The Last Don II (1998)

Just perfect...

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

The acting in this movie is really good.

The characters were fakes, and the story needed some fresh cold water in the face. The movie is just like the comment Rob Johal made, something like "An insult to all Italians everywhere" or something. That guy is hilarious, and fake, just like the movie. "It's an insult to all Italians", "they need real Italians", he screams. Then again, his name is Rob Johal and he is from Canada, and he spells Joe Pesci "Joe Pechsi". The guy is as Italian as the characters he is criticizing, he probably thinks is some kind of mobster or something. That's the exact problem of the movie: the director, the actors and the writer were probably as genuine as our friend here. Like Italians, like movie.

"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.

Even though I am not a fan of Mafia movies, I have seen quite a lot of them. So, considering what I have seen so far, I think that The Last Don II has not given realistic Mafia characters. Also, I think that so many people from different places are presented in the film, e.g. Hollywood, the Catholic Church, that it's difficult to watch the plot as it is developing.Also, what I found completely unacceptable is the moral approach of the director. Cross is the worst of all the criminals who surround him; Without the least hesitation, people are tortured and killed according to his orders.***SPOILER*** He doesn't show any kind of remorse or sorrow, he doesn't even spend a second thought on the death of the woman (based on his orders once again)that he kept telling her how much he loved her and that he couldn't bear the thought that she might get killed!And it is the woman who risked everything for keeping him save;and Cross knew that because if he didn't believe her he would change the dates of the upcoming attacks to protect himself against the FBI.And yet he's presented to us as the sweetheart murderer, the criminal with the appearance of an angel. He lives in a palace, he uses expensive cars, he's dressed in the most elegant clothes, he orders the death of people and we are... "praying" that nothing bad happens to him because we couldn't stand it! The whole idea is completely outrageous!

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.