p r e f e r r e d r e v i e w e r s :
 |
 |
|
You haven't selected any preferred reviewers. To learn more about customizing your experience, click here.
|
|
|
 |
 |
o t h e r r e v i e w e r s :
|
|
|
jim [ 8.0 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
The third installment isn't a towering achievement along the lines of the first two, but that's not to say it isn't entertaining. The tone is a lot different from Parts I and II--this isn't Michael Corleone on the way up, but on the way out (of the mob life and of life itself). Al Pacino turns in a somber, reflective performance highlighted by some particularly strong scenes with Diane Keaton.
Sofia Coppola doesn't seem quite right as Mary Corleone, but a bigger problem, as her director father notes in the DVD commentary, is that the studio forced the film to be a rush production in order to meet a Christmas release date. So the storytelling isn't as tight as in the first two films, and there are a few puzzling loose ends--what becomes of the Bridget Fonda character, for instance?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mohawk [ 7.5 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
Why oh why did Francis F. Coppola choose his daughter to play the role of Michael's daughter?
Whereby the previous two were almost flawless down to the last detail...this part had just too many (flaws that is).
There were moments where the magic seemed to be there...but against the previous two there is no comparision. Final remark: Could of been so much better.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DokBrowne [ 7.0 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
Has enough moments reminiscent of why "The Godfather" films are so seductive and powerful to make it worth watching, but like everyone has said, it's a weak effort. The acting is cheesier (sadly, I would say this even applies to Al Pacino, but also especially Andy Garcia, George Hamilton, Diane Keaton, and Sofia Coppola), the art direction is ironically far more dated with its stuffy 1990 look than the previous two (which, over thirty years on, still hold up remarkably well on a visual scale), and the plot is redundant (you could read into the fact that all three climaxes occur identically with a series of hits intercut with Michael's going on with his life as some kind of dramatic symmetry, or you could just say it's a giant lack of creativity). Basically all 3 movies are the same - the Corleone family tries to work together with other mob families and organizations, then fails due to power struggles and betrayals, then a lot of people are killed, then Michael is a lonely, haunted monster in the end.
However, the ghosts of those other "Godfather" films (and the events therein) linger helpfully over the somewhat dull proceedings of this final chapter, and the mythological aspects of the story still have some potency. Taking stock of how far Michael Corleone has come, and all that he's dealt with, makes for good cinema, I think, but all the actual story stuff this time around seems forced - it's tiresome, unoriginal, and unconvincing (the acting all around just really, unexpectedly underwhelmed me, and I'm not talking about the infamous Sofia)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Love_Spoon [ 8.0 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
Inferior (albeit a good try) continuation of Mario Puzo's story of the Corleone family. Andy Garcia shines as the brash, illegitimate nephew who takes his place as the new Don. Unfortunately, Sofia Coppola makes a poorly-acted (but apparently required) token appearance as Michael's daughter. One of the most touching scenes in film for me occurs as she is shot while exiting the opera, along with Michael's weeping. Like I said, it's a worthy end to the tale, but don't expect the greatness of the first two chapters.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DeadCanadian [ 5.0 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
Oy vey, what a dissapointment. First of all, I might have rated this film better if it wasn't for the fact that the first two were so great (in fact, I probably would have given it a 7.5), but "The Godfather Part III" is just so much worse than its predessecors and is such a dissapointment that it warrants only a 5.0. Al Pacino, who gave absolutely outstanding performances in the previous two movies is now merely good. The other actors are just forgettable. And where was Robert Duvall? He didn't die in the other Godfather movies and he's still making films, so why wasn't he here? Obviously because it was so bad. The plot is meandering and nothing much happens, and most of the speech is pretty darn close to inaudible. I also had a hard time keeping track of what was going on. The first two "Godfather" movies are must-sees, but you can skip this one.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
chapter11 [ 8.0 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
Frances Ford Coppolla's denoument to his famed filming of the fictional Corleone family might not be on the qualitative level of his earlier pair of masterpieces, but really - after 20 years, who expected it to be? "The Godfather, Part 3" is still a wonderfully engaging film, and worthy to stand alongside its legendary predecessors in the trilogy. Much of the film's criticism is derived from the casting of Coppolla's daughter Sofia as Michael's daughter, and the big question begs an answer: is Sofia Coppolla's performance really THAT bad? The answer is yes, it is; she's clearly far more competent a filmmaker than an actress, and had she known this in 1990, we might have been spared her performance here and still gotten to see "The Virgin Suicides" ten years later. As for the rest of the performances, Coppolla has assembled a forceful cast of youngun's - Coppolla, Andy Garcia, Joe Mantegna - and "Godfather" regulars - Al Pacino, Talia Shire, Diane Keaton. Of these performers, only Pacino and Garcia truly EXCEL - everyone else just kind of stands around and wonders where Robert Duvall is. There are also several plot holes - like a Bridget Fonda character who gets about 25 minutes of screen time, only to fall off the face of the earth - and a final shot that seems kind of tacked-on. Also, third time around, the story smacks of too-obvious parallelism, and after about a half hour we realize that old Michael is Vito and Garcia's character is young Michael. Despite the flaws - and they're pretty notable flaws - "The Godfather, Part 3" still has much of that "Godfather magic," and excels simply because of that look, that feel. It should be noted, also, that "The Godfather, Part 3" contains the most suspenseful sequence of any "Godfather" movie to date - a breathtaking, heart-stopping climax at a Sicilian opera house that builds to a shattering finale. The parallelism again crops up - intercutting brutality with beauty has been done before, in the classic baptism sequence of the first film - but it hadn't yet been done as good as this. The bar was set high - maybe a little TOO high - with the first two films, but "The Godfather, Part 3" admirably and gracefully concludes a monumental film trilogy despite its flaws.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Weighted Rating | : 7.0 |
| No. Ratings | : 20 | |
| No. Reviews | : 10 | |
|
|
|
|