At 200 minutes, the second installment in the timeless "Godfather" saga is the longest. And it just isn't quite as good as the delectable original. That being said, it definitely ranks right up there. With a broader, more epic storyline showing the parallels between father Vito (Robert De Niro in his best performance yet) and son Michael (the always, in these films, spot-on Al Pacino), GP2 fascinates audiences with its ingeniously undetectable staging and darker story (Kiss of Death and all).

It looks and feels only slightly different from the original, but the difference is good. This is not an attempt to capitalize on its predecessor. Nor is it an effort to repeat that classic. It is simply an expansion of the saga, another bookmark in the great tome of American cinema. And nothing any nay-sayer can... well, say, can change that.