I was pretty disappointed when they said they were filming this. Originally filmed as "Manhunter" (before "Silence of the Lambs"), without Anthony Hopkins, I thought the original was good and didn't warrant a remake--Hollywood just wanted to make more money off the Hannibal Lecter 'trilogy' (Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal). And after the not-so-great "Hannibal", I was expecting the worst. Although it looks like a shiny, expensive Hollywood film; it's really pretty good. Not as great as it's predecessors, but very watchable. Ted Tally returns as script-writer (he did "Silence..." as well), and he knows how to adapt Harris' novels--I just wonder why he didn't decide to adapt "Hannibal", which could have been much better. The acting is better than good, but I can't say great and I can't exactly put my finger on why that is. Everyone is good in their roles, although there's something about Watson's American accent that rubs me the wrong way and I think it hinders her performance a little bit (it's akin to Kate Winslet's in "Titanic"...ugh!). I don't think "Red Dragon" has the rewatchability as "Silence..." but it's still certainly good enough to watch more than once. I recommend it in addition to "Silence...", but "Hannibal" is skippable.
Review of Red Dragon
