You once told me: 'In five years the Corleone family will be completely legitimate.' That was seven years ago.

Rating: 8/10 (27 July 2013)

The Godfather: Part II is perhaps the most famous example of a sequel generally held in as high regard as its predecessor and it's easy to see why; where part I was about Michael's rise, this is about the fall which I think ceteris paribus makes for a better film. Personally I think it's probably slightly weaker than Part I due to the stories being a tad weaker and less focused. Being 25 minutes longer, one might think that it's grander in scope or more elaborate but it really consists of two less elaborate stories; in present time, we get to follow Michael Corleone's aforementioned fall, while a flashback chronicles his father Vito's rise to power during his formative years.
That being said, the two stories are interwoven and juxtaposed quite elegantly. Michael begins with getting his hand kissed as a newly appointed "don", and ends with him symbolically left alone at the kitchen table of a family dinner during a flashback. Vito starts at rock bottom, having been made an orphan and forced to leave Sicily for America, and ends up if not on the top, but then well on his way. As another contrast, we get to see shots of Vito's family (including Michael as a baby) flourishing right after Michael's marriage is falling apart.
Furthermore, Part II does contain some of the best stuff of the trilogy, especially towards the last half hour or so when all story lines come together quite beautifully; the marital breakdown of Michael and Kay. The conversation between Tom Hagen and Frankie Pentangeli followed by the latter's suicide. The visceral and character building scene in which Vito shoots Fanucci. And maybe the most striking of them all â€“ the calamity of Fredo's (John Cazale outplaying everyone in the impeccable ensemble) death, happening off-screen as if it was too cruel to show the viewers. Better or not, this is in all respects a fine continuation and expansion upon the previous film and unmissable for anyone who enjoyed Part I.