Red Dragon 2002

Glenn Lovell, San Jose Mercury News: Predictable and inert. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Red Dragon has been directed by Brett Ratner, he of the Rush Hour movies. If that's a step down from Jonathan Demme and Ridley Scott, it turns out not to be a very big one. Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: If you grew up with the original, it will remain your favorite for sentimental reasons, but if you come to the new version unbiased, it seems every bit as good. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: By staying true to Harris' novel, Red Dragon makes for compelling viewing. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: Wonderful performances and some really chilling moments. Read more

Susan Stark, Detroit News: In both the writing and cutting, it does not achieve the kind of dramatic unity that transports you. You end up simply admiring this bit or that, this performance or that. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: Red Dragon is less baroque and showy than Hannibal, and less emotionally affecting than Silence. But, like Silence, it's a movie that gets under your skin. Read more

Elvis Mitchell, New York Times: Just when you think the picture can't go any farther over the top, it finds a whole new peak to tumble over. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Frank Whaley and Philip Seymour Hoffman play minor characters so annoying they might as well wear T-shirts reading 'Eat My Brain.' Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Ultimately, Red Dragon is all about the cannibal, and Hopkins, with his unblinking stare and gracious manner, slips into the role like a favorite cardigan. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: This movie restores Hannibal Lecter's macabre fascination. It honors the character and Anthony Hopkins, not the Halloween costumes and campy catchphrases. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: This rush to profits has created a predictably efficient piece of business notable largely for its overwhelming creepiness, for an eagerness to create images you wish you hadn't seen, which, in this day and age, is of course the point. Read more

Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle: Red Dragon is closer in tone and story to Silence than to the campy, over-amped Hannibal. Read more

Paul Clinton (CNN.com), CNN.com: Achieves the near impossible: It washes the bad taste out of your mouth from the hideous sequel to Lambs, the despicable Hannibal. Read more

Steven Rosen, Denver Post: Manages to be both repulsively sadistic and mundane. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: A thriller made from a completist's checklist rather than with a cultist's passion. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: With one exception, the performances are certainly accomplished, yet no one truly shines, not even Fiennes. Read more

Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News: It's impossible to duplicate the shock of the 11-year-old Lambs, but the new film succeeds at creating nerve-tightening moments of suspense. Read more

Ron Stringer, L.A. Weekly: A bowel-curdling, heart-stopping recipe for terror. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: Limited tension, lots of laughs, just what you want from a psychological thriller. Read more

David Ansen, Newsweek: Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Like most motion pictures whose sole reason for existing is the almighty dollar, Red Dragon is poorly conceived and poorly executed. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: This movie, based on Harris' first novel, has studied Silence of the Lambs and knows that the action comes second to general creepiness. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: Anthony Hopkins? Big deal! We've already seen the prequel to The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal -- and it was better the first time. Read more

Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle: The actors have a good workout and Hopkins earns his enormous paycheck, but at day's end it all feels like a revved-up, market-driven rehash of a once-thrilling film. Read more

David Edelstein, Slate: The beats are the same, but the eerie vibe has been lost in translation. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: It's highly entertaining, fast-paced and ultimately without deeper meaning, just like most other Hollywood blockbusters these days. Read more

Geoff Andrew, Time Out: Where Mann and Demme steered the hokum away from dull genre generalities, Ratner's point-and-film literalness churns out a thriller by rote, shorn of the psychological dogfighting that distinguished the first two films. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: Ratner's faithful, immaculately appointed new telling of the inescapably creepy tale will be an intense, unnerving experience. Read more

Michael Atkinson, Village Voice: Red Dragon's formula is so risible and rote by now that the natural reaction to scenes of peril, torture, and suffering is flippant laughter. Read more