A lazy attempt

Rating: 6/10 (25 October 2005)

Godfather Part III is on the whole a rather good movie, but it is nothing compared to the first two episodes. This is due to the laziness and lack of inspiration in the movie, which have produced this Hollywood movie filled with shortcuts and stereotypes. It completely lacks the subtlety of the first episodes, in particular the script is at some moments completely awful. Some chosen moments :
"-Why is this country (Sicily) so violent? - History."
"Que pane! Ah! Olio di Olivo! Como solo se (i forgot the Italian word for make) in Sicilia!" (Come on! He might as well be saying yeeeeha! i likes a good ole' cheeseburger with fries - the guy sounds as sicilian as Kevin Kline looks french in French kiss...)
A lot of people have said that Sofia Coppola's acting was terrible, but quite frankly I think it's a bit unfair to put all the blame on her. The script is the real culprit here. Coppola had nothing left to prove : his legacy includes three of the greatest movies of all time (the two first episodes and Apocalypse Now). It's just a shame that he didn't find a way of giving the same strength and atmosphere there was in parts I and II. Pacino's acting is alright but not great. The last scene on the opera steps and the close up on Michael screaming is very good though. By the way, I thought the end (when Michael dies an old man in Sicily) is very disappointing : michael should have died there on the steps : his screaming could be seen as his soul bursting out of his body, the final redemption, it would have been a great ending. Also the plot is quite good, with the corruption of the Vatican under Pi IV (and not P2... that's in Perminator) and the mysterious death of John-Paul I. But with such a plot the movie should have been much better. So to sum this up, it's still an OK movie, but it just doesn't come anywhere near the first two episodes.