So this is something that ranks as #2 on IMDb... this time I think I have to face the fact that I'm totally disconnected from the vast majority of movie addicts. So take this review with a grain of salt: I'm an outsider, definitely.
I kinda liked the first Godfather, while not considering it as great cinema I found it engaging, well put together, with strong moments, all in all a good movie. Not so here. To me this was excruciatingly boring.
I actually liked the overture scenes very much. Then we leave Italy for the USA, and after 40 minutes I was still waiting for something to vaguely interest me. These endless contrived stories about the Italian Mafia (mob) have become such a cliché in movies that it's impossible for me to attend all this convoluted, ultra-codified stuff without getting successively amused, then annoyed, then plain bored. So when the cinematic and staging aspects are great, like in SCARFACE or ONCE UPON A TIME IN America, I just take that stuff for what it is, a genre film bound by rules, and enjoy it from the great acting, direction and purely cinematic elements (in De Palma's case -Scarface- the fabulous camera eye, in Leone's case -Once upon a time- the mindblowing psychological staging and the terrific cinematography).
Here the staging is mostly sloppy, long parts of the movie feels like it's been produced too fast, with poor cinematography and loose acting, some others are just as good as in the first movie but they're too scarce.
Pretty average, exploitative, complacent stuff for me. Sorry, I've seen so many movies that I need much more than that to be impressed. As far as classics goes, I'd rather watch "12 angry men" or "Le Procès" for the 30rd time than another of these cliché-ridden mob movies.
I kinda liked the first Godfather, while not considering it as great cinema I found it engaging, well put together, with strong moments, all in all a good movie. Not so here. To me this was excruciatingly boring.
I actually liked the overture scenes very much. Then we leave Italy for the USA, and after 40 minutes I was still waiting for something to vaguely interest me. These endless contrived stories about the Italian Mafia (mob) have become such a cliché in movies that it's impossible for me to attend all this convoluted, ultra-codified stuff without getting successively amused, then annoyed, then plain bored. So when the cinematic and staging aspects are great, like in SCARFACE or ONCE UPON A TIME IN America, I just take that stuff for what it is, a genre film bound by rules, and enjoy it from the great acting, direction and purely cinematic elements (in De Palma's case -Scarface- the fabulous camera eye, in Leone's case -Once upon a time- the mindblowing psychological staging and the terrific cinematography).
Here the staging is mostly sloppy, long parts of the movie feels like it's been produced too fast, with poor cinematography and loose acting, some others are just as good as in the first movie but they're too scarce.
Pretty average, exploitative, complacent stuff for me. Sorry, I've seen so many movies that I need much more than that to be impressed. As far as classics goes, I'd rather watch "12 angry men" or "Le Procès" for the 30rd time than another of these cliché-ridden mob movies.