Red Dragon
There are two kinds of people in this world. Those who like “Red Dragon” and those fucking morons who are “Manhunter” fans. The “Manhunter” fans, a gibbering, slobbering band of illiterate buffoons, cried far and wide that “Perfection need not be messed with! Our beloved movie is a shiny gem in the sea of annual movie slop shoved down the gullet of the ignorant masses! Why would you attempt to recreate that which is already the consummate example of visual literature?”
Well, okay, they didn’t say that. Actually I have no idea what “Manhunter” fans say because I always fall asleep about three seconds into their droning diatribes about how beautiful their movie is. The one objection I’ve heard that I actually managed to stay awake for was this: “’Red Dragon’ focused too much on Hannibal Lector! ‘Manhunter’ wasn’t about that!” To which I WOULD always reply “Go back and read the original novel” except that a recent study showed that 90% of “Manhunter” fans cannot, in fact, READ.
Actually, “Manhunter” is not a bad movie for something that bears only a passing resemblance to the source novel and that does not have Anthony Hopkins playing Hannibal Lector. What annoys me are people stridently shooting down “Red Dragon” merely because they love “Manhunter.” The two movies don’t even have the same name, how can the release of the second movie befoul the first? If you love “Manhunter” all you have to do is lock yourself in the bedroom and slip the DVD into the player and bring on the garbage bag of popcorn! Do so with my blessing. The world is a safer place with you indoors.
But it’s about time that they made a movie actually based on the novel “Red Dragon” which is why I don’t consider this movie a “remake” at all. “Manhunter” can be considered a movie inspired by some of the concepts first expressed in the novel “Red Dragon” whereas “Red Dragon” is the moviezation of the novel.
Anyway, let us turn now to what really IS the visual literature gem of last year. :-P
Anthony Hopkins prises his role as Hannibal Lector ... (what? You heard me! This movie happens before “Silence of the Lambs” so this is actually his first time in this role, so he reprised the role in Silence and rereprised it in “Hannibal”) ... and steps up to the plate big time in another creepily wonderful performance. Unfortunately, the “plate” has a triple steak on it and the “bigtime” describes Sir Hopkins as much as it does his performance. As I said, Anthony delivered a fantastic performance, it’s just that the weight he gained between “Silence of the Lambs” and “Red Dragon” gives Hannibal a whole new scary dimension. What is more creepy than a fat cannibal? On the other hand, I doubt there are many salad bars in cannibal restaurants so we can’t really expect them to be svelte, can we?
The costars were a mixed bundle...
Seeing Anthony Heald again after having seen the actor asshole his way through 2 and a half seasons of “Boston Public” made the thought of Lector having him for dinner at the end of “Silence of the Lambs” even more gratifying.
Harvey Keitel was a vast improvement over the guy who played the FBI boss in Silence, but maybe that’s just because his “From Dusk Till Dawn” and “Pulp Fiction” appearances have left him permanently in my good graces.
Ralph Finnes was awesome as the title villain, especially considering his horrid “Maid in Manhattan” stint right afterwards. I’ve heard he appears in “The English Patient” which, if true, makes this villainous turn all the more awe-inspiring. And would bring his death toll in movies I’ve heard about him being in up to 2 out of 3. Moist excellent.
Which brings us to Edward Norton. This guy can do anything and has. Twice. With cheese on it. This was brilliant casting and Edward does not disappoint as the embittered recluse of an FBI agent dragged from retirement to help capture the Red Dragon. Norton is great at bitter, and even better an embitter, but most impressively is the way he holds his own during scenes with Anthony Hopkins. Most actors would be chewed up and spit out (or, given the circumstances, swallowed) by as overwhelming a situation as Hopkins playing Lector but Norton comes out of it with only a gentle savaging.
Bottom line, how can you not love a movie in which you can be standing on a street corner and see a disgusting, elephantine, dirtbag of a reporter race past you in a flaming wheelchair? It just doesn’t get any better than that!
Anyone up for Julianne Moore and Edward Norton teaming up against Anthony Hopkins in “The Hunt for Hannibal Lector”? (Alternate title: “I Swear It Was The One Armed Man!”)
Shadowdog Sez:
Just another case of Dogism. One title mentions Dragons and the other Men! Where are the dogs? Where??? This is outrageous!
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