What an impressive film. I rank "The Godfather: Part II" as the third greatest sequel I've ever seen, behind "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Toy Story 2." Like those two films, this sequel does not attempt to use the same structure and style as the original. Godfather II shows Michael Corelone's (Al Pacino) struggle to hold his father's crime empire together as he begins to abuse his power, and this is combined with flashback scenes showing how Vito Corleone (played excellently by Robert DeNiro in an Oscar-winning role here) came to form his empire. I don't even understand why I like the film so much, as it grows more depressing and disheartening as the film goes on. Nevertheless, it is amazingly brilliant nonetheless. At almost three and a half hours long, the film is not slow-paced at all. It moves along smoothly, yet it takes plenty of time to adequately convey both stories in great detail. The flashbacks are the real highlight of this film, and watching Robert DeNiro as he begins to gain power is engaging and very interesting to watch. It's amazing how much different Michael's character is in this film from the first one. This doesn't top the first film for me, probably because Marlon Brando, who made part I so great, is not in it. Nevertheless, this is easily the best picture of 1974, and the performances are some of the best I've ever seen.

***1/2 out of ****