Disappointing, clichés and no story

Rating: 6/10 (26 March 2009)

I'm incredibly disappointed with the Godfather III, it has in no way kept any of the dramatic strength, the intensity nor the atmosphere of its predecessors. Many critics concentrated on the weak side parts, which is true compared to the long line of top actors in the first two episodes. There is no replacement for Robert Duvall, a John Cazale or a De Niro at all. Garcia is not bad, he plays the reincarnation of Sonny quite convincingly. But the part itself is not big enough to fill the movie nor is his love relationship to Corleones daughter. It was one of the key strenghts of the Godfather to integrate story lines of many characters in that "Family" environment and bind them well together. In Part III we see a scarcity of that, on top of it is blends the clichés of Mafia guys cooking pasta when they are at war, machine gun shootings when there is a reputation at stake and now the "evil church". There is no surprise in it and hell, how boring is it to have a real estate fund as a new ship for the Family - it's no way as interesting as a Casino.
I had hoped for more, the script fails behind and if I look at it objectively, Al Pacino seems not have had any significant new idea on how he could evolve the character of Don Corleone. Sorry, Mr. Coppola, this is below your standard.