Sequel + Prequel = monumental film-making

Rating: 10/10 (10 February 2005)

Francis Ford Coppola came perilously close in this film to accomplishing something rarely, if ever, done: he nearly made the second movie revolving around a particular set of characters and themes better than the first.
In the truest sense of the word, Godfather II is NOT a sequel, nor was it intended to be. What Part II does is fill in details about Don Vito Corleone's arrival in America and rise to underworld power. That story was told by Mario Puzo in the novel, but involved too lengthy a story to include in the 1972 film. Coppola and Puzo did the next best thing: they told the prequel, the rise to power of Don Vito Corleone (Robert DeNiro) and then appended to the prequel the story of the Corleone family subsequent to Michael's gangland triumph at the close of the first film. "Appended" should not be taken to have a pejorative connotation. There is certainly nothing slapdash about the tale of the Corleone family's fortunes following the obliteration of the rival gang leaders at the end of the first film.
Al Pacino is stunningly believable as the still-reluctant Don Michael Corleone. He wants to move the family business toward legitimacy, but in the end events compel him to "be strong for everyone" by taking down all of the family's enemies, even when one of them is his older brother Fredo (John Cazale, again brilliant).
Unlike the first film, Coppola does not pull off the same level of audience empathy for the Corleone family in the second film. Clearly the life of the crime boss is costing Michael everything while he gains all the power in the world. The first film is more equivocal on that point and also remarkably draws the viewer into a world where the Corleones can be viewed with some empathy. In Part II, Michael is far more cold-blooded and consequently a less sympathetic character. He seems less drawn into the vortex of organized crime by unexpected events, as was the case in the first film, and more the ruthless manipulator.
This is really two great films in one. Vito Corleone's rise to power is portrayed with subtle intensity by DeNiro, always observant and always absorbing important information from his observations. Those scenes really capture remarkably the story of Don Vito's early years woven by Puzo in the novel. Wrapped around that prequel is a marvelous continuation of the original story with remarkable twists and turns and deft uses of historical circumstances (Congressional racketeering hearings and the Castro revolution in Cuba). This is another magnificent film, and fitting second step in the Godfather story.
Don't end the story with the first Godfather movie. See them both. As for Godfather 3, well, if you really want to go ahead, but be prepared for a let down.