Despite maintaining the top notch performances and production, I felt this film was a step down from the original. My only real critique of the first film was that its scope was constrained by its screen time. Unfortunately this issue is even more pronounced in the sequel. Although it tacks on an extra 27 minutes, that runtime is now split between two stories, both of which are left feeling less developed than the original. The origin story of Vito Corleone in particular just doesn't have much to it (other than the aforementioned powerhouse performance of Robert De Niro). As an added downside, the intercutting of the two stories comes across as arbitrarily disjointed, as there is no direct connections to motivate the cuts.
Now, all of that said, there is still plenty to enjoy in the movie. To reiterate, Al Pacino's performance alone is worth the price of admission, and there are a handful of absolutely masterful scenes between him and Kay/Connie. As one final point of praise, the flashback final tag of Vito's birthday is a brilliant example of what I think these films have done best, capturing a naturalistic slice of the Corleone family.
Shout by SkinnyFilmBuffVIP 8BlockedParent2022-06-25T19:14:16Z
Despite maintaining the top notch performances and production, I felt this film was a step down from the original. My only real critique of the first film was that its scope was constrained by its screen time. Unfortunately this issue is even more pronounced in the sequel. Although it tacks on an extra 27 minutes, that runtime is now split between two stories, both of which are left feeling less developed than the original. The origin story of Vito Corleone in particular just doesn't have much to it (other than the aforementioned powerhouse performance of Robert De Niro). As an added downside, the intercutting of the two stories comes across as arbitrarily disjointed, as there is no direct connections to motivate the cuts.
Now, all of that said, there is still plenty to enjoy in the movie. To reiterate, Al Pacino's performance alone is worth the price of admission, and there are a handful of absolutely masterful scenes between him and Kay/Connie. As one final point of praise, the flashback final tag of Vito's birthday is a brilliant example of what I think these films have done best, capturing a naturalistic slice of the Corleone family.