The Godfather Part III – B+
“ You know, Michael; now that you're so respectable, I think you're more dangerous than ever. I liked you better when you were just a common Mafia hood.”
I have finally seen all three entries in The Godfather trilogy. Part III is widely considered a bad film and has been named one of the worst sequels of all time. But after finally seeing all three movies I can justly say that this movie is not deserving of the bad rep it gets.
In the final installment of the Godfather Trilogy, an aging Don Michael Corleone seeks to legitimize his crime family's interests and remove himself from the violent underworld but is kept back by the ambitions of the young. While he attempts to link the Corleone's finances with the Vatican, Michael must deal with the machinations of a hungrier gangster seeking to upset the existing Mafioso order and a young protégé’s love affair with his daughter.
This movie was probably not necessary but its here and although it is leagues behind Parts I and II, its still a great movie. I think that’s it greatest fault too, that its predecessor’s were so great that it couldn’t help but be inferior. Al Pacino gives us an aged Michael Corleone but, at least to me, he wasn’t as believable as he was in the previous two. Here he was Al Pacino and lacked the intensity and, well, believability of the character he showed previously. Maybe that’s because of the character’s age and he’s so different than what we have perceived him as in the other two movies. But, you eventually accept him again as Michael and Pacino gives another stellar performance. Talia Shire returns as Connie, Michael’s sister only this time she tries to pull some strings and get into things. Shire’s performance is good but the problem is that this is unbelievable for the character. In the previous two Godfather films she was there, not involved in the business in any way and suddenly here she’s thrown herself into the fray. Andy Garcia plays Vinnie, Sonny’s illegitimate son. He plays Pacino Sonny’s role in the original Godfather and it seems he’s trying to imitate James Caan’s presence instead of being his son. It works in the long run but it feels like he could have done something more with the character. Diane Keaton is Michael’s ex-wife Kay. She doesn’t really do much until near the end of the movie and seems like she is only there to further the ending of the movie. Her role is very detached from what she did in Parts I and II where she was Michael’s loving wife whom he was trying to hold on to. Here, she’s married to another man and doesn’t have an impact on Michael until, as I said, the ending and even there her role isn’t vital. Sofia Coppola is Mary Corleone, Michael’s daughter, and she completely slaughters the character. Did she know that this film wasn’t a comedy? She doesn’t speak in the movie, she awkwardly yells and is reminiscent of the stereotypical bad actor that reads their lines monotonously. And George Hamilton takes over Robert Duvall’s role as B.J. Harrison. George Hamilton? Whoever the hell decided to replace Duvall after he refused to reprise his role should be shot but then to go and cast George Hamilton was just wrong. He sticks out and I was waiting for him to rip open a bad of Baked Ritz crackers and start munching on them. I’m sorry but I just couldn’t take him seriously. The rest of the cast does their job well and their really isn’t a weak link outside of Sofia.
I personally didn’t think the music was as good as it was in the previous two installments. There wasn’t anything memorable outside of the “Godfather Waltz”. That’s not to say it was bad, because it wasn’t. The music perfectly complemented each scene it was used in. It’s just that it wasn’t as good as previous efforts.
I don’t think this should have been called The Godfather Part III, it should have been titled The Godfather: The Musical because after every few scenes another musical piece would pop up. This, accompanied with the editing, made it feel like a TV movie. At the end of 97% of each scene the transition was a fade to black. I was honestly expecting a commercial to pop up one of these times. There were just too many musical pieces in the film as well. We get a long one at the beginning, a few shorter ones scattered throughout the middle and another long one at the end. The whole final movement of the film in which two intrigues are inter cut with Anthony performing in an opera are supposed to be suspenseful, but they’re not. They’re so confusing that we don’t even know where the hell one of the intrigues is taking place. Is it in Rome? Sicily? London? I don’t know.
The whole of the movie is a tad convoluted and hard to believe. Michael is trying to go legit with…the Vatican? This only adds to the confusion of the movie. This entry is easier to grasp and understand what’s going on than Part II was but you are left scratching your head at some points. This will definitely require a second viewing just as Part II does. Another problem is that this feels like a sequel unlike Part II, which felt like a natural continuation of the original. You’re also just thrown into this world without so much as an introduction or a re acquaintance to some characters so you’re left to figure it out on your own which can be pretty annoying when you’re trying to do that and follow the complex storyline all at once. But one of the biggest eyebrow raisers is the incest plotline. That’s right. Vinnie and Mary are first cousins but are in love with each other. The movie even acknowledges that this is wrong but it’s still kept. At the it is supposed to hit us hard due to the circumstances but it just doesn’t because you didn’t believe in it in the first place because it is wrong. That plotline was unneeded and came out of left field. That was probably the worst addition to this film next to Sofia herself. But what really brings this movie together is its spectacular ending. The whole scene on the steps is superbly shot and you really feel the raw surge of emotion that’s going on in that scene. You feel for Michael because of everything he did to try and right his wrongs thus far. But directly after that is the death of Michael Corleone which is tragic yet fulfilling. He is 77 years old and retired to Sicily, alone and distraught when he dies from a stroke. Before he dies he thinks of the women he loved and ultimately lost due to his choices in life. We feel for this character and when he dies, at least with me, a surge of emotion came over because you think back to the journey we went through with this man and here is the end of a legacy. The whole way it is shot and presented struck a chord with me and was the highlight of the movie Michael is alone with nobody left because they are either dead or have left him. It’s a sad way to go but perfectly executed here. I cannot say enough good things about this ending. Its just superb and a truly great way to end this monumental series.
The Godfather Part III is a great movie. It isn’t up to snuff with its predecessors but it can’t be expected to be. It is wholly undeserving of the bad rep it gets because underneath, there is a great movie that has just gotten flack for being inferior and a sequel. Despite some rough edges and lacking in areas that the original two excelled in, The Godfather Part III is very worthy of bearing the Godfather name.
