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My Opinion of The Last Don II, Based on Those of Others

posted 13 years ago by isaiah-12
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Jason Gedrick=Cross in The Last Don II, captured from other postings on the corresponding IMDB message board in July, 2011, with my comments in []:

…and the undercover FBI female cop [Kensit]---were all played by lousy actors and actresses.

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! [Apparently, this refers to Kensit’s character.] And it is this woman who risked everything for keeping him safe; and Cross knew that because if he didn't believe her he wouldn’t 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 [supposed to be] "praying" that nothing bad happens to him because we couldn't stand it?! The whole idea is completely outrageous!

“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 ["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.

If only to see Cross, Gorgio, and that psychotic mustachioed hit man of theirs finally get their just deserts! And I do not mean them getting lovely icecream 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 couldn’t agree more!]

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.

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. [Amen, brother!]

[In short, the acting is bad, the plot has gaping holes, the violence is miserable and degrading, and the ending is unsatisfying, which is also pretty much my opinion of The Sopranos, by the way. I think another film should be made, and it doesn’t even have to be a continuation of this series, in which the opening shows a couple of cops sitting in the squad room or some such thing, joking about a newspaper article which says that Cross, Georgio, and the hit man have been found boiled alive in barrels of oil, or some such thing!]

isaiah-12 "I don't ask much, I only want trust, and you know it don't come easy," Ringo Starr.

[–] manage-932-700755 10 years ago

You are entitled to your opinion, although I am surprised you dislike this film so much. Especially since you apparently found the Last Don I reasonably enjoyable.

In contrast to you, I found the acting, including that of Jason Kedrick and Patsy Kensit, enjoyable. I thought the actor who played Lia Vazzi was excellent. I did not especially like the acting of the actor who played the priest who falls in love with Kirstie Allie; and this was not one of Ms. Allie's best performances. I did not find Kedrick's "nice guy killer" performance to be objectionable, as you did. I enjoyed the original film more that Part II, but this was acceptable.

We can speculate how Lia Vazzi killed Billy D'Angelo; we know he cut and then burned him in some fashion. Still, while Vazzi was a vicious killer, he was more likable than the crazy punk Dante was in Part I.