The Godfather Part II
Caution. Age: 18+. A Catholic review of this movie for parents.
Our review
This movie tells how a crime family grows rich and powerful while it falls apart inside. The father and the son both choose to kill, and the son ends up all alone. This movie is for adults only. It is not for kids or teens. It is a masterwork of craft and a true picture of what sin does: Michael wins every fight and loses his wife, his brother and his soul. But it is three hours inside a world of murder, with almost no one to admire. Kay reveals that she aborted their son, Michael strikes her, and the killings are many. Adults with a formed conscience can learn from it. No one needs it.
For parents
R-rated. Common Sense Media says 16 and up. Lumen says adults. Know before you watch: many shootings, stabbings and strangulations, a man found dead in a bath after cutting his wrists, a dead prostitute used to blackmail a senator, brothel scenes with brief partial nudity, heavy language with ethnic slurs, and a husband hitting his wife. Three things to name out loud. First, the story opens at a First Communion party and the family keeps the outward forms of the faith while living by murder. The sacraments are not a costume. Second, Kay tells Michael she aborted their child to end the family line. The Church teaches that life must be protected absolutely from conception and that procured abortion is gravely contrary to the moral law (CCC 2270 to 2272). The film shows it as a wound that ends the marriage. Third, young Vito's killings are staged so that we cheer. Ask: why does the film make murder feel like justice? What does Michael have left at the end? Could he have turned back, and when?