Where Ratner scores most highly, however, is in his attention
to detail, staying loyal to the book throughout, despite getting
things started with something new - the capture of Lecter.
By adding Graham’s costly incarceration of the evil genius,
viewers are immediately confronted with a different type of
scenario when the investigator goes back to visit him - so whereas
Clarice Starling’s respectful fear of Lecter stemmed from
the killer’s reputation, Graham’s is borne out of
personal experience.
It adds a new dimension to the cat-and-mouse game Lecter likes
to play with his opponents and the scenes between the two are
every bit as electric as those between Hopkins and Jodie Foster.
Ratner also lends proceedings a suitably creepy feel throughout,
placing viewers on the edge of their seat and refusing to let
them relax, while toying with their psychology just as mercilessly
as Lecter does his opponents. This is a film which trawls the
mire of human existence and leaves you feeling suitably grubby
as a result, while also delving into the obsessive nature of
both serial killers and the men who must catch them.
Performance-wise, the movie is also spot on, with Norton confirming
what a terrific young actor he is and ably supported by the
likes of Harvey Keitel, as his FBI superior, Jack Crawford;
Philip Seymour Hoffman, as the sleaziest of journalists; and
Emily Watson, as a blind woman who befriends Fiennes’ Francis
Dolarhyde.
But it is Fiennes who makes the biggest impression, abandoning
his usually dashing persona, to turn in a genuinely disturbing
performance as The Tooth Fairy, a disfigured, tormented freak
whose killings mark a transformation into the Red Dragon of
the title.
He, above all, helps to ensure that Ratner’s film reverts
back to providing the style of psychopath which made Silence
of the Lambs such uneasy viewing - a killer every bit as terrifying
as the real-life counterparts on which he is based, without
ever succumbing to the overly exploitative methods of standard
Hollywood fare.
Ratner should be applauded, for this one dazzles from start
to finish, while providing the type of footnote that is a movie
buff’s dream.
