Excellent continuation of the classic saga

Rating: Null/10 (16 March 1999)

I do not like The Godfather Part II as well as the original, if only because the shift in focus from the subtle machinery of the Corleone family business to the historically inspired (Kefauver hearings, collapse of the Batista regime in Cuba) episodes shortchanges the elegant simplicity of the first film. We have already witnessed Michael's incredible transformation from "civilian" war hero into hard-as-steel overboss in the original, and this makes his character less interesting to me. I do not wish to suggest that Part II is not a good film. On the contrary, the intercutting of the Vito Corleone story with Michael's trials, troubles, and challenges gorgeously punctuates the importance of family tradition so crucial to the film's thematic fabric.