The Godfather Part II (1974)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Written by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola

Prevailing critical opinion has The Godfather Part II as "the best sequel ever made" and overall better and deeper than its predecessor. I still have to give the nod to the original, but it's really just splitting hairs. All of the Godfather movies are great. Like the Star Wars movies, the Godfather series are sort of exempt from criticism. It's not that they don't have flaws, it's that the flaws don't matter. There's no point in arguing about the finer points of these films. It's like the ocean, which will always send waves crashing into the shore, and the ptarmigan, who will always change his feathers to match the climate. People will always love The Godfather series, and there's nothing you can do about it. People that don't love these films, well, kind of don't matter.

Let me say, I am always the first person to have a knee-jerk instinct to tear down old warhorses, especially ones prized by the old guard. I mean, I gleefully served up the severed horse head of Sgt. Pepper to all who would call it "important" and "classic." Now, that said, even I can't deny that The Godfather movies are important and classic. Great acting, great direction, great photography, great music, and a genuine place in history, a reference point for everyone. A masterpiece of 70s cinema, which was the best decade for movies (I mean, it gave us Hot Skin in 3-D, am I right? And, um, The Conversation or whatever).

Al Pacino's performance in this movie is a real wonder, as he takes Michael Corleone down an increasingly dark path, and you literally see how deadened and hollow he gets the further the story goes along. Everyone acknowledges Pacino as one of the greatest actors around, but he has rarely given a performance like this one& #133; as with Brando in the first one, this is a film to look at if you want to figure out why anyone gives a shit about Pacino to begin with. Talia Shire's great, Duvall is great, John Cazale is amazing as Fredo, and even De Niro is great.

Now, quit your crying. I make no bones about my anti-fandom of Robert De Niro, but we can at least agree that he's ideal in The Godfather Part II as young Vito Corleone. I have always contended that De Niro is not an actor, but rather a talented mimic, and I think this movie is exceptional proof of that point. De Niro made himself a star here by doing a spot-on Brando … but not the young Brando of On the Waterfront or One Eyed Jack's, rather a vividly imagined young "Don Corleone" from The Godfather … it's a time-travelling Rich Little impression. Nowadays De Niro collects paycheck after paycheck basically mimicking himself. Well, go on and love him, I still say he sucks. Uh, but he's good here at least.

All told, plenty to love about this movie: the epic scope, the cinematography, the intricate plots that have you suspecting everyone of duplicity (usually I only feel that way around my family…oh yeah, I forgot, I'm in the mafia too), the acting, the settings (Cuba, Miami, Tahoe). As with the first one, there's some slow spots, but even so, it's a movie that's easily digested in one sitting, like one of those goddamn Entenmann's cheese coffeecakes. Well what the fuck man, they're fat free, right? Who cares if they're 3,000 calories or whatever.

Review by Kenneth J. Loggins