'Red Dragon' pales next to the original

This piece of the Hannibal Lecter puzzle can't compare to 'Manhunter.'
By MILAN PAURICH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
Why remake a movie -- in this case, Michael Mann's 1986 masterpiece "Manhunter" -- when it's already close to perfection? Although Brett Ratner's "Red Dragon" (based on the same pre-"Silence of the Lambs" Thomas Harris novel as "Manhunter") is a slickly crafted, generally well-acted mainstream thriller, it still can't hold a candle to Mann's version.
It does, however, restore dignity to both Hannibal Lecter and Anthony Hopkins after last year's disastrous "Hannibal." For that reason alone, maybe it was worth cloning one of my all-time favorite psycho killer nailbiters after all.
In "Manhunter," Lecter (memorably played by Brian Cox) was a glorified supporting role at best. The biggest and most controversial change in Ratner's version is beefing up Hannibal-the-Cannibal's screen time to the point where he's practically a co-lead.
For starters, "Dragon" opens with a flashback of how FBI agent Will Graham (a disappointing Edward Norton) captured Lecter and first put him behind bars. It's the best sequence in the entire film and one that's noticeably absent from Mann's telling of the story.
Sensibility
The biggest difference between the two films, though, is really one of sensibility. Mann's directorial signature -- most recently on display in the undervalued "Ali" -- has always been cool, hyperstylized and vaguely abstract. "Manhunter" was made when Mann was riding the crest of his "Miami Vice" success, and at times the movie almost plays like the greatest episode of "Vice" never made.
Ratner, creator of the mediocre "Rush Hour" flicks, is the more pedestrian director and, not surprisingly, so is his movie.
The plot
Here's a quick recap of the plot for anyone who hasn't seen "Manhunter" or read Harris' book: Retired federal agent Graham is persuaded by his former boss (Harvey Keitel) to come out of seclusion and help nab a serial killer who's already murdered two entire families.
Because of Graham's almost precognitive abilities, he might be the bureau's only hope of stopping the fiend before he strikes again.
Lecter becomes involved in the case when Graham pays the not-so-good doctor a visit to see whether he can provide any insight into the mind of "The Tooth Fairy" (Ralph Fiennes). What Graham doesn't know is that Lecter has been feeding "Fairy" Francis Dolarhyde information about his wife and son.
The scenes between Fiennes and Emily Watson as his blind photo lab co-worker are as weirdly touching as they are suspenseful, even if I still prefer Tom Noonan and Joan Allen from the '86 movie. Also very good is Philip Seymour Hoffman as a sleazy tabloid reporter whose interest in the "Tooth Fairy" proves to be his undoing.
Norton, alas, is a poor substitute for "Manhunter"'s terrific William Petersen. Where Petersen was intensely brooding and virile, Norton is merely callow. He's like a teenager in a high school play trying to imitate Petersen's performance.
Same cinematographer
Ratner's most curious choice was hiring "Manhunter" cinematographer Dante Spinotti to shoot "Red Dragon." Fortunately, the two films look nothing alike.
Ratner's smartest move -- besides encouraging Hopkins to tone down his vaudevillian antics from "Hannibal" -- was allowing Danny Elfman to channel the ghost of Alfred Hitchcock's favorite composer Bernard Hermann while writing his score.
It's the classiest thing about this otherwise fairly ordinary movie.
XWrite Milan Paurich at milanpaurich@aol.com.