The Godfather Part II Review

Rating: 10/10 (27 February 2012)

"The Godfather Part II", made in 1974, is the sequel to the movie "The Godfather", made in 1972. It's the dark and tragic story of a Sicilian mafia family, the Corleones. It's an amazing film that I consider to be superior to the first and one of the best films of all time. It starts with a 9 year old Vito Corleone, A.K.A. 'The Godfather", the future head of the Corleone crime family. He is in Sicily at his father's funeral, who had been murdered by the local mafia. At the funeral Vito's older brother is also killed, and the mafia chief is determined to murder Vito too. His mother begs for his freedom, but the mafia chief knows that if he lets him go, Vito will one day come back for revenge. Vito's mother bravely picks up a knife and holds it to the chief's throat, allowing him to escape, but she is quickly gunned down. Vito then immigrates to New York and arrives at Ellis Island. The movie then flashes forward through time and the darker story of his son, Michael Corleone, begins.
The movie then starts to alternate between the stories of Vito Corleone as he rises in the New York Mafia in the 1920's, and Michael Corleone as he struggles to maintain his father's empire in the late 50's. So it acts as both a prequel and a sequel. I thought that this was the most interesting part of the film, because you see how Vito started with nothing and built an empire, while Michael starts with this empire and has to keep it all from crumbling. Another thing that you see throughout the film is the extreme transformation of the character of Michael. In just a few years, he had become more brutal and ruthless than Vito ever was. You see just how corrupted Michael had become when he does something at the end that is horrifying and unforgivable. That's the point when his job and corruption from power had driven him to do something that destroys his family and himself.
Another strong part of the film is its performances. The movie dominated the Academy Awards nominations for Best Supporting Actor/Actress, with Robert De Niro (Vito Corleone), Michael V. Gazzo (Frank Pentangeli), Talia Shire (Connie Corleone), and Lee Strasberg (Hyman Roth) all nominated for that category, and Al Pacino (Michael Corleone) nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Robert De Niro was the one awarded the Oscar, one of the many awards that the film has been given. Robert De Niro was also awarded an Oscar for his performance as the character). Al Pacino also did a great job of portraying the change of his character from the first film and throughout this one. He went from a young WWII veteran trying to break away from his family's "business" to being the country's most powerful mob bosses.
All of these things are what make the movie a masterpiece. It won many awards, including Best Picture at the 1974 Academy Awards. The characters are great, which is helped by the award-winning performances of the actors. The two alternating stories are what made the movie so much more interesting than the first. It's currently number 32 on the American Film Institute's 100 Years100 Movies list, and number 3 on IMDb's top 250 movies list. I agree with the reviews, and I think that it is one of the greatest films ever made.