I’ll always maintain that there’s a strong case to be made that Al Pacino’s performance in The Godfather: Part 2 is the greatest on-screen performance by an actor ever. Pacino belongs to a historic class of actors that rose to fame in the ‘70s like De Niro, Nicholson, and Hoffman. But between all of those legends, I’m not sure any performance tops Pacino as Michael Corleone. Pacino once famously said of his performance “I found someone- a place to go to.” The Godfather is a story that belongs to Michael Corleone, which gave Pacino so much emotional ground to cover as he transforms into a cold, isolated monarch by the end of the second film. The bitter irony of Michael’s arc is that by the time the second film concludes, Michael turns into the very monster he swore he would never become at the start of the first film. Throughout his transformation from the good son to the new boss, Pacino kills with his eyes: he barely needs to speak to flex his power or convey an emotion. It’s as good as acting gets and reminder of the genius that is Al Pacino.