The Silence of the Lambs is a complex horror/thriller involving an FBI agent formulating a relationship with an imprisoned serial killer for the purpose of gaining insight into another on the loose. The story was about the mind games, the psychological chess matches, that the characters played with each other. This sequel, in which Hannibal Lecter is on the loose again and Clarice must track him down, contains very little of that. This is not much more than a routine gruesome serial killer flick. The dynamics of the characters are reduced to simple cat and mouse games, and the dialogue is much more functional and less memorable than in the original. Anthony Hopkins adds a lot of class to this otherwise nondescript film, and Ridley Scott's direction contains some stylish touches and nice cinematography. On the other hand, neither the director nor the screenplay do this film any favors with the relentless gore and nauseatingly demented shocks. Shock is the easiest but least effective and least refined method of stimulating an audience, and here it is too much. How bad is the state of modern entertainment when what passes for it includes images of hogs and dogs eating people's faces off and other people eating themselves?