Carrying on from our last review, it is time to review not only another masterpiece under director Francis Ford Coppola´s belt, but what many people consider to be one of, if not the greatest film sequel of all time, The Godfather Part II. Now, this one is fairly interesting, since it is deemed by many as one of the rare occasions where a sequel is deemed better than the original, and while I can defiently see why, for me anyway, Godfather II isn´t really much better than Godfather I.

This does not mean it´s bad. Far from. It´s still a fantastic experience.

The main reason why I like it it´s because of the fact that, unlike most movie sequels, which just continue the story of the first one while expanding its universe and lore, Godfather II is both a sequel, showing Michael Corleone (still excelently portrayed by Al Pacino) succeding his father´s role as the new don and showing how this new role affects himself and the others around him, and a prequel, showing a young Vito Corleone migrating to New York and establishing his new business there and eventually becoming the mafia boss he became in the first one.

These stories are both wonderfully told and provide several improvements to Godfather I´s story, with the sequel part talking about several interesting themes about succession and toxic family tradition along with a well done documentation on the Cuban Revolution, fantastic cinematography, memorable death scenes that rival that of the ones in the first movie, great acting and a nice Miami setting to boot, with the prequel serving as a great origin story to Don Vito, my favorite character from the first one, whilst expanding on certain character traits of his and a great lead actor in the form of Robert De Niro.

This is all good fun and all, but for everything this sequel does right compared to the first one, it does unfortunately do one very thing weaker compared to the first one, and that´s its emotion. One of the main things I loved in Godfather I is how emotional all of its scenes were and how it made you sympathize with the mafia of all criminal organizations, and while this sequel tries its best, its emotional core is much weaker compared to that of the first one, as the characters aren´t as likable as the ones in the first movie and the death scenes are nowhere near as impactful, resulting in a much more sour experience than last time.

But overall, The Godfather Part II is still a must watch for anyone above 17 or 18, with a lot of what made the original Godfather so fantastic and having some new things to like about it. However, it is pretty weak in terms of conveying emotions, which results in a movie that´s not worse than the first one, but not better by any means; it´s just as good as the first one, which still means it deserves a 10/10.