The Return of the Jedi of the Godfather trilogy...

Rating: 6/10 (18 July 2007)

Remember everyone's high hopes after seeing Star Wars and Empire Strikes back for the third movie in that trilogy? Return of the Jedi hits the theaters - everyone sees it ready for a great finale to that series and...everyone comes out with mixed feelings. The great scenes of Jabbas palace, Bobba Fett, and the speeder bike chases are offset by the annoying toy marketing of the Ewoks and the reused plot device of the Death Star resulting in a film that doesn't end things up on a really satisfying note.
Godfather III is the Return of the Jedi of the Gfather series without a doubt. There are hints of greatness there - Al Pacino, Andy Garica, Talia Shire, Eli Walich are all outstanding. Some memorable lines too that rank up with the best of the Godfather quotes - "Everytime I think I am out they pull me back in!"...A handful of really outstanding dramatic scenes too. However, mixed in with all of that is "Ewoks" and "Death Star 2" crap as well that bring the movie down. Sophia Copolla, God bless her heart, is awful...the whole Vatican plot gets overly confusing and boring to the point where the viewer is just praying to God to make it stop...Robert Duvall's Tom Hagan is deeply missed in this movie... Ah well, you get the point.
Don't see it expecting the greatness of the first two Gfather films and don't see it expecting to marvel at everything that goes on. It is what it is - a flawed ending to a great saga.