--- title: "The Godfather Part II: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-godfather-part-ii/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-godfather-part-ii" critics_score: 80 critics_reviews: 10 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Godfather Part II (1974): what the critics said Critics' score 80 from 10 reviews: 8 positive, 1 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics strongly favour The Godfather Part II, praising Coppola’s expansion of the family saga into a broader study of American power and corruption. Much of the admiration centres on the parallel accounts of Vito’s early life and Michael’s rule, which the favourable reviews find both ambitious and emotionally forceful. Pacino and De Niro draw particularly consistent praise, including from critics less persuaded by the storytelling, for performances that give the two generations distinct emotional weight. The disagreements concern whether the dual timeline deepens the drama or interrupts it, with responses ranging from wholehearted admiration to outright rejection. RogerEbert.com finds the cross-cutting structurally troublesome and the characterisation simpler than it appears; The New York Times objects more sharply to the length, disjointed construction and lack of drive. Even among the favourable reviews, reservations recur about pacing, occasional clumsiness and the emotional distance created by Coppola’s broader political concerns. ## Little White Lies — David Jenkins Rating 5/5/5. 20 February 2014. The film is hailed as an astounding work of elegant, shocking and literate blockbuster filmmaking that masterfully contrasts Michael's cold isolation with Vito's rise, delivering a devastating portrait of power's costs. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-godfather-part-ii-1974) ## Time Out — Joshua Rothkopf Rating 5/5. 18 February 2014. Coppola deepens the saga with Nixon-era paranoia and political intrigue while balancing it with nostalgic immigrant roots; the result is one of cinema's richest character descents. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-godfather-part-ii) ## The New Yorker — Pauline Kael Fi1m's normalised score 95/100 (inferred from the text). 16 December 1974. Coppola enlarges the first film's scope into an epic of American corruption and dynastic rise and decay, with the interweaving of Vito's ascent and Michael's decline proving emotionally overpowering. Kael singles out the performances, especially De Niro's young Vito, for their soulful continuity and depth. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1974/12/23/fathers-and-sons) ## Empire — Kim Newman Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 26 December 1974. The critic praises the film's innovative structure that extends the Corleone saga both backwards and forwards in time while deepening the characterizations. They single out Al Pacino's electrifying performance as Michael, whose hollow gaze conveys the high personal cost of power, along with the strong supporting cast. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/godfather-part-ii-review/) ## Variety — A.D. Murphy Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 9 December 1974. Far from a mere spinoff, the film is an excellent epochal drama in its own right, handsomely produced and superbly directed with a topnotch script. Murphy highlights the strong box-office prospects and notes that it avoids glorifying criminality. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1974/film/reviews/the-godfather-part-ii-3-1200423302/) ## Radio Times — Adrian Turner Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). The sequel expands the scope with De Niro's brilliant portrayal of young Vito and Pacino's monumental Michael, though some later sequences feel clumsy; it chillingly shows corruption overtaking immigrant idealism. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-kmzw8j/the-godfather-part-ii/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — John H. Dorr Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). The film is an admirable, responsible production and a grand historical epic studying the nature of power in the United States. Coppola sacrifices some emotional disturbance and audience identification for intellectual daring. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/godfather-2-review-part-ii-1974-original-movie-757543/) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Fi1m's normalised score 55/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 1974. The film struggles with its cross-cut structure between young Vito and Michael, revealing a simplicity in characterization that weakens the narrative compared to the original. Ebert praises the performances, especially Pacino and De Niro, and Coppola's command of mood and atmosphere. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-godfather-part-ii-1974) ## The New York Times — Vincent Canby Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 13 December 1974. The sequel is a disjointed, overlong Frankenstein's monster stitched from leftovers of the novel and first film, lacking the original's drive and unity. Canby notes some strong supporting turns but finds the whole effort self-parodic and spiritually desperate. [Read the review](https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/packages/html/movies/bestpictures/godfather2-re.html) ## Sight and Sound 20 February 2014. The critic rates Part II higher than the original for its ambitious dual timeline as both sequel and prequel, rich character development, and deeper exploration of power and corruption in America. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/bigger-even-better-godfather-part-ii) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw 20 February 2014. The critic finds Francis Coppola’s prequel-sequel breathtakingly ambitious and as gripping as ever, even better than the first film with the greatest single final scene in Hollywood history. They single out the stunning narrative flourish of the final cut back in time and the top-down history of political intrigue. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/feb/20/godfather-part-2-review) ## Collider — Therese Lacson Rating 9/10. 20 December 2024. The critic highlights the film's timeless quality, narrative influence, and its bold portrayal of Michael Corleone as an irredeemable protagonist whose moral decay is unflinchingly depicted. They single out the effective parallel storytelling between Vito's rise and Michael's fall, along with strong technical elements like cinematography and score, while noting some pacing and focus issues in the present-day plot. [Read the review](https://collider.com/the-godfather-part-2-review/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-godfather-part-ii.md