Review of The Godfather Part III (1990) by Keegan D — 16 Nov 2014

The Godfather trilogy is said to be one of the best trilogies in movie cinema. The two Godfathers are considered to be the greatest movies ever made both winning an Oscar for best picture. Then there comes part 3, which is said to be the worst in the trilogy, but is it a bad movie? The Godfather Part 3 was the only film in the Godfather series to not win any Oscars, but nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture.

The film takes place 20 years after Godfather Part 2 in the year 1979 when Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) is near his 60s and is trying to bring power in his family business as well as investing in the Catholic Church.

He gets pulled back into gangster life by dealing with corrupt influence within the church and his nephew Vincent Mancini (Andy Garcia), who associates with Michael's family business and his daughter, Mary Corleone (Sofia Coppola).

The plot in Godfather Part 3 is a bit complex with so many situations that is happening all at the same time with Vincent falling in love with Mary, Michael trying to reconnect with his ex-wife Kay Adams (Diane Keaton), Investing in the Catholic Church while the Pope is dying, dealing with his nephew Vincent, and other associates in his family business.

Some of these plot holes are very interesting like Michael making investment with the Catholic Church is actually interesting to follow with the Pope getting ill and then a new Pope comes in with changing deals with the Corleone family.

I also thought having the Mafia involved with the story was interesting. The romantic relationship with Vincent and Mary was kind of a waste in the story and kind of weird. The story is not bad, but it is not as good as the previous Godfather films.

The acting in Godfather Part 3 is weak. I fell like the actors are trying too hard to portray their characters; even some of the previous actors like Al Pacino try their best to act as his reprise roles.

Al Pacino character is more of a Shakespeare character by dealing with tragedies from his past and presents by dealing with situations in his family business. Andy Garcia character is just a copy and paste of Michael Corleone from Godfather Part 1 by him trying to get with the family business.

Talia Shire as Connie Corleone, Michael`s sister, is completely pointless in this film. She does absolutely nothing half of the time besides being on Michael side and his family business. The one actress that killed the entire film is Sofia Coppola as Mary Corleone.

She may be one of the worst actresses of all time because of this movie. She was only cast in this film because she is the Directors daughter Francis Ford Coppola. Most of the time, Sofia makes a smirk look when she is on screen and has a bland monotone when she acts.

The acting in Part 3 tries too hard to be perfect. Besides the complex story and weak acting, does the film capture the previous Godfather by how it looks? The answer to that is yes. The film gets credit for its well thought direction, editing, cinematography and music.

The directions that Francis Ford Coppola tries to capture looks close to Part 1 and 2 with its Italian culture and gangster theme by setting his direction in areas like the Vatican, New York City and Sicily, Italy.

The style of the cinematography is also a close resembles with camera angles in an odd but creative direction. The soundtrack I think has the best music in any of the Godfather films. The main theme song is still used in the film, but then the film brings in mammoth opera singing during the third act and I just love hearing that kind of music, especially in a gangster like situation when the Corleone family see Antony Corleone (Franc D`Ambrosio), Michael son, opera performance in Italy.

During the performance, so many Mafia members get killed from other Mafias all happening while Antony performs. It is one of my favorite moments in the film. Overall, The Godfather Part 3 is not a bad film but it's not as good as the previous Godfathers.

It tries too hard to relive the glory days on Part 1 and 2, but fails with the acting by not being the best. This film is only recommended to audiences who have seen Godfather Part 1 and Part 2 because first timers of the Godfather would get confuse on the story and characters if they haven't seen the other films in the series.

One a scale from 1 to 5, I give this movie a 3 out of 5. It's more of a 6/10 rating in my opinion. This film also contains an R rating so viewer description is advised.