Red Dragon (2002) ***1/2

I'm in the minority of people that prefer Brett Ratner's Red Dragon (2002) to Michael Mann's Manhunter (1986). While the 2002 film is assuredly flawed, I prefer Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter to Brian Cox's "Dr. Lecktor" and I find it to be a much more faithful adaptation of Thomas Harris' 1981 novel. Mann's movie is great as its own thing; it's just particularly "eighties". Even if it does feel a tad pedestrian at times, the tone of Red Dragon sits more comfortably with Jonathan Demme's The Silence Of The Lambs (1991) (review) and, to a lesser extent, Ridley Scott's Hannibal (2001) (review). RD has a (mostly) terrific (if a bit underutilized) cast and excellent cinematography by Dante Spinotti (who also shot Manhunter). 

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