Will Graham (Edward Norton) is an FBI agent who is leaving early retirement to catch a serial killer, known as the "Tooth Fairy". He approaches an enemy Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) to receive advice on how to catch him. Over time, though, the Tooth Fairy is receiving information about Graham's family.
This movie has a lot of big names including Hopkins, Norton, Harvey Keitel, Ralph Fiennes, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Each cast member does a fine job, but Norton doesn't have the same feel as the detective that Jodie Foster had as Clarice Starling, and the same applies for Fiennes. Throughout the whole film, it still, however, manages to keep my interest throughout. The only problem is, there are many momentum killers, but fortunately there is no "fake build-up", a major cliché no audience member appreciates.
As a movie, Red Dragon is solid. In the Lecter series, it still doesn't compare to the first, but it isn't meant to. The film was written by the screenwriter of Lambs, Ted Tally, and does a fine job. It is by no means considered a great or high-caliber film. But the big names and the adequate performances by each of the leads makes it worth watching at least once. The story is just a replication of the original classic, and is worth a 2/4. It just misses the excitement the Best Picture winner had.
