anyhow). Brief nudity (male and female), a bit of profanity (but not excessive) and a very disturbing storyline make this one not suitable for the less-than-17 set. Mature 15+ should be OK, but leave any younger kids at home. This film earns it's R rating. For you trivia buffs, this is the SECOND time this book has been made into a film. The older one was originally called Manhunter (and Later Red Dragon; the search for Hannibal Lechter to capitalize on the popularity of Silence of the Lambs) and stars Will Peterson (you'd recognize him if you saw him). Rent it if you can find it, it's not as good as the new Red Dragon, but it covers the entire story much better and is a bit more faithful to the book Red Dragon is an excellent film and may be better than Silence of the Lambs. It's definitely just as good and will make a great double-feature upon it's eventual DVD release. By all means see Red Dragon if you get the chance and enjoy this type of movie. If you are easily scared/disturbed or do not like scary movies, then please go see something else.
Review of Red Dragon
