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I get told to 'send more fan reviews', I listen, since I love spouting my biased opinions!  Here we go.

I'm a huge, diehard, obsessive fan of Tony Hopkins (he's second on my list of favorite celebrity men of all time --Phil being first, naturally).  I also love Doctor Lecter as a character, though I don't particularly like Thomas Harris's books. 

I've seen 'Manhunter', I've read most of the RD book (tried to get through it three times, eventually gave up when Freddy Lounds dies); was incredibly bored by both (though I love 'Hannibal' and 'Silence of the Lambs').  Even so, I'd been waiting for 'Red Dragon' for what feels like a year.

I was so giddy about the movie (and paranoid that it would be sold-out), I bought my tickets yesterday morning, as soon as the theatre opened.  I wasted as much time as I could (I remembered I was student for a few hours, and actually got some studying in), and arrived at the theatre about forty-five minutes early.

Right, now on to my opinion of the movie itself (beware of spoilers)!  I loved that we were finally shown the details of the infamous dinner (which was mentioned in the other two movies) --Tony Hopkins with a ponytail was perfect.

I really liked the way Graham and Lecter's first scene (in the flashback) was done --having read the book, I knew what to expect, but I still jumped when Graham got stabbed. 

When reading the murder descriptions in the book, I didn't think much of it: the details didn't creep me out.  Seeing it onscreen was another thing entirely --when I first saw the glass shards in the victims' eyes, it looked so surreal that I think I permanently dented the skin of my friend's hand by grabbing her with my nails.

I've never been much of an Ed Norton fan, but he was amazing --he made sense in the role, and I finally understood why my friend is in mad lust with him.  He made Graham a sympathetic character (unlike William Petersen did in 'Manhunter'), and I really wanted him to live, despite my bizarre affection for Francis Dolarhyde.

Ralph Fiennes was wonderful.  It was the first time I'd ever seen him in anything (that I remember), and he's grown on me already.  I didn't really care that we saw him naked (even though I didn't mind those scenes), though I really enjoyed his accent.

Anthony Heald (Doctor Chilton) kicks severe ass, as usual. 

As for the ending, I thought it was a little too clean --It wasn't very tense, and I was a bit disappointed with the way it all got cleared up.  The way it connected with 'Silence' was great.

Now to get to the important part of the review!  Phil was excellent (when isn't he?) when we actually saw him.  He was onscreen long enough to convey his character's snootiness, and also make us (or, me) like Freddy.  Maybe I'm just totally biased to the PSH, but he was awesome.  I loved his death scene --mainly how realistically emotional he got when sitting around in nothing but his underwear (notice how I made a subtle point, there --Phil is almost naked in one scene.) 

I don't think Freddy's death scene was my favorite of all three PSH death scenes, but it was very cool (even though I was whining about the lack of PSH throughout the rest of the movie).

It wasn't the best Hannibal movie, in my opinion ('Hannibal' is my favorite, for reasons I can't really explain), but I liked it just fine.  My only big gripe (other than the severe lack of PSH scenes!) is that it wasn't very scary after the first twenty minutes.

It's worth seeing, if you need some decent entertainment, and/or if you need some new PSH. 

-- Wendy