(Rated R. 131 mins.)
Break the silence. Break out the Chianti and fava beans! Only this time it’s feeding human “sweetbreads to the Baltimore Symphony.” Hannibal (Anthony Hopkins) returns to America and attempts to make contact with disgraced Agent Starling (Julianne Moore replacing Jodie Foster and succeeding). Starling is a the same smart-mouth DEA specialist from “Silence Of The Lambs” only she’s lost good judgement in using negotiations vs. firepower that results in five deaths. When Hannibal decides “to come out of retirement and back into public life”, Starling returns to her most celebrated case in tracking one of the FBI’s most-wanted, but in trying to find a lead none lead to him. How does she locate Hannibal? The usual way — via the hand lotion scent left on his letter to her sniffed out by a team of perfume experts that trace him to Florence, Italy. Yeah, sure. Back in the states, only one man (Gary Oldman) – the fourth victim — the rich one — the only one who ever survived Hannibal’s attack lives in a mansion/castle and has more antiques that Sotheby’s but can’t seem to afford the plastic surgery to repair his disfigured face. Oldman by the way, is right at home in this “Brams Stoker’s Dracula” role revisited. Ray Liotta as a corrupt rival who in the end gives new meaning to “guess who’s coming to dinner” and memorable of that fried egg commercial “this is your brain on drugs”. Ridley (Gladiator) Scott steps into the shoes of director Jonathan Demme for this sequel yet despite some nifty camera shots doesn’t match the style/eloquence of the first. And the fact that’s it penned by superscribes David Mamet and Steve “Schindler’s List” Zaillian doesn’t supersede Ted Tally (the original “Silence
