RED DRAGON (2002)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *uncanny*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *drama*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *psychological*

It's certainly a mark of the public's fascination with the Anthony Hopkins portrayal of Hannibal Lecter that he remained a presence for ten years even after just one appearance in the 1991 SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. And so Hopkins finally reprised his role in two more Lector-films: 2001's HANNIBAL, adapting the third novel in Thomas Harris's "Lecter Series," and then this film, which re-adapts the first Lecter novel, RED DRAGON, in which Lecter had only a supporting role, and had already given rise to the 1986 MANHUNTER, in which Lecter was essayed by Brian Cox.

Unfortunately, although the novel HANNIBAL was excellent, Ridley Scott's version of the story was mediocre and poorly scripted. Ted Tally, who wrote the SILENCE adaptation, produced a more coherent script for this version of DRAGON, but sad to say, it pales in comparison to both the original novel and the 1986 movie made by writer-director Michael Mann. DRAGON is also not helped by the journeyman direction of Brett Ratner, though at least he can boast basic efficiency, which is more than Scott got across.

The only scenes in which DRAGON improves upon MANHUNTER are those that involve Lecter. We're shown the precise way in which FBI agent Will Graham (Edward Norton) captured Lecter and ended his serial killer career for the time being. Graham, on a leave of absence from the FBI, is approached by his old boss (Harvey Keitel) to use his "profiler" skills to suss out a new serial slaughterer, nicknamed the "Tooth Fairy' (Ralph Fiennes). Once Graham is sucked in, he can't resist the intensity of the hunt, but he tries to make sure his wife and child are kept out of the public eye.

Unfortunately, Graham is so driven that he resorts to consulting the man he imprisoned, and this ends up putting his family in danger. Lecter, though he discloses a few oracular clues to Graham, also communicates with the Tooth Fairy, who's a "fan" of the older serial killer. While Lecter and Graham tilt lances against one another, parallel scenes unveil the nature of the Tooth Fairy's psychosis. As in MANHUNTER, the killer shares Lecter's desire to feel like God by dealing out death, but whereas this is a major thematic point in the Michael Mann script, Tally and Ratner just toss the idea out as a fillip. As in the first adaptation, the killer comes close to a "normal" romance with a woman that almost undermines his psychotic persona. Graham manages to save the woman but his own family is once more placed in the cross-hairs.

One other plus for DRAGON is that, because the script is more coherent, so is Hopkins' performance, in contrast to some of the mismanaged scenes in the Scott movie. There was probably no way either of these 21st century follow-ups were going to eclipse Jonathan Demme's barnstorming SILENCE, but at least DRAGON proves a better note on which to conclude the "Hopkins Lecter" franchise than the previous film. I have not yet seen HANNIBAL RISING, which stars another actor and explores Lecter's early years, but its box office proved disappointing. The 2013-15 HANNIBAL teleseries garnered more critical acclaim, including from me, though a subsequent series focusing upon the Harris character of Clarice Starling died after one season.