Review of The Godfather Part II (1974) by Alexander C — 07 Dec 2012
''If anything in this life is certain, if history has taught us anything, it is that you can kill anyone.''The early life & career of Vito Corleone in 1920's New York is portrayed while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on his crime syndicate stretching from Lake Tahoe, Nevada to pre-Revolution 1958 Cuba.
Al Pacino: Don Michael CorleoneRobert Duvall: Tom HagenDiane Keaton: Kay CorleoneRobert De Niro: Vito CorleoneIt's a very rare experience to see a sequel that lives up to it's predecessor, it's even less likely to see the two acting veterans, De Niro and Pacino, together in a movie although they never share screen time, we have to wait until Heat for that luxury.
The flashback sequences give us an insight into how and why Vito Corleone came to power featuring Robert De Niro as Vito. The acting is every bit as great as the first. Al Pacino still gives a great performance, like he did in the first, and the other cast members who came back from the first, including Robert Duvall and Diane Keaton, also give as great knock out performances.
The new actors also add to the greatness, though the following stand out as the best: Robert De Niro, Lee Strasberg and Michael V. Gazzo. The characters are well conceived. The mafia is portrayed as dangerous and not to be messed with.
The film has it's share of memorable quotes, but not really any scenes that were instantly memorable. All in all, a great film, but mainly because of De Niro and Pacino. De Niro absorbs Brando's part perfectly.
A masterpiece.
This review of The Godfather Part II (1974) was written by Alexander C on 07 Dec 2012.
The Godfather Part II has generally received very positive reviews.
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