The Godfather: Part II

Rating: 9/10 (17 October 2008)

Michael Corleone: "There are many things my father taught me here in this room. He taught me: keep your friends close, but your enemies closer."
Francis Ford Coppola's legendary continuation and sequel to his landmark 1972 film, The Godfather, parallels the young Vito Corleone's rise with his son Michael's spiritual fall, deepening The Godfather's depiction of the dark side of the American dream. In the early 1900s, the child Vito flees his Sicilian village for America after the local Mafia kills his family. Vito (Robert De Niro) struggles to make a living, legally or illegally, for his wife and growing brood in Little Italy, killing the local Black Hand Fanucci (Gastone Moschin) after he demands his customary cut of the tyro's business. With Fanucci gone, Vito's communal stature grows, but it is his family (past and present) who matters most to him -- a familial legacy then upended by Michael's (Al Pacino) business expansion in the 1950s. Now based in Lake Tahoe, Michael conspires to make inroads in Las Vegas and Havana pleasure industries by any means necessary. As he realizes that allies like Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg) are trying to kill him, the increasingly paranoid Michael also discovers that his ambition has crippled his marriage to Kay (Diane Keaton) and turned his brother, Fredo (John Cazale), against him. Barely escaping a federal indictment, Michael turns his attention to dealing with his enemies, completing his own corruption.
Review Although not as good as the first Godfather but a masterpiece nonetheless. The second chapter of the Corleone crime family is part prequel and part sequel as it chronicles the rise of a young Vito Corleone, played by a very young Robert De Niro, to Godfather status. The sequel part on the other hand tells of Michael's growing power over the Corleone crime organisation as he expands his grip from Nevada to 1950's Cuba.
A lot of people claims that this film is superior to the first Godfather but I beg to differ. I still find Godfather the best ever and this one coming in at a close second. With the absence of the movie magic that is Marlon Brando as the titular gangster, the backbone and spirit of Part II is just lost but at the least a very young and then unknown Robert De Niro gave justice to the Vito Corleone character and quite possibly one of his greatest performances of all time. What tops this cinematic milestone is Al Pacino as he leads a power house cast to greatness. From Robert Duvall to Diane Keaton and a terrific John Cazale, the powerhouse acting is one of the finest I've seen. The plot is more complex and involving the second time around as it delves deeper into the Corleone's family origins and it never gets boring and overly long as some people have suggested.
The Godfather II is a cinematic milestone. Highly recommended.