If you must see a Godfather film, see the 1st. Like #2, it's overrated and over-hyped, bot not nearly as much. Both are long films in need of more cuts, but 2 is like a film by a man who can't stop talking about himself and his friends.

The massive failing is the director gets far too much respect, as if he's a mafia godfather himself, so not nearly enough cuts are made, like Diane Keaton's awful acting. While it's easy enough to follow the 2 timelines, it's disappointing that because of the sloppy excesses of the main timeline, the 2 rarely tie together. Had it been up to me, I would have done only the early timeline as a prequel.

Pacino and DeNiro both deserve the acting credit they get. The whole film is filled with interesting, well acted male characters - probably what deceives many people into giving it excess credit. Unfortunately, great acting performances and characters don't add up to a masterpiece.