In 1972, Francis Ford Coppola directed the film, The Godfather. It told the story of a family that was involved with the mafia. The son that came home from the war was given a job to look after the family after his father died. In the end of that movie, his own son became the new godfather. Now comes The Godfather: Part II. But, before I start my review on The Godfather; Part II, let me tell you about my rule of thumb on sequels. For many years, sequels have been trashed, criticized harshly and been disowned. Audiences do go to see sequels, but they don't understand the concept of a great or good sequel. So, I will turn your attention to my review of The Godfather: Part II. The movie tells us two story lines, one showing us how the original godfather, Vito Corleone, came to America in the beginning of the 20th century and one telling us the story of Michael Corleone, taking over his father's empire. Corleone, in a younger age, is played by Robert De Niro, who won a Best Supporting Actor in 1975 at the Academy Awards, and his journey in New York leads him into becoming the godfather of the original film. But even though this is a sequel, this movie is actually a prequel to the original film. Corleone's story is one of the main points of the movie and how he rose to power over the years before 1958. The other main point involves his son, Michael, played by Al Pacino, coming into play as being the godfather after his father dies in the original and in this movie, he takes on his father's job, where his relationship with his wife, played by Diane Keaton, takes a toll and he begins to experience the life of a matriarch, more specific, a hard-working matriarch. Pacino in this movie give a memorable performance in this movie and also in the original. But, there's something different about Michael Corleone. He's more powerful than the original film. If you remember the first movie, you'll realizes that he didn't want to be with the family, or be involved with the family's business because he wanted to live his own life. But, when his father died, however, he accepts the role of being the new godfather. To me, this movie is ranked pretty much up to the original, but this sequel and some sequels are bad and some sequels are good. The Godfather: Part II is a great sequel, more far-reaching than ever and much more in depth with the original. Why is it that great of a sequel? Well, first of all, the movie takes the characters to a new place and have them go on a different scenario in which they can drawback to the original. The business that Michael gets involved with in Cuba in 1958 is well-told. The drawbacks in this movie relies on flashbacks from Don Vito's early career in the early 1920's and 1930's. The movie features some of the other family members of the Corleone's clan, like Tom Hagen, played by Robert Duvall and Sonny Corleone, one of the Corleone sons, played by James Caan. To me, those flashbacks builds up the supporting parts that made The Godfather great. Not only great, but also revolutionary. If you put all of the pieces together, than you got yourself an epic story of one man, who was poor as a little boy from Italy, grow up and became inventive with his ideas and made himself an empire of his own people and his own family. His actions were direct and his journey was worth watching. It's amazing that audiences will buy a movie like this and see it and go to the movies to see this movie and not understand the supporting backdrop to The Godfather. Coppola directed this movie and amazingly, he won an Oscar for Best Director and the movie itself won Best Picture. The Godfather: Part II was the first sequel to every win an Academy Award. Even though I am not a member of the Academy, my opinion this movie is that it fully deserved the Oscar and does make sense for its story-telling and its magnificent scope of Don Vito's life. The transformation is far more superior than other movie character every to be told or made. The enormous ground-braking history behind the two Godfather movies brings out the American Dream. The two other movies is not about living in the American Dream, where you can pursue happiness and live life. The American Dream in the two Godfather movies is more different than what one's will say. The truth is that the American Dream consists of hard work and dignity. Anyone can pursue the American Dream, but only one will succeed by pursuing their own journey and making the best out of something giant. Giant like the empire Vito build on. It's more than a mob story. The Godfather: Part II is a great movie, with more in depth information amongst the characters and story-telling at its finest. ★★★★ 4 stars.