THE GODFATHER PART III MPAA Rating: R/ Genre: Crime Drama/ Stars: Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Andy Garcia, Eli Wallach, Joe Mantegna, Bridget Fonda, Sofia Coppola/ Runtime: 162 minutes The Godfather Part III isnt really a necessary sequel, and truth be told its not really one of the best sequels in recent memory, but is this a bad film? No. In fact, had it not been for the extraordinary first two films, I firmly believe this movie would have been hailed as an epic; but due to such a broad expanse of years from the second film (1974) to this one (1990), audiences were given way too much time to work up extreme expectations, especially with the major success of the first sequel, and I think many people just expected another equal sequel when this is just a good sequel. Al Pacino returns to his role of Don Michael Corleone, much older since we last saw him and with a daughter (Sofia Coppola, the directors daughter). He is still split from his (ex)-wife, Kay (Diane Keaton), and Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) has since passed to the other side. Michael has been trying to get out of the Mafia, and turn his business into legit dealings for a while now, and he soon realizes that the sins of his past will never completely go away so he decides to hand the reigns of power over to his ex-brother Fredos son (Andy Garcia), a young, eager soul with energy and excitement, but things do not go so well as while Michael tries to be a mentor to his trainee he finds it is a difficult task as he begins to go through turbulent times, not to mention that he must deal with his daughter falling in love with the future head of the family (which, when you think about it, is just plain nasty because theyre cousins). In desperation Michael tries to get his son interested in becoming the head of the family, but he will have no part of it as he is bent on becoming an opera singer in order to turn from his familys past and ignores his fathers pleads. So Michael finds himself left with some difficult choices, and we begin to see that all the power in the world cant control the inevitable. The Godfather Part III has its flaws, but the main and biggest one is the casting of Coppolas daughter as Michaels daughter because truth be told she has, one might say, no acting ability whatsoever. Garcia however is bright and talented, and fits the part he is playing. Pacino isnt quite as energetic and powerful as he was in the first two films, in fact he looks pretty tired here, but I believe thats the point, and a supporting cast including Eli Wallach, Diane Keaton, Bridget Fonda, and Joe Mantegna do some real quality work here, and although some people really hate this film I thought it was quite good because its a good continuation, though I do not hesitate to admit it could have been much better. The film seems a bit corny at times, and there are some bad casting choices, one of which I have already mentioned above, but it is an entertaining film, one that no Godfather fan should go without seeing. Its a worthy last installment that gives more of the same, but still manages to hold the audiences interest. The script by Coppola and Puzo is interesting, but it seems too try a bit too hard to be an epic at times, and it just serves as a reminder that this film was not needed as an installment in the series. The Godfather was great, The Godfather Part II was superb, and The Godfather Part III is one of the if not the best film of 1990. A fitting end to a legendary trilogy. On a scale of 1-5 I give The Godfather Part III a 4.5 out of 5.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 21:51:04 +0000