In the prequel to Silence of the Lambs we begin the movie by being able to watch the capture of Hannibal Lecter the cannibal that had haunted crime scenes by the FBI’s leading man in violent crimes Will Graham played by Edward Norton. This movie, which was already produced in the 1986, classic The Manhunter details the way things happened before Clarise showed up. Injured and hospitalized from his encounter Will decided to retire from the FBI and he leaves for a life of fixing boats in Florida. But when a new serial killer arrives dubbed the Tooth Fairy because of his tendency to bite his victims with his grisly teeth Graham is called upon again to try and solve the crime before more people die. With nowhere else to go he seeks the aid of Lecter once again as we see him imprisoned in the all too familiar settings of Silence of the Lambs. But is Lecter playing games with Graham and can he stop the madman before he strikes again.

One of the major differences between Red Dragon and Manhunter is that they try and include more scenes of Hannibal since most people will always associate him with Anthony Hopkins after his frightening display in Silence of the Lambs. Also the movie follows more closely to the original novel then Manhunter did. Many people will question why we love to see Hannibal so much since he is a serial murder and one of the more sick minds. It’s hard to not be entranced by Hopkins portrayal of the madman though. From his intellectual delights like opera and fine foods to his ever-pressing wit when we see him confronted by the FBI’s finest. Hopkins returns to more Silence of the Lambs type wit as he is character is better served with him in prison rather than free an on the loose. Red Dragon escaped from one of the things that made Hannibal such a great disappointment and that was by trying to be too overly visual and grisly in their scenes. Like Lecter these movies are better served with lots of wit and hints at the crimes then actually seeing them. I feel this movie returned more to the excellence if Silence of the Lambs as it is a more of suspense with just a few scenes of horror mixed in. Hannibal tried to be to much of horror movie where this is a suspense. I really enjoyed the movie almost as much as Silence of the Lambs. While some of the suspense is lost by us already being familiar with the characters it is still refreshing to see Lecter the way he is suppose to be. If you like Silence you will really like Red Dragon.
3.5stars out of 5