Godfather II Stunk

Rating: 4/10 (4 July 2007)

Godfather Two is Coppola's movie---and he had no instincts for the mafia. The Godfather author, Mario Puzo, objected to having Michael kill his own brother, but finally gave in to keep his share of the Hollywood millions.
Godfather Two has lightweights as heavies: the drunken New York mob guy and Hyman Roth can't compare to Barzini, Sollozo, and the other heavyweight bad guys of the original Godfather written by Puzo.
Godfather Two loses the atmosphere of the mob while it meanders lengthily into Cuba.
The main point that makes Godfather Two inferior is that it does not contain a single sympathetic character.The endless scenes in the Lake Tahoe home of Michael's are tiresome, dreary after a while, and lack interest as compared to the original Puzo story.
This movie shows a deterioration from the original, just as the mob has deteriorated in recent years.
Coppola had no right to think he could write his own Godfather, and his inferiority to Puzo when it comes to dealing with the mob shows up here in technicolor.
Meanwhile, poor Mario Puzo watched his story being degraded by the instinctless Coppola, objected at first, and then gave in. Pathetic.
The only scenes that actually ring true here are from the original Puzo book (the earlier life of Vito Corleone).
The contrast between the dreary Coppola script of Godfather Two and its dreary characters is brought home strongly by the final (flashback) scene where Sonny Corleone and the others are around the table. As soon as Sonny appears, everything comes to life.