De Niro makes "The Godfather: Part II" better than the original...

Rating: Null/10 (19 August 2003)

..."The Godfather: Part II" is probably the best sequel ever made. As you all probably know, the story is cut in two: one half focuses on Michael Corleone's (Al Pacino) battle to keep his power in the crime syndicate and the second focuses on Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro) - the character played by Marlon Brando in the original - and his rise to power in America. Both stories are done very well, but in the end the latter is more interesting. As everyone knows, Brando did a great performance and created a memorable character in the original, and it is very entertaining to watch De Niro give it a try. Except after watching this film some may agree that De Niro did a better job.
Unfortunately, Michael's story suffers from the loss of James Caan's character, Sonny Corleone. He spiced up the first very much, and it truly is disappointing to see him disappear from the second. Of course, Pacino still does an amazingly memorable (and villainous) performance. The supporting players, consisting of Tom (Robert Duvall), Clemenza (Bruno Kirby), Kay (Diane Keaton), Frankie (Michael V. Gazzo) and Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg) also do well.
Coppola scored big on this one, and De Niro and Pacino make it even better, 9/10.