Part II continues where The Godfather left off. The Corleone crime family has moved to Las Vegas and Michael (Al Pacino) has to deal with problems, professional and personal. He is the target of a hit and must find out who was behind it. While this is going on, we learn the origin story of father Vito (Robert De Niro) in flashbacks. He comes to America as a boy and tries to be a good man by standing up to thugs and bullies.
It had been a couple years since I saw the original and it wouldn’t do to watch the sequel without rewatching it. The original completely holds up to a second viewing and the story makes more sense to me. What seemed like a series of events proved to be carefully connected. I would guess rewatching the sequel would have the same effect.
Like the original, Part II looks wonderful. The tone, the colors, the cinematography, the score were absolutely on point. I found the comparison between Vito as a young man to what Michael has become very interesting. When compared to the first, it is a worthy successor and a must watch. However, it does not quite have the same gravitas, and at almost a half hour longer, it dragged a bit.
I feel Vito’s backstory could have been separated out as its own 90 minute film. That would keep the principle story to around two hours. The problem with that is how well the two stories compliment each other. I thought the film’s structure was dictated by the book but apparently most of the screenplay is original.
Don’t think I’m saying that Part II not a great film in its own right. It is. But the first was more impactful, and the scenes and lines people remember are from it. This is a continuation of the same story, isn’t quite as compelling, and longer. It’s tough to be compared to IMDb’s number 2 film. AMRU 4.
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