Don't Bother

Rating: 2/10 (4 November 2003)

Godfather III, like so many sequels, simply fails to deliver on the promise of the series. Godfather I & II, while essentially soap operas, both deliver brilliantly. They are well acted, well written beautifully filmed and engaging. But why else would they package III in the Godfather box set and with a bonus DVD? On its own it wouldn't sell. I found myself wanting to fast forward through scenes and wishing I would have rented instead of bought. Many situations (the parties, parades, disguised cop etc.,) are copied from the first two episodes, but just don't seem as convincing. Why did Joey Zasa have the helicopter wipe out the mob bosses before he knew the outcome of the meeting? Many actors are cardboard and George Hamilton is positively wooden. Is he an actor? I thought he was just on Hollywood squares? Diane Keaton seems out of place, like she walked in from the set of a Woody Allen film and landed in a gangster picture. Despite its 2&1/2 hours, you don't `feel' the relationship between Vinnie and Michael. How did he grow or `learn' the ropes to become a Godfather? He just changes from a leather jacket to a suit. Many scenes and dialog are laughable or cliché, The spinning newspaper that freezes on the headline, the assassin lurking in front of the opera poster etc., The only reason to watch this film is to see Andy Garcia steal scenes (he's the only actor who seems he really wants to be in the film) and a few good one liners. Otherwise the movie falls off the chair like the aged Al Pacino at the end of the movie, a dead, dried up shell of its former self.