The godfather of movie sequels

Rating: 9/10 (14 November 2014)

The Godfather is one of the best films ever, so what can we expect when a follow up is attempted? A contender for the best sequel ever of course. This has 2 parallel time lines: Flashbacks showing the young Vito Corleone rising to power and the continuation of the first film showing Michael Corleone handling both business matters and his personal life. It shouldn't have been as good as it is, but it knocks most sequels ever made into a bin liner. It's not quite as brilliant as some say it is. It's a bit too sprawling and tries to pack too much in. While the length in the first was excessive but just bearable, the second one has a bit too much. It can be a bit confusing and dips, but rarely. Otherwise, this sequel has it all: Amazing acting from everyone, even better direction from Francis Ford Coppola than the first and a powerful, moving screenplay. The final hour of the film is perfection and the last shot of Michael sitting alone in isolation, having lost everyone, has more emotional power than most films would squeeze into a ten minute monologue.
Al Pacino gives one of the best movie performances of all time and it is a total outrage that he wasn't nominated for an Oscar. Everyone else is great. Although the script is a bit sprawling, it gets a lot done and is very powerful. Many of the scenes of assassinations are suspenseful and at times genuinely heart breaking. I didn't understand what was so great about Robert De Niro's performance, but you can certainly see Marlon Brando in his acting. Coppola's direction is less subtle this time and he shows even more of his directional brilliance. Some of the scenes, visually, and utterly phenomenal. It's darker, raises the stakes and expands the story like a sequel should. It's a moving, sobering story about power and how corrupting it is. In terms of sequels we could hardly have asked for a better follow up. Aside from the excessive length and the fact that it makes the memory of Al Pacino humiliating himself in Jack & Jill even more painful, this is a sublime sequel and one which set the bench marks for all other sequels.
9/10