The Godfather Part II

⭐10/10

Again, I don't need to tell anyone that this movie is a masterpiece. However, unlike part 1, I was really thinking that this one would fall short of the original. It has been at least a decade since I've watched it and forgot most of the details, and my primary thought while watching was that it was a beautifully shot movie with awesome locations, that it features awesome actors giving compelling performances, but ultimately that it was too long and the main characters too tiresome. I thought it lacked the sun that was Marlon Brando that everything else could orbit around. 

The ending of this movie proved me wrong. Spoiler warning for both 1 and 2. 

I'll try to keep this a little more brief because nobody needs my thoughts on this movie in 2026, but yeah, my main complaint was that Michael was too unlikeable and his insistence on certain principles too tiring to hold me for over 200 minutes of a movie. He's a terrific character, and that glower is unmatched in cinema, but he lacked that gravity that Vito Corleone has. The whole attraction of these movies is that while we know that these are evil men who do violence for profit, we can't help but also respect or even admire them because they have a code and many admirable traits. Vito doles out justice to a rape victim when the state fails to, or protects an immigrant at risk of being deported. The audience loves him the way the characters do, because he is a good friend who keeps his word. 

On the other hand, Michael is mostly committed to beating out his rivals and settling petty scores. Even the final scene of 1 is powerful because although it is brutal, it feels just. That all starts to slip away with this movie and it felt like it was losing its identity. Turns out that's the whole point. In part 1, the concern is if anyone can ever replace Vito, and Michael surpassed him in a way. In part 2, you see it's his lack of humanity is what is lacking, and not strategy or power of persuasion. It leads to the most heart-wrenching, infuriating finale as Micheal ascends to his throne over his empire of dirt, gaining the world and losing his soul. It is so beautifully, so remarkably done that I was ashamed I ever doubted the movie. Again, these movies aren't exactly subtle with their motifs, but they are done in such a way that make you feel smart for watching. Those final 30 minutes hit me hard. 

So that's the main thing, but there are obviously a million things going on that make this movie awesome. Again, it's beautiful with locations all over. The musical themes are great as ever. I thought that Diane Keaton as Kay and John Cazale as Fredo were again phenomenal as the heart and soul of this movie, especially Cazale who I shed a tear over. I didn't even mention the flashbacks which I think were a terrific parallel to the primarily plot, seeing the empire built on one hand and destroyed on the other. I almost think the movie could have been a masterpiece without it, but it's a nice, bold piece of storytelling that works amazingly well leading up to the finale. 

So the Godfather movies. Good ones. I'm surprised nobody else has heard of these. I'm not sure which one I prefer as they feel pretty different, but that gut punch in this one was something else.