1974--The Godfather Part II, Francis Ford Copola

1974--The Godfather 2—Francis Ford Coppola

Nominated: Chinatown, The Conversation, Lenny, The Towering Inferno

Should have won: Chinatown

Be sure to see: Black Christmas, Blazing Saddles, Deranged, Harry and Tonto, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Young Frankenstein

“If history has taught us anything it's that you can kill anyone.”--Michael Corleone

     I bet if someone took a survey of a thousand people of what the best sequel ever made would be, The Godfather Part 2 would lead the pack with Terminator 2 trailing close behind. I'd be the oddball in that survey. As mentioned two Oscars ago, the first Godfather is a movie I found vastly overrated yet still pretty darn good. The second one is a movie I found to be a drawn-out snooze-fest, not unlike 2001: A Space Odyssey, another massively overrated spectacle. But despite being just plain boring, this sequel does have its moments and I'm afraid to speak too poorly on it out of fear of being whacked.

     The movie is out of sequence, jumping from a few years after part one ended to Vito's childhood years. Then back to Michael's story then back to Vito as a young man, this time played by Robert DeNiro. In 1909 Sicily, 9-year-old Vito Andolini's family is killed by Don Ciccio. Vito escapes to America and half a century later, his son, Michael, heads the family. These are the two stories that inter lap and I guess they work most of the time.

     There is some bad blood between Michael and his brother, Fredo, (again played by John Cazale. I'll shed a bit of trivia about him in my 1978 review). Much of the movie is similar to part one in that people are done wrong, go to the Corleones for help, and get it. People take shots on Michael and his family; they retaliate. I've seen it before. It impressed me the first time, not so much this time. I'm making enemies from you fans here, yes?

     There is one scene where a lady is evicted from her apartment because of her dog so Vito persuades the landlord to keep the family in the apartment. It is a good, if not typical, scene but it is capped off with a music score that seemed oddly out of place. My favorite part is when Vito finally gets his revenge many years after he was wronged as a child. It was the scene that perked my attention. Unfortunately it was 2:48 in. And Vito creeping on the rooftops and how that scene climaxes is pretty good, too.

     This review is short and sweet...or more like short and sour. I'm sure most will say I just didn't get it and that could be true. I don't get the concept of this series of films. I don't get how the family is clearly religious yet murder on a whim, the main commandment not to break. It gets rather repetitive to me. It has its moments and is clearly a fan favorite. I didn't care for it. The actors will forever be identified with their roles in these movies but not for me. I say when I think of these actors, I place them as: Al Pacino: Scarface. Robert DeNiro: Taxi Driver. Talia Shire: Rocky or Prophecy. I just don't get the love for these movies. I'm in no hurry to see part three.

     By the way, my all time favorite movie was also released this year. It isn't really an “Oscar caliber” movie but Texas Chain Saw Massacre is far more entertaining. You didn't think I would omit mention of my all time favorite movie in the section of its year of release, did you? And by the way, 1978's Dawn of the Dead is the greatest sequel of all time. The pacing is brisk from beginning to end, you care about the characters you are supposed to and feel the danger they feel. The message  is a tongue in cheek nudge to how we look at consumerism in the real world and, as far  as sequels go, moves the series forward rather than the flashbacks, -forwards, and -sideways. I simply don't care for The Godfather movies.