Michael is following his father’s footsteps by being the new Godfather. Someone puts a hit on Michael and he wants to investigate and murder the person who is responsible.
Blaine: Paramount Pictures wanted to do a sequel to “The Godfather” after it became a box office hit, but Francis Ford Coppola thought different. He wasn’t interested in making another film. However, Paramount Pictures made Francis change his mind when they gave him complete control to do the sequel his own way. Paramount bothered Francis while he was making the first “Godfather” and that made it hard for him to focus. To have full control for the sequel sounded nice to Francis, not to mention he could put his creativeness to good use. Francis had an idea for how the sequel would go. It would focus on two different stories. Michael Corleone dealing with things as the Godfather and a backstory on how his father, Vito Corleone, became a mob boss. “The Godfather Part II” would also be more darker. Michael Corleone acts more dangerous in “The Godfather Part II” and he has nothing but a serious look on his face through the entire film. He’s a completely new man compared to how he was in the first “Godfather”. Michael is a man with power now that he is in charge of the mafia.
Vito’s story I find more interesting in “The Godfather Part II” than Michael’s situation. In the first “Godfather”, Michael started off as someone trying not to be in the family business and in “The Godfather II” it shows his father, Vito, going through something similar. All his life, Vito has had problems with the mafia. As a boy his whole family was taken away from him by the mafia and he had to escape from his home in Corleone, Sicily to the United States because they were going to kill him too. He started a new life and became a New Yorker. Vito managed to do well on his own growing up and he met the love of his life, Carmela. Problem is the mafia can’t stay out of Vito’s life. There’s this big mob boss, Don Fanucci, in New York and Vito sees him threatening people in his neighborhood. Vito’s job even gets taken away because Don’s nephew needs one. Vito wanted a peaceful life, but with someone like Don around he feels that can’t happen unless he takes care of it himself. Vito sneaks his way into Don’s apartment like a ghost and shoots him dead with a blanket covering his right arm that is holding the gun. Being a criminal was something Vito hoped he would never be and he realizes that killing a mob boss will make him one, but he feels positive about it and it doesn’t ruin his life because he still has his family. The mafia took away one family Vito had and he won’t let it take away the family he and Carmela have started. Vito may have killed people, but he has only killed those who are dangerous. It’s like he wants to create a world without the mafia. Vito even puts a knife through the chest of the guy who killed his father, mother and brother.
Robert De Niro had auditioned for the part of Sonny, in the first “Godfather” film, but lost the part to James Caan. When it came to the second film, he was offered the part of young Vito Corleone. Robert knew it was going to be a huge responsibility to take on a character that had become iconic. Robert looked through a lot of footage of Marlon Brando when he played Vito Corleone to study the character. Young Vito is different from Marlon’s take on the character. He speaks more clearly and Italian while the movie shows his story and Robert De Niro spent weeks learning the language and practicing it. Robert De Niro’s career was just getting started at the time and “The Godfather II” really helped by giving him his big break. Robert’s performance in “The Godfather Part II” won him an Oscar for best supporting actor. Both Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro won oscars for playing the same character, which made Oscar history.
Meanwhile in present times, which is the 1950s, Michael discovers his own brother, Fredo, was the one who put a hit on him and during a New Years Eve party, Michael gives Fredo the kiss of death. Michael is so ashamed that his own brother would want him dead. It was Francis Ford Coppola’s idea to have Fredo killed off and author Mario Puzo was for it on condition that it happen after Mamma Corleone’s funeral. Michael’s sister, Connie, tries to talk Michael out of killing Fredo. Michael makes a promise he won’t kill Fredo, but that doesn’t mean shit. Michael still wants Fredo dead.
Other than that, Michael’s marriage is falling apart, of course I didn’t see anything special about it. Michael’s wife, Kay, finally admits to herself that Michael is too dangerous to be around and she can’t go through with this anymore. She married a murderer. So Michael and Kay split and once again the door gets shut on Kay.
My dad said the ending to “The Godfather Part II” is one the best endings to a movie.
Blaine III: The first part of the ending was similar to the scenes in the first “Godfather” movie where everyone was a traitor to Michael (including Fredo) are murdered. Then it does a flashback to tell the story of how the Godfather had plans for Michael, legitimate plans (not in the crime family).. It shows how he had his own ideas of what he wanted, how he enlisted for the military in World War II and then he took his own course. And then there’s the brother being shot in the boat. I thought the light, very stormy and dark, was perfect to shoot that scene in. I liked how Michael was watching in shadow from his house as it happened, how you heard the shot, but they did not show Fredo, then you saw the guy who shot him standing up in the boat, alone, so he had been tossed overboard into the water. Really well done.
Blaine IV: People didn’t think much of “The Godfather Part II” when it first opened and that really concerned Francis Ford Coppola. But then he was hearing people on the streets saying how much they loved the film and thought it was better than the first “Godfather”. “The Godfather Part II” became a success in the end, it was just one of those movies that needed time to draw in people or let it grow on them.
“The Godfather Part II” is one of the best sequels ever made and Francis did a better job with his direction compared to the first one, but that’s because he wasn’t under pressure. It’s definitely a classic like the first, but I wouldn’t say it’s better than the first. A lot of people like to imitate Marlon Brando’s Vito Corleone from the first movie. Plus I think Michael had a better marriage with Apollonia, even though it didn’t last long because she was blown up, in the first “Godfather”, than he had with Kay.
My rating on “The Godfather Part II” is five out of five stars.
The Simpsons
South Park
Blaine: Eric Cartman and the boys toilet paper their art teachers house and one of them, Kyle, can’t live with the guilt. Kyle wants to tell the truth, but Eric won’t let him or else they’ll get in trouble.
Eric’s wants to get rid of Kyle the same way Michael got rid of his brother Fredo, by taking him out on a boat and dispose his body in a lake. Only instead of a gun, Eric uses a rubber bat, which doesn’t work.
