Review of The Godfather Part III (1990) by Chris W — 19 Dec 2012

After a break of more than 15 years, Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo reunited for this: the long overdue final chapter of the saga of the Corleone crime family.

And yes, while I agree that this is the weakest of the trilogy, it's not a bad movie, and not nearly as awful as everyone regards it as being. Do I wish it were better? Of course. Do I understand why this didn't match the others? Maybe. I mean, so much time passed between films that maybe it was inevitable that they'd hit a pot hole and stumble eventually. Saying that it sucks because third films have a reputation of being isn't a good excuse. I'm just happy that we finally got a conclusion, and that, despite the flaws, it wasn't worse.

The plot mixes together an aging and bitter Michael reflecting on his life, trying to finally go legitimate in the face of an oncoming mob war with fictionalized portrayals of the death of Pope John Paul I and the Vatican Banking Scandal of the early 80s. To call this ambitious is a major understatement. I do like that it tried to weave in real events, especially ones that are so fascinating. The soap operaish elements are good to, but also where the problems are, mainly the oft-mentioned casting of Coppola's daughter Sofia (before she became a director) as Michael's daughter, and the rather underwhelming way things pan out. I do think the ending is rather fitting given the big picture, though.

Sofia herself admits she's a terrible actress, and was only there because Winona Ryder was unavailable. The character, I think, was supposed to be awkward, and that Coppola's performance just happened to be so wooden and uninspired because her dad and Puzo were in a rut and couldn't think of a way to do it better. At least Keaton and Pacino elevate things. It's also good seeing Garcia appear in an interesting call back to the first film.

The production values, cinematography, etc are top notch. This is a grand epic on a grand scale. Yeah, the writing (in some areas) is troubled, but I applaud the ambitiousness. The film has problems, but I refuse to call it a bad film, because, in all honesty, it really could have been far worse.