Red Dragon

I just got back from a matinee of Red Dragon and got soaked on the walk home from the rain. I can't say I was too excited for this movie going in. Maybe I had enough of Hannibal after the Hannibal movie but I was just happy that there was something in the theaters that I was interested in. So much crap has been out and I just couldn't bring myself to see any of it. Anyway today I was one of those people who brought in lunch to the theater and I also got some fritos in one of those new can things because I didn't want the crinkle crinkle of the bag to bother people. Maybe those canned chips aren't totally dumb.

Anyway I saw a preview for 8 Mile and it looked good. I got kind of psyched up for it. Then the Red Dragon started up. The opening credits were boring. You'd think with this subject matter they could get a little more creep out of the graphics but they were pretty standard stuff. Just like this whole movie was standard. Maybe even a little substandard. I love scary movies and I like being scared. This flick didn't scare me although some of the images were gross. But there was no 'uch'. I like the 'uch'. Uch like when your heart sinks. There were a bunch of 'ew's but no 'uch's.

The movie has alot of 'star power' and I was sort of surprised to see these guys in this movie. Ed Norton, Harvey Keitel, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Ralph (pronounce it Ralph or spell it Rafe, dude) Finnes and of course Hopkins. Seeing these dudes in this movie made me think of one thing. Payday. Why the hell not, I guess. But anyone could have played any of these parts (except Hopkins). Nobody brought anything unique to any of their roles acting wise.

To make it fast, this movie takes place before Silence of the Lambs when Hannibal originally gets caught. Murder murder murder and they need crazy lovable Hannibal to help solve the crime because he's so superduper smart and they can't figure shit out on their own. Norton who has had a history with Hannibal goes in and they chat it up alot to work to solve the crime. Hopkins voice somehow seemed a little different in this one. Like he dragged all his 'sss'es like when he said 'Clariccce' in the first one. I guess that's really not an S that's a C... right... Anyway he sounded like he turned up the notch on the sinissster and dropped the excellent coldness. It's always fun to watch him not blink though.

Ralphie boy is the killer with that great tattoo on his whole back (he shows his butt alot. cause the tattoo goes down over his butt). Blah blah blah gather the clues. Blah blah blah family in danger. Blah blah blah take Hannibal's stuff away. Blah blah blah a blind chick love interest to confuse Ralphie boy. Whatever. For a movie that was supposed to creep you out this movie dragged and dragged for a good stretch while they all chatted it up. And Ralphie's killer schtick was tame. No real rage there and pseudocraziness at best. And he wasn't busy enough. This movie could have used some more murdering.

Three Good Things About This Movie
- The opening scene is a bit of a shocker.
- They brought back that creepy mental hospital adminstrator guy who is awful every time he walks on screen. Dr. Chitlin or something.
- The psychology behind the murderer didn't really explain why he murdered the way he murdered when he was murdering. Unless I missed something in all the chitchat.

Three Bad Things About This Movie
- They ruin the last scene by giving us an early heads up.
- The blind chick was also blind to the fact that Ralphie was a complete freakcreepazoid. It was almost insulting to blind people I think.
- It completely lacked tension.

Most likely this will be the last we'll be seeing of Hannibal I think. Hopkins has already sold his image to the character forever but I can't imagine he's going to go down this road again. There's no real reason to. We know Hannibal very well by now. And they sure as hell ain't surrounding him with any new characters that are interesting in the least. Wait for video.

 

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