I think that the most telling part is that Michael says that he doesn't want to be a man like his father. The differences from Connie's wedding, where homemade lasagna is served and the Senator is afraid to show his face, to Anthony's communion party, where Michael poses with Geary for publicity photos and the waiters are serving champagne and canapes, is a demonstration of this.

However, in GF3, we see Michael kneeling at Don Tommasino's coffin, and he is questioning why he has become so feared and hated, while Tommasino was always so loved. Although the two of them each ruled an empire, they obviously did it in very different ways. I think that, in the end, Michael longs to have been more like his father, who was also revered and loved, despite his crimes.