Data
Title: The Godfather: Part II
Year: 1974
Length: 200 minutes
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Writers: Francis Ford Coppola & Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's novel
Starring: Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, John Cazale, Talia Shire, Lee Strasberg, Michael V. Gazzo
Music: Nino Rota
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (De Niro), Best Score and Best Art Direction/Set Decoration; Oscar nominations for Best Actor (Pacino), Best Supporting Actress (Shire), Best Supporting Actor (both Strasberg & Gazzo) and Best Costume Design; currently #3 on the IMDb's Top 250
My reaction
Synopsis: a crime boss defends his empire, and flashbacks show how his father got into The Family Business
How I saw it: on video a couple times, most recently yesterday (rented from Netflix)
Concept: Indifferent.
Story: Indifferent. Michael's story doesn't really have an arc; some stuff happens, then the movie stops.
Characters: Good. If it weren't a sequel, and what's in this movie were all there is to the characters, then they'd be pretty mediocre characters.
Dialog: Good. The only bits that really stand out are the references to Part I.
Pacing: Bad. It's not just long, but the lack of a traditional story means that if you're not checking the clock, you have no idea where you are in the movie.
Cinematography: Good.
Special effects/design: Great. Crazy spectacular.
Acting: Great.
Music: Good. It's a big step down from the first movie (like just about everything else in this movie).
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay). It's a fine movie, but I do not understand how people can compare it to the original (much less claim it's better). There's no real protagonist (Vito's too small a character to count, and Michael did all his developing in the first movie and is now just a heartless villain). There's only one scene with any emotional impact (the one between Michael and Kay), and that feels disconnected, like it's been transplanted form a different movie. There's no suspense. There's nothing to get me at all involved in the main story. What's all the fuss about?
Objective Rating: 2.7/4 (Good).
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