It’s hard to review such a well-known movie as everything that’s needed to be said has already been said. But I’ll do my best.
The Godfather Part Two is director Francis Ford Coppola’s follow-up to the hugely successful first movie, which was based off of Mario Puzo’s novel of the same name. Still drawing from the book as inspiration for the Vito Corleone storyline - played here by Robert de Niro - Coppola and Puzo invent a story for Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone, specially for the screen.
It’s best to look at the storylines as two halves. The prequel storyline follows Vito Corleone’s early childhood and the beginnings of his rise to power and notoriety. De Niro doesn’t need to do too much here as it is the action that drives his narrative thread, rather than his acting. Yet, it is this half of the story that is far more interesting.
Vito’s narrative arc is something that has been done a thousand times, but Coppola brings a whole lot of skill and style in order to make it feel fresh. Don Fanucci (Gastone Moschin), the local mobster and collector of Vito’s neighbourhood, is the stepping stone Vito needs to overcome in order to gain a reputation and, ultimately, respect.
The assassination sequence of Fanucci is shot gloriously. Set against the backdrop of a carnival, Vito tails Fanucci from the rooftops as Fanucci delights in the childish wonders of the passing floats. A puppet show depicting two knights fighting is something Fanucci ironically finds ‘too violent for me’. It culminates in Vito, holding a gun wrapped around his arm in a towel, confronting Fanucci at his doorstep. The towel setting alight after the gunshots is just an extra detail that adds so much.
Michael’s storyline combines several fascinating elements that feel they need more time to develop. Not only is he dealing with the responsibilities his father once had, but there is a rat in his organisation, his business partners are untrustworthy, he is being investigated by a Senate committee and of course, he has marital problems. The Senate investigation sequences are exquisite but those especially seem to come out of nowhere and feel they could’ve held a movie in itself. Diane Keaton’s Kay, Michael's’ wife, also turns in a performance that is ultimately underutilised.
Not just a satisfying sequel, but one of the greatest mobster flicks of all time. It doesn't quite reach the heights of the first movie, but it ups the drama in the right ways.
Score: 81/100