A triple bill of Hannibal Lecter films. 'Red Dragon' (2002) is
Hannibal Lecter's (Anthony Hopkins) third film outing but is
based on the first Thomas Harris novel which introduced the
character. FBI agent Will Graham (Edward Norton) has retired with
his family to Florida after a near-death experience when he
tracked down and captured Lecter. However, when a new serial
killer, 'the tooth fairy' who kills whole families, is
discovered, Graham finds himself back on the force and asking for
Lecter's help. But the tooth fairy has been writing to Lecter and
Lecter cannot resist playing each side off each other, to such an
extent that Graham's family are to be the next victims. In 'The
Silence of the Lambs' (1990) FBI officer Clarice Starling (Jodie
Foster) is investigating a bizarre and gruesome series of
murders, carried out by 'Buffalo Bill'. The investigation steps
up a gear when the mayor's daughter is abducted. Starling turns
for help to incarcerated psychopath Lecter (Hopkins), who has a
penchant for chewing people's faces off. Given special privileges
in exchange for information, Lecter escapes, leaving two twisted
killers on the loose. Whilst in 'Hannibal' (2001) it is ten years
since the events of the previous film and FBI agent Clarice
Starling (Julianne Moore), recently in trouble with her superiors
over a bungled shoot-out, suddenly receives a letter from the
escaped Hannibal. It does not reveal his whereabouts, but after
many years of inactivity, it does announce his interest in
returning to the public domain. Clarice has the letter analysed
and begins scanning the internet, desperately searching for any
clues which will help her reach him before he strikes again.
Meanwhile, one of Hannibal's previous victims, the horribly
disfigured multi-millionaire Mason Verger, is also on the trail
of his tormentor, eager for revenge and the chance to introduce
the good doctor to his herd of specially-cultivated carnivorous
pigs.
From .co.uk
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Based on Thomas Harris's novel, Jonathan Demme's
terrifying adaptation of Silence of the Lambs contains only a
couple of genuinely shocking moments (one involving an autopsy,
the other a prison break). The rest of the film is a
splatter-free visual and psychological descent into the hell of
madness, redeemed astonishingly by an unlikely connection between
a monster and a haunted young woman. Anthony Hopkins is
extraordinary as the cannibalistic psychiatrist Dr Hannibal
Lecter; Jodie Foster is equally memorable as the vulnerable FBI
agent-in-training Clarice Starling. --Tom Keogh
Hannibal is set 10 years after Silence of the Lambs, as Dr
Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lecter (Anthony Hopkins, reprising his
O-winning role) is living the good life in Italy, studying
art and sipping espresso. FBI agent Clarice Starling (Julianne
Moore replaces Jodie Foster), on the other hand, hasn't had it so
good. The film is so stylistically different from its predecessor
that it forces you to take it on its own terms. Director Ridley
Scott gives the film a sleek, almost European look that lets you
know that, unlike the first film (which was about the
quintessentially American Clarice), this movie is all Hannibal.
Hopkins and Moore are both first-rate, but the film contrives to
keep them as far apart as possible. When they do connect it's
quite thrilling but it's unfortunately too little too late.
--Mark Englehart
Anthony Hopkins returns as Hannibal Lecter in Red Dragon, a
prequel to The Silence of the Lambs and a remake of 1986's
Manhunter, Michael Mann's fine film of Thomas Harris's terrific
book, in which Brian Cox carved the ham thinner as a more
menacing, less hokey cannibal. This film beefs up Lecter's role,
as FBI agent Will Graham (Edward Norton) consults Lecter on the
Tooth Fairy case, which means some pointed and familiar
conversations, and the film then shifts focus from the
investigation to the life and troubles of the mad and murderous
but also abused and sympathetic Francis Dolarhyde (Ralph Fiennes,
with a major tattoo and a harelip). It's hard not to compare the
current cast with Mann's excellent players. Still, Red Dragon is
a solid film of great material, with all the sudden shocks and
disturbing whispers in places. --Kim Newman