The Godfather Part II is a crime film and the sequel to The Godfather. It was nominated for twelve Academy Awards and ended up winning six of them, two being Best Picture (again) as well as Coppola’s award for Best Director.
The Godfather Part II takes place in Nevada and some parts are even in Tahoe. I found this sequel to be a lot more intense than the first movie. The opening scene is a beautiful church gathering for Michael’s son’s communion. It pans over the guests and you can hear the priest blessing Michael’s son. It then flashes to scenes of great violence — Michael did what his father wouldn’t and ordered hits on the heads of the other five families that they are competing with. There are also quite a bit of scenes in a court setting where Michael Corleone is under scrutiny by the FBI for his actions.
This sequel was a bit different in the narrative as they used flashbacks to give a look into Vito Corleone’s coming into power. The interesting thing about the storytelling technique in this sequel is that Vito Corleone’s story kind of correlates with his son, Michael Corleone, and his rise to being the head of the Corleone family. I was impressed with the manner in which Coppola did the flashbacks. I imagine that there’s not a lot of room for error when it comes to organizing a plot in a way that the audience can easily follow. I found that even with all the flashbacks and different family members to keep track of that it was still relatively easy to stay engaged and not become too confused.
There are two protagonists in the film, as they kept switching between Michael’s present day life and his father’s past life. Both men are beginning to realize the lengths of their power and both want more of it. Just like the first film the goal at hand was being the most powerful family in the area by doing whatever they had to to get there. It was apparent, however, that Vito Corleone seemed to have more of a moral compass than his son. In the first film Vito makes it clear that he won’t get involved in selling narcotics and only wants to stick with casinos. He also promises to keep peace with everyone around. Michael had no qualms about getting into the drug industry and also ordered a hit on the heads of all five mafia families.
In this sequel there are a lot of close up shots of the characters. The purpose of this is to give the audience a chance to see the actor’s emotions more 
clearly (eportfolios). An example of this, along with angle choice is when Connie, Michael’s sister, is begging him to forgive their other brother Fredo. While the camera is on Connie it’s kept at a somewhat high angle to give the sense of vulnerability on Connie’s part. When the camera was on Michael it was filmed directly at eye level. This really emphasized the fact that Michael was above Connie both physically and in terms of power.
The use of light was interesting in this movie as well. Oftentimes when they would show Michael Corleone the scene would be dark and gloomy. It continues to get worse as the movie progresses and Michael’s life gets more and more difficult. The purpose of this is to give the audience a sense of foreboding as they watch Michael struggle (reelviews).
All in all, this sequel had outstanding reviews, just as the first The Godfather did. It was with resounding agreement that people said this movie “represents the apex of American movie-making and the ultimate gangster story. Few sequels have expanded upon the original with the faithfulness and detail of this one. Beneath the surface veneer of an ethnic period piece, The Godfather is not so much about crime lords as it is about prices paid in the currency of the soul for decisions made and avoided. It is that quality which establishes this saga as timeless” (reelviews). I can wholeheartedly agree with this statement. I found The Godfather Part II to be even more intriguing than the first and I definitely look forward to watching the third one.
http://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/godfather-part-ii-the
https://www.indiewire.com/2012/04/5-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-the-godfather-part-ii-252707/