This is not a Godfather movie, nor is it good

Rating: 4/10 (18 July 2015)

Okay, so I've just finished yet another Godfather trilogy marathon.
Part I and Part II are cinematic masterpieces that rightly deserve high praise heaped upon them from now until forever - but Part III simply doesn't hold a candle to either of its predecessors.
I suspect that the only reason this movie got the green light was because studio execs. thought that the renewed public interest in the American Mafia in the late 1980's would translate into box office gold for a Godfather sequel.
The problem is that this movie is not the same type of film as its predecessors - which are powerful character-driven tragedies that happen to centre around a crime family, whereas this is a gangster/political conspiracy movie that happens to feature Michael Corleone.
The fact that the plot of this movie features a (now discredited) conspiracy theory about papal assassination lifted straight from the pages of another book should tell you everything you need to know about its originality.
Sofia Coppola's acting was simply not up to the standard of the previous films, or of the other cast members in this film, and as a result there is a major audience disconnect with her character - which all but destroys the impact of her 'romance' with Vincent, and her eventual death, both of which are supposed to be central to the emotional heart and climax of this movie.
While the previous two films featured intricate storytelling involving an ensemble cast, this one felt like a patchwork that was thrown together and ran far too long - the final assassination scenes are so convoluted that it's no longer even clear who is killing who... and to make matters worse, as an audience member, and Godfather fan, I no longer even cared anyway.
The emotional depth of the first two films is missing from this one, and instead it is replaced with contrived sentimentality and clichéd dialogue that often doesn't even make any sense in light of the previous character development (like when Kay tells Michael that she has always loved him, and always will - yet her actions in Part II, and even the start of this film are completely at odds with such a suggestion).
At the end of the day, this feels like little more than hollow cinematic reminiscing (consider the way that Sicily is forcefully thrown into the plot of this movie, compared to the natural and obvious way that it features in the first two films - it's almost like this film is being made to a formula, where the filmmakers are adding concepts and plot developments based on what they think the audience liked in the first two films).
Godfather III simply did not need to be made, as all it does is rehash the plot of the first two films, except in a far less convincing and skillful way - the movie even ends the same as Part II does: with Michael all alone, having attained all he fought so hard to achieve, but also forced to accept all of the unforeseen and tragic consequences that go along with the life he has embraced.