Simiply Brilliant

Rating: 10/10 (7 July 2008)

Sequels to Oscar winning films normally don't type out to be that good and end up being flops. Luckily The Godfather: Part II is just as good as the original. It is a bold mix of a sequel and a prequel, showing Michael Corleane's decline in character as he leads the Corleane crime family in the late 1950s/early 1960s, and showing Vito from a poor orphan Silian boy in 1901 and rises up the ranks of the Mafia from 1917 onwards.
Michael Corleane had been running the family for around five years and moved them to Nevanda. Things seem to be going well, he has political influence and is gaining money from legitimate means. But they are turning times ahead, having to deal with a conflict with a Jewish Gangster, Hyman Roth, a traitor within his ranks, the FBI and a Senate committee investigation. He is suffering family problems (both crime and personal) and is around during the Cuban revolution. Vito starts the film as a 9-year-old boy and all the male members of his family have been murdered by Don Cirrio, a powerful local Mafia chief in Silicy. He see his mother beg for mercy before getting killed by Cirrio's men and flees to New York. In 1917 the Italian neighbourhood he lives was run by local gangster, Don Fanucci. He gets tired of his iron fist rule and ends up murdering the man and taking his position. With that he becomes respected in the Italian community and a leading gangster and then looks for revenge for his family.
This a complex, well plotted film, with many aspects of Mafia life being looked at from a board time-period. It is well written, brilliantly directed, Francis Ford Coppala at his best, and some great acting. It also has some good quotes which I think are some of the best in the series, like the 'I know it was you' bit and 'You are not a friend and your are not a brother'.
The Godfather Part II is a great example of a gangster film and I believe that it approach of a sequel/prequel influenced other films like Infernal Affairs Part II and III. This was a very worthy Oscar winning film and I think that this film is just as good as the first. I don't know how it compares to Part III because I haven't watched it, but I haven't heard good think about it.