SPOILER: A two-part masterpiece sadly tarnished by the third instalment

Rating: 5/10 (31 July 2007)

It is difficult to know where to start when commenting on this film, owing to its many points for discussion, but I will try to address the points in turn.
Firstly, the casting of this film, in contrast with the first two parts, is generally awful. Robert Duvall was sorely missed and Francis Ford Coppola and his cohorts must surely regret not meeting his pay demands. Talia Shire reprises her role, completely pointlessly, and is totally unconvincing as the matriarch of the family. Of the newcomers, George Hamilton appears not to have an actual character beyond reading the lines of Michael Corleone's lawyer, Bridget Fonda is equally meaningless and Andy Garcia is hackneyed, if willing, as Vinnie Mancini. Sofia Coppola is a disgrace. The film stalls every time she is on screen and she is not capable or attractive enough to fulfil her role.
Secondly, Al Pacino had changed so much since part II that he almost appears a different person. At times he is so far removed from his persona in the first two films that he seems to be playing another character. And whilst his performance is easily the film's best, his better moments are offset by a couple of cringe-worthy incidents, such as his hammed-up stroke in the kitchen scene.
The film itself does entertain at times - but at nowhere near the level of the first two. Much of the story is lifted and turned around from the previous films and consequently is not as interesting. The script, much like some of the cast, simply does not possess the hunger of the originals.
But the worst moment of the film is how it chooses to end the trilogy, moving as it does from the awful, to the excellent and plummeting back to the diabolical. Firstly, we are treated to a final turn from Ms. Coppola as she dies unconvincingly on the opera house steps. We then see Pacino's finest moment of the film as he expresses initially silent agony at her side - a truly great few frames. But then, for some unfathomable reason, we are transported forward 20 or 30 years to Sicily, where Pacino is wearing some of the worst make-up in movie history, and he falls out of his chair and dies. To call this final scene rushed, crass, unimaginative, comical, insulting, lazy, pathetic or arrogant would be to understate things greatly. There simply could not have been a worse ending to the trilogy.
All this said, the film is watchable if you are able to put all of these points out of your mind and simply let it wash over you. There a lot worse films. But I awarded it five stars owing to the unbelievable mess made by the men that created the two original masterpieces. My advice is to watch this once, but in future only bother with Parts I and II, as they were intended.