This film presents two parallel story-lines. The Prequel story-line is flashbacks of Vito, and the Sequel takes place a few years later after the events of the first movie, with Michael still in charge. Now I will admit this, when I first saw the film I found it very confusing, it wasn't much of the story-line, it was the fact that throughout the film, it constantly switches back and fourth between story-lines, which not only gets confusing, but it can also make you lose track of the plot for both stories. So to make this review less confusing, I'm going to review the two stories individually.
THE PREQUEL (VITO'S STORY)
The Prequel tells the story of a young Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro) slowly rising up to power. The story takes place in New York and Sicily from 1901 to 1927 and it is mostly spoken in Sicilian. It shows how Vito got to meet Peter Clemenza (Bruno Kirby) and Sal Tessio (John Apera). How Vito got involved in crime. The start of his cover up business "Genco Olive Oil". And reveals a haunting memory from his childhood in Sicily. The story covered up enough information about Vito's rise to power, but I always wanted to see more, like how did he meet Luca Brasi? How did he get to be part of the five families? How did Sonny, Tom and Fredo get into the business? Well, most of that information is explained in dialogue from the first movie and this movie (Michael's Story) and to be fair if they show too much of that stuff the movie will be twice as long as it already is. So yeah, I would love to see more, but the director covered enough information to perfectly show Vito's rise to power.
Aside from that how are the actors in this story? Robert De Niro's
performance as young Vito is just how I would picture him being young. He's
just as cool as Marlon Brando was in the first film. The way he acts, the way
he talks, the way he thinks, the way he looks, he literally made me believe
that he was Vito when he was younger. I think his best scenes is when he
finally has power, like the scene when he talks to the landlord, or the scene
when he comes face to face with someone who scarred him for life. Even when I
look at him he reminds me of Marlon Brando. If I was gonna choose who played Vito
the best, it would be a tie cause Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro both A++ the
role of Vito and surprisingly both won the Oscar for the character they played,
which never happened in Oscar History. Ironically, they didn't show up to
receive their award either.
The supporting cast members in this are excellent and believable. On my "Top 10 Movies and TV Programs I Reviewed in 2010" this is what I said about the actors in the first Godfather movie. “The actors in the film are the reason why the films so lovable. I mean they really bring the characters to life, the performances of Marlon Brando, James Caan, Robert Duvall, John Cazale, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, and an up and coming actor Al Pacino are just powerful performances. I know it's them, but they play their parts so well that I forget its them. Even the supporting actors who don't have too much dialogue or screen time still capture the realism of the characters. The actors, the story and the characters make us forget their bad guys; the only badguys in the film are the traitors and enemies. When I watch the wedding scene I'm not like, oh look it’s, the actors I've seen in other movies, I'm like, oh look, it’s the Corleones and that's a rare feeling I get when I see a movie.”. Same feeling I get when I watch this. When I watch Bruno Kirby as Young Clemenza I completely forget it's him. The rest of the cast literally do look like their character, especially the kids who played Vito's kids when they were babies, every time I see them I'm thinking "AWWW Look it's, Michael when he was a baby! Oh my god, that's Sonny!". They really pulled the casting off perfectly.
The Prequel definitely is just as amazing as the first film.
RATING 5/5
But what about the Sequel? The main reason why they made a second movie. Is it as amazing as the first film? Let's find out.
THE SEQUEL (MICHAEL'S STORY)
Times are changing for The Corleone’s. Michael (Al Pacino) now runs his Empire in Nevada and plans to expand the family business to Las Vegas and Cuba, with the help from a few old friends. However, Michael was almost assassinated in his home by his Fathers old business partner Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg), and Michael's own brother Fredo (John Cazale) betrays him. Michael is also letting his business get between him and his family, and is also up for trial as he's going to be testified by one his Father's old friends.
The story did get kind of confusing when I first saw the film, but I must honestly say they did a great job writing Michael's story specifically for the sequel. I also love the historical fiction plot about Cuba. In reality Cuba use to be a Gangsters Paradise, but when the Rebels took over that paradise it became a Communist Country. Just the idea of the Corleone’s having great business plans in that Country and lose it all due to The Revolution was just perfect. It wasn't just a huge problem for the Corleone’s, but it was also a common problem to a lot of Mobs as well. Also some of the characters are based on real gangsters. Hyman Roth for example is based on real life Jewish Gangster Meyer Lansky (which by the way called Lee Strasberg and congratulated him on a great performance, but wished Lee made his character more sympathetic). As a matter a fact, Moe Greene in the first film is also based on real life gangster Bugsy Siegel.
The acting is still as epic as the first film! Al Pacino still kept the character of Michael Corleone going, only this time he's a lot different than he was in the first film. If you thought he was cold blooded in the end of the first film well, he's worse in this one. His facial expressions and the way he acts, shows how he struggles to keep the business in order. He is also willing to kill anybody, even if it's someone he loves. He also starts losing trust in people, not just the traitors, but also the ones who have served him, respected him, and meant no harm to him. What really brings the darkness out of him is his cold eyes, good god when I see those eyes I just want to keep away from him, cause just looking at those eyes you can tell that he has no mercy.
The cast members from the first film also have changed a Little bit as well. Kay Adams (Diane Keaton) shows more emotions on how Michael has completely changed, even though at first she hides it, but you can still sense that she is losing her love for Michael. I think the most powerful Scene in the film is her confrontation with Michael, where she really sells out her feelings and regrets. John Cazale as Fredo has also changed his character. If you remember in the first film, we don't spend time with Fredo, all we know is he's not going to be next in line to be the new Don. Fredo now shows a side of how much he wants to be Don, he also shows a very emotional and sensitive side of how sorry he is for betraying Michael, even though he didn't mean to do it. The most epic scene between Michael and Fredo is the "Taken care of me" argument, that always makes me feel sad. The other returning actors play such as Talia Shire as Connie Corleone, Robert Devuall as Tom Hagan, Richard Bright as Al Neri (The Corleone’s New Luca Brasi), Tom Rosqui as Rococo Lampone (A loyal Henchmen to the Corleone’s) and Morgana king as Mamma Corleone, (which by the way we spend more time with her, then we did in the first film.), did a fantastic job with their performances as well.
The supporting cast also did an excellent job as well. Lee Strasberg as the scheming old man Hyman Roth (Which believe it or not is Al Pacino's acting teacher from "The Actors Studios") is just as threatening as Don Barzini was. How he plans everything out to destroy Michael is just genius. He even sounds threatening when people talk about him. When we see him, he acts so innocent that he couldn't hurt fly. He doesn't even seem like a threat, but if you look carefully and listen carefully you can actually sense the danger in him. Another performance I enjoyed is Michael V. Gazzo as Corleone Allie Frank Pentangele (Which was originally going to be Peter Clemenza). He absolutely reminds me of an old time gangster from the 30's, just the way how he talks about the good old days is like hearing it from a real gangster. He's also fun to watch, especially at the party sequence. Plus he has one of the Corleone’s top men Willy Cicci (Joe Spenlli) who has killed important men in the past as his right hand man.
The Sequel (Michael's Story) still has the epicness from The first film and from The Prequel (Vito's Story).
RATING 5/5
THE OVERALL
Godfather Part II really does feel like the 2nd half of The Godfather. The acting is incredible and the stories are epic. The Set design and the cinematography are also a sight to look at! The music still grabs the emotion and atmosphere of the film and of course the violence is just as cool and disturbing as the previous film.
OVERAll RATING 5/5
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