Red Dragon
I’d truly forgotten how fantastic some of the sequences in this one are, having really only seen it once, at the time of its release, and probably in a rather shoddy format. I’m surprised to find it now even better than I remember, and I remembered it as pretty good; out of all the Hannibal movies that have followed the classic Silence of the Lambs, prequels and sequel alike, this is the one perhaps that most closely resembles it. Kristi Zea back on board as production designer certainly contributes to that; Danny Elfman’s score draws heavily on Howard Shore’s work; and in addition to Anthony Hopkins reprising Hannibal, there’s as Anthony Heald Dr. Chilton; most crucially, I think this must’ve completely bypassed me when the movie first came out, Ted Tally returns as screenwriter.
I certainly think I’d still say Manhunter is the better adaptation of this story – I haven’t seen that one in a while, but I know that everytime I watch it (and I’ve seen it a few times) I’m pleasantly surprised by it all over again – but I like that even with the time passed since Silence, someone thought it worth taking the time to fill in the gap in the Hopkins Lecter series; and considering that time passed, it’s surprising how well it works – especially that last scene of him in the cell, that leads directly into Silence ... like, how bold can you get in goading comparisons? When you watch them all in order like I have this week, the effect is really quite amazing. This is all before even mentioning the other cast members: Ralph Fiennes, Emily Watson, Philip Seymour Hoffman … had enough yet? ... how about Harvey Keitel, Frank Whaley, and Lalo Schifrin as a conductor? Boy did they pull all the stops out on this one, and it was far from a wasted effort. I didn’t even mention Edward Norton, like he even needs mention. But the most amazing thing about all this? It’s directed by Brett Ratner. Which kinda almost makes the movie a small miracle all over again.