Synopsis

Francis Ford Coppola’s legendary continuation and sequel to his landmark 1972 film, The Godfather, parallels the young Vito Corleone’s rise with his son Michael’s spiritual fall, deepening The Godfather’s depiction of the dark side of the American dream.

Continuing saga of the Corleone family as they move to Nevada and make the casino business their major income source under the leadership of the increasingly paranoid and malevolent Michael, whose reign as the "Don" is juxtaposed against the parallel tale of his father's escape from Sicily as a young boy and his subsequent rise to power in New York's Lower East Side during the turn-of-the-century.



Cast: Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, John Cazale, Talia Shire, Lee Strasberg, Michael V. Gazzo, G.D. Spradlin, Richard Bright, Bruno Kirby, Troy Donahue, Abe Vigoda, Joe Spinell, Gastone Moschin, Tom Rosqui, Danny Aiello

 
In the early 1900s, the child Vito flees his Sicilian village for America after the local Mafia kills his family. Vito (Robert De Niro) struggles to make a living, legally or illegally, for his wife and growing brood in Little Italy, killing the local Black Hand Fanucci (Gastone Moschin) after he demands his customary cut of the tyro’s business.

With Fanucci gone, Vito’s communal stature grows, but it is his family (past and present) who matters most to him — a familial legacy then upended by Michael’s (Al Pacino) business expansion in the 1950s. Now based in Lake Tahoe, Michael conspires to make inroads in Las Vegas and Havana pleasure industries by any means necessary.



As he realizes that allies like Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg) are trying to kill him, the increasingly paranoid Michael also discovers that his ambition has crippled his marriage to Kay (Diane Keaton) and turned his brother, Fredo (John Cazale), against him.

Barely escaping a federal indictment, Michael turns his attention to dealing with his enemies, completing his own corruption. -- allmovie guide