The Last Don II

"The Last Don (Part I)" is not a spectacle but at least it's a very decent gangster film. Part II is a complete disaster, filled with a ridiculous plot, shallow (and highly unconvincing) characters, and poor acting from the likes of Miss Patsy Kensit.

The plot is nothing new: the head of the mafia family dies, the good nephew Cross, whose wife is murdered, comes back to the family and takes control of the family business. The film tries to make Cross a tragic hero being haunted by the past (his dreaming of his dead father), and portrays him as an angel being forced to become a mafia boss. We repeatedly see him showing "mercy" at those who betray him, yet as soon as he walks away, his henchmen always finish the job for him. Is the film trying to tell us that Cross is, after all, innocent of (some of) the crimes, that it's his henchmen, but not him, who are truly evil? Give us a break.

It is easy for Kristie Alley's character to gain our sympathy. After all, her husband and son are killed by her own family members. Her hatred towards her family (she spits and attacks the Don's dead body) is perfectly understandable, but one really wonders why she never leaves them. Instead, she cries every day, curses every one, and has no problem living on the expenses of her family which she detests, and retires to her little bedroom in the family house every night. She seeks consolation in the priest and falls in love with him, and when her family intervenes and uses the bishop to persuade the priest to give her up, she goes home and returns to her normal life of crying and cursing. Perhaps she is meant to be a doomed woman, unable to break away from the "evil clutches", but it is naive to assume that she's a totally innocent victim. There is no way that she can get away from the responsibility for causing her own sufferings.

The most incredibly pathetic character in the film must be the Austrian film star Dirk von Schelberg, obviously modelled on "Arnold". Dirk, with his very blond hair, fake German accent and unnecessary affection (to Claudia) in the public, is meant to be a contrast to his scheming, black-haired and cold-blooded Italian family-in-law. His character is completely hollow, and his presence (making a film called "The Fumigator" in which he kills giant insects) is a sad joke. It's even more pathetic to see Claudia genuinely mourns over his betrayal (his casual affairs), and her efforts to revive her studio from the Fumigator crisis.

Last but not least, is of course, Miss Patsy Kensit, who plays an undercover cop in Cross' family (as the teacher of Cross' "autistic" adopted daughter -- and no, the girl is not autistic, but mentally-challenged, and the film fails to tell the difference between the two) and suffers from a tremendous conflict when she genuinely falls in love with Cross. Her character lacks substance (it's embarrassing to see her trying to prove her loyalty to Cross) and Kensit's performance is poor beyond words, which is, as a matter of fact, up to her usual standard.

Very unlikely. Younger generation of mobsters kill everyone, just as The Godfather series has made us expect if it wasn't the cast is not credible, acting is one-dimension, sets are not credible. Yawn. I wished everyone who think this was good could see the Omerta tv series which was way beyond this.

If you're the sort of sick pervert who enjoys lurid depictions of terrified victims suffering horrific deaths, yet quails at the sight of blood, this is just the sort of cr** you're looking for; knifings, suffocations and strangulations galore, cutting "discreetly" away from the doomed victim and going to commercial as they are murdered. Ugh. Beyond that, it has no value whatsoever. "Mafia fans" have got to be the lowest rung on the Evolutionary Ladder.

I re watched this recently, and just shook my head. Putting aside the overacting that border-lined on caricature, and many poor attempts at creating "atmosphere", The Last Don II made the unforgivable omission of having little to no focus on eating! This is a crucial element to any mob movie, any movie about Italian-American culture in general for that matter.Where were the sausage and peppers,the spaghetti with the "Sunday gravy"? How could this be omitted. Meals are also an important element of setting someone up to be whacked. In movies, and historically, wise guys are often "hit" while sitting down to dinner. This is part of the reason so much gusto goes into eating; because a wise guy knows that any meal may be his last, so, one may as well enjoy that meal to its fullest!

On another note, I found it amusing just how Canadian this production was. I didn't need to see the CN Tower in the background, or to read the credits. As a Canadian who has grown up watching many lukewarm tax credited productions, you can just tell!

The Last Don II was not written by Mario, or even based on any outline he came up with. I was glad it finally came out on video though, as I collect anything with David Marciano in it.

Last Don II served a good purpose. It tied up a lot of loose ends, gave some closure to certain characters, and allowed us a more intimate peek into what happened when time caught up with some of them.

It is a good advancement of the story line, tightly plotted, with some good twists and surprises. I enjoyed it, enjoyed the scenery, the sets, the costuming. The sets evoked a mood of unavoidable destiny, of the inflexibility of fate that surrounds some people.

Tragedy was inevitable, the triumphs small, the power structure unbreakable. Its rare to see American history brought forward into modern situations the way this film did, and I think it succeeded at that.

It seemed to be showing bits of a very small percentage of American culture, and there didn't seem to be much to attach it's message to the average viewer's life, and that seems to be a necessary ingredient for success in films. Still, I enjoyed the story, the way the film was put together, and the acting. I would have preferred someone older in the leading role, but that wasn't the story, was it?

Though Mr. Puzo had nothing to do with the film, I still think it was a successful sequel to his work.