“Red Dragon” is a welcomed return to the days of old. Unlike “Hannibal,” which was laden with gore and melodrama, “Red Dragon” uses reserved violence not to sicken the audience but rather to vividly depict the insanity of a serial killer.
Brett Ratner, director of “Rush Hour One” and “Rush Hour Two,” pulls together a number of experienced and highly talented actors to balance the cast and bring the “Dragon” to life.
The film begins where it should, answering the question of how Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) was finally caught and imprisoned by his student Will Graham (Edward Norton). Graham, after the Lecter case, decides to retire in Florida with his wife and their young child, only to be called back years later by his boss at the FBI (Harvey Keitel) to assist in the capture of a new nicknamed killer, “The Tooth Fairy” (Ralph Fiennes).
Graham decides he will put himself and, more importantly, his family on the line in the hope of saving more lives, but he’s not going to do it alone and he asks for help from a fellow psychoanalyst and former co-worker Dr. Lecter.
This relationship becomes the center of the movie and is what takes “Red Dragon” above the blood and explosions. Ted Tally, the script writer for ‘”Silence of the Lambs” also wrote the script for “Red Dragon” and is the one that should be thanked for pulling the Lambs Trilogy out of the blood.
He uses the hunt for “The Tooth Fairy” as a way to dovetail into the human psyche, which is the basis for all great movies. Graham is such a talented psychoanalyst not just because he went to school for years but because he has an incredible and terrifying gift.
He is able to see into the mind of any killer and understand why they kill in certain ways and this is what scares him. Graham knows this makes him similar to Hannibal and the “Tooth Fairy” and it is only his loose grip on reality, which keeps him sane.
“Red Dragon” overcomes many challenges to rise from the flames of Hannibal and do the original film justice. Although Hopkins seems too old, and at times too civil to hate, Edward Norton and Ralph Fiennes assist the actor in making “Red Dragon” a memorable introduction into the world of Dr. Hannibal Lecter.
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