Red Dragon

The bone-chilling psycho intellect of Hannibal Lecter may loom effectively over several scenes in this new adaptation of the Thomas Harris novel that preceded Silence of the Lambs, but anyone half as smart as the erudite cannibal could easily pick apart this otherwise pedestrian serial-killer thriller. Heavily Hollywoodized by uncreative director Brett Ratner (the Rush Hour movies), the film follows the earlier film's template of an FBI agent (in this case a top-notch profiler played by Edward Norton) consulting the imprisoned Dr. Lecter (Anthony Hopkins in fine form) for help finding another truly deranged maniac (Ralph Fiennes). But unlike Silence of the Lambs, or Harris's novel, or Red Dragon's superior first adaptation--Michael Mann's Manhunter (1986)--this picture is dumbed down with connect-the-dots narrative shorthand and a tacked-on, grossly unoriginal, the-killer's-not-really-dead-yet climax. Even with a lot of talent at his disposal (the cast includes Emily Watson, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Harvey Keitel), Ratner has managed to turn out a Hannibal the Cannibal flick with bite but no brains. Not a necessary purchase. [Note: DVD extras are spread across two discs. Disc one includes audio commentary by director Brett Ratner and screenwriter Ted Talley, an “Enter the Mind of Hannibal Lecter” section that contains Lecter details such as an extensive text FBI file and timeline life history; the eight-minute featurette “Into the Mind of a Killer,” hosted by FBI profiler John Douglas; and the four-minute featurette “Anthony Hopkins: Lecter & Me.” Also included are a 14-minute “Inside Red Dragon” making-of featurette, music score commentary by composer Danny Elfman, seven deleted scenes, four alternate versions of scenes, and three extended scenes (all with commentary by Ratner, Tally, and editor Mark Helfrich), production notes, cast and filmmaker biographies, and DVD-ROM features. Disc two features the 39-minute making-of featurette “A Director's Journey” (from preproduction to the NYC world premiere), the four minute audio-less “Brett Ratner's Untitled Student Film” from his NYU days, four minutes of narrative-less visual effects segments, 12 minutes of screen and film tests (with commentary by Ratner, cinematographer Dante Spinotti, and special makeup effects artist Matthew Mungle), a brief makeup application segment with narration by Ratner and Mungle, four minutes on “The Burning Wheelchair” stunt, four minutes on set design for “The Leeds' House Crime Scene,” storyboard comparisons for four sections, and trailers. Bottom line: a whopping extras package for a less-than-stellar entry in the Hannibal the Cannibal films.] (R. Blackwelder)