Review of The Godfather Part II (1974) by Cameronius_113 — 05 Feb 2017

The Godfather Part II was released in 1974 and was directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It continues the story started in the 1972 film The Godfather and shows Michael Corleone's struggles with running the new family business after it is passed down to him, while also showing the rise of former Don Vito Corleone years before Michael took over.

Along with its predecessor, this movie is considered by many to be one of the greatest films ever made. When I watched the original film, I indeed thought it was great but probably not #2 on the list of the greatest films of all time. However, this film was practically everything I was expecting and wanted the first to be and I believe that this is one of the greatest films ever made. I can clearly understand why this movie has its spot at #3 on the list.

This is a movie that requires both attention and patience to fully appreciate and understand; the movie is nearly 3 and a half hours long but unlike most movies nowadays with that running time (The Hobbit for example), this film certainly needed to be the length it is for everything to work correctly.

The film (like the first one) is full to the brim with characters and, unlike most movvies nowadays with a huge cast (looking at you Batman v Superman), this movie handles the characters it has masterfully, giving each one their own unique qualities and giving them the attention they deserve and also a part to play. Because of this, each character is memorable; it's just a case of matching the name to the person which is why the movie requires your attention.

Of course, well-written characters would not be effective in the slightest without equally great performances from the actors and I am happy to say that The Godfather films have one of the best casts I have ever seen in a film. Al Pacino gives an amazing peformance as the lead character Michael Corleone and I found him to be much more interesting than he was in the original film. Robert Duvall was a great side-character as he was in the original film and also Diane Keaton delivered a great, much darker peformance than she did in the original film too.

One of the things I loved the most about this film was how much more in-depth the film went with the character of Vito Corleone; in the original film he was a respected figure and the only reason we too respected him was purely because he was just a wise man. However, this film explores the man he actually was and what he did for his people and now we know the reason people respect him, we have much more of a reason to respect him ourselves than we previously did. Robert De Niro's performance as the character was brilliant and he certainly lived up to that of Marlon Brando's.

What makes the story of The Godfather told in these two films special and why they have gone down in movie history is how human and relatable they are; the films are ultimately about relationships and trust, something all humans have had encounters with in their lives. The original film introduced us to this theme and showed some darker sides to it too. This film went and displayed the negative side of these themes entirely, focusing on betrayal as a main theme and loss of trust makes these characters far more interesting and human. Viewing the darker side of the relationships theme ultimately made this movie more interesting and overall better than the orginal film for me.

Overall, this was everything I was expecting the original to be and I believe that this is not only one of the best (if not THE best) sequels ever made but also one of the greatest films ever made. I would highly recommend this film, however definitely watch the original first as this will probably make no sense at all and also make sure to give your patience and attention to the movie too otherwise the experience will be nowhere near as effective. It's definitely worth your time.

8.