The Godfather is a riveting film, completely immersing the viewer in the world of organized crime. One of the best movies ever made. Its sequel feels overly long and tedious, with characters and situations I didn't care about. The empathy for Michael Corleone has been drained completely, and with the exception of Tom Hagen, none of his underlings is nearly as interesting as those from the first film. Michael's antagonists are also uninteresting. The dullest character is Hyman Roth, who has NONE of the menacing charisma of the gangsters from the first film. The first film is steeped in Italian culture and family relationships, giving the characters a dimensionality that's completely missing from that of Roth. Lee Strasberg's performance is utterly lifeless. Watching him is like watching paint dry. I will say that the sequences with Robert DeNiro depicting the rise of Vito Corleone are good, but they don't make up for the boring aspects of what happens to Michael.