I'm a big fan of Michael Mann - Heat would be a top ten fave of all
time for me. There are some films I haven't seen, so I decided to give
those a go. This is first up - Manhunter, a very cool little thriller
from the mid 80's. Based on the novel Red Dragon, it is the story of
former FBI Profiler Will Graham - asked back to help catch a killer on
the loose, after having retired because of injuries sustained when he
caught the notorious Hannibal Lecktor.
I've seen the Red Dragon film by Brett Ratner, so it was interesting
to see the original adaptation and how it compares. I haven't read the
book, so I don't know which liberties each film takes with the
adaptation. Both, in my opinion, are effective thrillers.
Lecktor doesn't feature as much in this as he does in Red Dragon, but
I suspect that is because by the time Red Dragon was made, Anthony
Hopkin's interpretation of Hannibal was very popular. It would have been
a major selling point to audiences and even the studio, given the
success of Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal before. Brian Cox's
interpretation, although brief, is very different to both others we've
seen since (Hopkins and Mads) - dare I say Cox is perhaps more visibly
aggressive than the other two.
I can't say this is better than the other, as they both offer a well
told story with excellent performances. All up, I'm quite pleased with
this entry in the Michael Mann filmography - and we know he just got
better and better after this.
Rating:
3.5 out of 5.
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