Once a Criminal, Always a Criminal

Rating: 5/10 (3 March 2012)

Like the first two, this movie had a few moments, but as with all sequels, it tends to start to lack. Like the second one, it was difficult to work out the plot, though the characters and their development is quite well done. Also, as with the previous two, the plot is wound up very quickly, with the antagonists all being killed within the final minutes of the movie. It wouldn't be a problem, except that the antagonists were scattered across the world. Also, I really did not understand why they killed the Catholic priest at the end.
Anyway, in this movie, Michael Corleone has moved out of the crime business and is trying to go straight. Unfortunately, pressures from his sister and his nephew, and his enemies, are trying to push him back into it. I guess the theme here is that once you are a criminal, you are always a criminal. In fact, the final ending is quite tragic, but I will not go into too much details.
The interesting thing I found in this movie is how the characters have finally developed. Michael Corleone is trying to redeem himself in the eyes of the world and the eyes of his wife. It opens with him gaining the highest honour that a lay person can receive from the Catholic Church, and this sets the theme for the entire movie. His sister though, who was an innocent housewife in the movie, a promiscuous woman in the second, has become a crime queen. In fact she assassinates somebody in the final moments of the movie, though we are not sure as to why this happens.
Then we have Michael Corleone's son, who has gone the way of his father in the early parts of the first movie. In this scene he refuses to have anything to do with the family business, and in fact, like his father, he drops out of college to pursue what he wants to do. Michael is actually trying to redeem himself in the eyes of his ex-wife, though this never comes through, because even though redemption is there, it is too far for him to get. His pride refuses to let him take it, and pressures from enemies also prevent him from getting there.