---

I saw Red Dragon in the theater the day after it opened. I expected that the theater would be packed. However, there really weren't that many people there. I was surprised.

Anyway, I really loved the film. I am a huge fan of the Thomas Harris Lecter novels as well as the other two films. True, the film of Hannibal wasn't everything I had hoped it would be (I had been looking forward to seeing flashbacks to Hannibal's childhood like they had in the novel, but nooooo) but I am still a huge Lecterphile.

And Red Dragon is such a brilliant novel because it really is frightening and disturbing. When I first sat down to read it and I read one of the blips on the cover saying that it was frightening, don't read when home alone, etc. but I had foolishly disregarded that warning and read it anyway. And it scared me to death.

About last February I decided that I should see Manhunter. I liked it I suppose. In both instances, Munhunter and the current film, I feel that Graham is just too young. I always saw him as much younger. Oh well. At least in the current film we have Edward Norton. Mmmm...

So I loved this adaptation. There was not gratuitous Anthony Hopkins (not that it would be a bad thing but this is not 'Hannibal' and he is far from being the main character) but you just cannot beat Sir Tony.

Anyway, I had issues with the following:

* I don't care how much you try, you cannot make Ralph Fiennes even begin to appear disfigured.
* I don't feel that the 'catching Dr. Lecter' scene was as good as it could have been
* Phil got killed off far too quickly for my taste
* The ending was a little too glossed over (the shot of the boat I mean)

And I really enjoyed the following:

* The ending with Dolarhyde was true to the book and therefore, in my mind, very effective
* Tony Hopkins lunging at Ed Norton, saying 'oodles', and having a ponytail in the '80s
* Harvey Keitel
* The overall film

I will be purchasing this one when it is available on DVD although I fear for all the gratuitous (word of the day) featurettes that will be all about how Manhunter wasn't good enough so they just HAD to make this one for the artistic integrity of the trilogy and ignore the fact that they really just made it to make a shitload of money.

It is definately worth seeing for fans of Lecter. Fans of Phil might find that he is grossly underused in the film (and he is). Anyway, if you're given a choice between seeing Red Dragon and dying, choose to see Red Dragon.