The Last Don II

If only to see Cross, Gorgio and that psychotic moustachioed hit man of theirs finally get their just deserts! And I do not mean them getting lovely ice-cream with their wine for dinner in that palatial mansion! I mean a burst of machine-gun fire followed by all the sorts of tortures that they have inflicted on so many!

It is so discouraging to see the villains get away with it, even if the villains are the heroes!

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!

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.

The sequel to the wonderful "The Last Don" is a bit on the lighter but funnier side. Yet it works just as well. I have not seen the TV version, but the complete mini-series. It is longer (about 50 minutes) but I got more plot, more violence (the sequel is more graphic than the original) and oh, yes, more nudity (the first one had no nudity at all, and I should know since I watched the complete mini-series as well: four hours and a half). We get to admire the beauty of Andrew Jackson's buttocks. By the way, he is doing a very funny and successful imitation of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Most of the original cast returns. The only one who doesn't return is Daryl Hannah (who played Jason Gedrick's wife). She had been replaced by someone else, but it doesn't matter because her character is disposed off very quickly. Danny Aiello returns as the pivotal character, but he dies of old age (he was 86 years old) in the first 10 minutes. Even Joe Mantegna returns as Jason Gedrick's father, even if he was killed in the original movie. He comes in his son's dreams. Really. Give me a break. That it is the only thing that sounds shallow in this film. And again, the always fabulous Kirstie Alley comes back with a more important part: she falls in love for the first time in 30 years, with a Catholic priest nonetheless. And again her world crashes again, just when she was happy. Her last line in the movie is immortal. She tells Giorgio's future wife (Giorgio was her brother and one of her husband's killers): "I hope you will be just as happy as I was."

The sequel is a welcome continuation to the Clericuzio saga. If the Trimark bosses can hear me, bring on the third part. I can barely wait.

8/10.

P.S.: Does anyone know that "Last Don 2" was filmed in Toronto? I recognized one of the location in the movie. When Rose Marie comes to get her lover from the church, she goes to a church called "St. Cecilia Church". Well the location is very real because I pass almost every day by this church. Fellow Torontians, the church is located at the intersection of Annette St. & Pacific Ave.

The story is good as is the plot and action. But the actors and actresses are a joke. This movie tries to rival the Godfather, but fails miserably. First of all, Jason Gedrick (a great actor) plays a lousy mobster. He is too soft and frail looking for a mafia tough guy. The characters of Claudia, Georgio, and the undercover FBI female cop --- were all played by lousy actors and actresses. They need real Italians like - Joe Pecshi, Al Pacino, Paul Sorvino, Alyssia Milano, Tony Danza, or others. This movie may have been made for TV, but any solid Italians would laugh at this movie as it doesn't portray alot of Italian culture in it. Italian Culture is important for mob movies. I don't remember any of the characters speaking alot of Italian in the movie. And the character who played Claudia's unfaithful husband--- OH Please! What a loser! As if a Mafia girl would ever get involvoed with a fruitcake loser like that. But Kirsty Alley did a great job acting in the movie. Probably the best person in the movie.