Love the Godfather & II? Do NOT watch this

Rating: 2/10 (1 September 2009)

Like, I suspect, many others, I saw this when it came out and years later rewatched it thinking " it's a probably better film than I remember. I was probably expecting too much" .
Indeed, many great films would suffer by comparison to the Godfather. It is sad then, that a sequel to what is generally lauded as one of the 5 best films of all time, should suffer by comparison to Adam Sandler movies.
And don't believe the popular myth that Sofia Coppola ruins this movie, it's so bad on so many levels that her performance is irrelevant. So bad is it, that like the Matrix sequels, it seeks to infect its illustrious predecessors with its shiteness.
Mostly the problem seems to be the writing, I double checked to see if Puzo was involved, unbelievably, he was. Here's an example:
Do you remember the "you'll never take my children" scene in II? Did you want to know that shortly after the credits have rolled, Michael has a rethink and sends the kids off with mummy?
Oh the horror! This, and so many other torments lie in store for you should you watch this movie.
But, maybe it's not all bad, Pacino shows amazing versatility by looking, sounding and acting nothing like the Michael. And, if you're the kind of person who thought the first two lacked exploding helicopters, horseback gangsters and martial arts, then you may find it a welcome improvement on the originals.