Undeniably excellent.

Rating: 10/10 (1 December 2013)

While I do consider it an outstanding movie, I don't love the original The Godfather and its prequel/sequel is actually a bit of a step back, in my opinion. The 200 minutes are a lot too long and get boring, even as I anticipatorily watched the movie on two consecutive evenings, and neither of the cross-cut story parts was as interesting and thrilling as the one the original movie had to offer. That isn't to say that The Godfather Part II skimps on entertaining and rememberable scenes; in fact, the movie's best moments may even be more rememberable than The Godfather's. However, a lot of the scenes in between are just too long and not really necessary – what would have been needed a lot more were additional explanation scenes as the panoply of characters grows even bigger through the story being set in two different times and the dialogues give more focus to being pointed and quotable instead of making what happens fully clear. This is indubitably important, don't let me be misunderstood, but the huge plot that Mario Puzo has devised for The Godfather is simply too complex and convoluted to be easily grasped without having read the source material. Nevertheless, The Godfather Part II is a cinematic masterpiece that is sovereign and seminal on so many different layers, such as the beautifully picturesque cinematography, the smooth editing, the meticulously conceived set design, the innovative and unforgettable score by Nino Rota, and the tremendous acting cast that is reflected in the five Oscar nominations for acting (a tied record). Thus, The Godfather Part II is an undeniably excellent motion picture that merely suffers from the director's attempt to put too much in just one movie.