By Kyle Young
To be perfectly honest, I’ve always had a soft spot for the character of Hannibal Lecter. The guy is polite, educated and courteous, yet constantly surrounded by rude and ignorant people. And when he finally decides to do something about it, they call him crazy and lock him up.
[Ed Note: Because he ate people.]
Seriously, Lecter is a perfect role model for anyone, and as such everyone should be forced to watch as much Lecter as possible, which brings us to Red Dragon, the latest in the series of Hannibal movies and the prequel to Silence of the Lambs. It’s unbecoming of anyone to say that this movie is better or worse than the two before it, since they all portray Dr. Lecter in different settings and with different purposes and styles. Red Dragon is an excellent movie, and if I knew where he was buried, I would exhume Gene Siskel and mail both his thumbs to director Brett Ratner for a job well done.
[Ed Note: This is likely a felony and should not be attempted.]
Though the Lecter character is given considerably less attention in the 1981 novel by Thomas Harris than in this adaptation, I suspect most fans will be thankful for the extra attention paid to our favourite serial killer. What’s more impressive is the fact that the actual plot of Red Dragon—which focuses instead on the killer Francis Dolarhyde played by Ralph Fiennes–is as interesting a story as the Hannibal side. Credit is due to both Edward Norton (FBI Agent Will Graham) and Fiennes
for their performances, which keep this movie alive.
Norton’s character does the most to distinguish Red Dragon from Silence of the Lambs in that Dr. Lecter is no longer up against amateurs. The Norton character is himself a seasoned profiler and has personal experience with Hannibal–a former friendship which culminated in the capture of Lecter. As such, the verbal sparring between the two is much more engaging than that which transpired between Clarice in either of the other movies.
Overall, Red Dragon is recommended to anyone with $12 to spare, especially all those incredibly rude people I’ve met over the years on Calgary Transit. This movie has subtlety, taste, art and jolly good fun. And to all those transit clowns and rude people in general, just remember: someday someone might just get annoyed enough with you that they’ll feel the need to serve you up with sweetbread.
[Ed Note: We do not encourage
people to serve any meat with sweetbread, especially that of your human friends.]