Everyone raves about The Godfather but I think Part II is way overrated

I rewatched both last month and Part I has tighter storytelling without all the jumping around in time. Does anyone else think the flashbacks actually hurt the pacing?

2 comments

2 Comments

emery87918d agoMost Upvoted

Interesting take but I gotta disagree hard. The flashbacks in Part II are what make the whole thing work for me. Seeing young Vito's rise in Little Italy adds so much weight to Michael's cold descent later. The editing between the two timelines is masterful too, like when young Vito gets his revenge and it cuts right to Michael ordering a hit. Feels intentional, not random.

morgan.mary18d ago

You mention the editing being "masterful" but to me the constant cutting back and forth felt more like a distraction than something that added meaning. Every time they showed young Vito's story I was just waiting to get back to Michael and the main plot. I think they could have saved the flashbacks for the end like a prologue or epilogue instead of mixing them in.