Yes, a travesty

Rating: Null/10 (26 October 2004)

Critics cut this movie a lot of slack when it came out, because of its pedigree. The other commentators here are doing it the same favor, I think. In fact, Godfather III is a complete travesty. All the crime family saga clichés that the first two movies sidestepped, but that subsequently became encrusted on the genre, are sadly present in this misguided cash-in.
The greatest shame of all is Al Pacino's performance. Watching the first two movies today, it's hard to imagine how the powerfully subtle, minimal Michael Corleone he created in the early '70s could turn into the garrulous, scenery-chewing troll of 1990. His "tour guide" scene with Keaton in Sicily is the worst: Pacino seems to have completely forgotten what kind of a person he had played 16 years earlier. Andy Garcia does an OK job of channeling the young James Caan, but that's about it for acting honors. The rest of the cast come across as an over-the-hill ensemble of Acting 101 rejects, including Wallach, Keaton, Shire, Hamilton (no surprise), etc.
SPOILER: Even worse: As proud Italian Americans, how could Coppola and Puzo descend to concocting a plot that climaxes with the eating of a poison canole? The whole mishmash ends with a church-steps death scene that's like a parody of the most over-the-top-operatic Puccini rip-off you ever saw. The first two Godfathers were a milestone in depicting the American ethnic experience on screen, in all its ambiguities. The third turns it all to grotesque self-parody.
For relief, I suggest picking up The Freshman with the late Marlon Brando. Brando's slyly humorous take on Don Corleone in Andrew Bergman's film is a gentle send-up that respects its point of reference and even adds some grace notes to it. The scene of Brando, in pin-striped suit, just strolling through the streets of 1990s Little Italy is the closest we'll get to a real Godfather III.