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The Godfather Part III
Mar. 14th, 2018 07:32 pmUsually I don’t pay too much attention to what’s leaving Netflix unless it’s something I’m currently watching, but when The Godfather Trilogy popped up, I knew I had to make time to watch the third installment. I watched the first two movies several times and I remember Part Three was almost always universally panned as a teenager (Google pops up some interesting articles on whether it was bad or not, if you have some extra time).
Fortunately, I had nothing to do but craft on Sunday morning because the movie is three hours long. My nutshell review is that it’s a bit long and a little disjointed with some hilariously bad dialogue thrown in. However, it was still a beautiful and captivating movie with a compelling story and lovely composition and music. I felt that the movie ended too abruptly and I was surprised when it was actually over.
There are a few things that keep the movie from being stellar, however, and it’s not Sofia Coppola’s acting. Supposedly her role as Michael’s daughter, Mary, sunk the movie (the criticism sunk her acting career). She doesn’t appear in it enough to make this true. She was more than adequate as the naive and trusting young woman who falls in love with her cousin. The biggest culprit is easily the length of time between the second movie and the third movie - 16 years to be exact. Al Pacino chews the scenery as the Corleone patriarch and is coasting on his star power, something he didn’t have in the early 70s. Audiences are as mature as the actors. Audiences love the familiar, but when something is too familiar, it leaves a little disappointment. Also, while most of the previous actors were brought back, they were darn hard to recognize. I couldn’t figure out who was who half the time. Lastly, I mentioned the terrible dialog. Everyone sounded like a bad caricature of Italian mobsters, particularly Joe Mantegna who plays Fat Tony in The Simpsons. Here he plays mobster Joey Zasa.
In some regards, the movie was a bit of a time capsule. I totally forgot there was a time that Andy Garcia was hot hot hot and he doesn’t disappoint as the handsome, passionate and hot tempered illegitimate son of Sonny Corleone. Michael tries to train up Vincent in the family business after he tries to bite the ear off of Joey Zasa. It’s less about passing the torch and more about honouring Sonny. In some regards the movie is about cycles of violence - the movie ends where Vito’s story started in Sicily.
There easily could have been a fourth Godfather movie, but it was probably wise to end it here. Time has shown what happens when an extra movie is made *cough* Indiana Jones *cough* and it becomes unnecessary. I’m kind of surprised that The Godfather saga hasn’t been remade at all come to think of it!
Fortunately, I had nothing to do but craft on Sunday morning because the movie is three hours long. My nutshell review is that it’s a bit long and a little disjointed with some hilariously bad dialogue thrown in. However, it was still a beautiful and captivating movie with a compelling story and lovely composition and music. I felt that the movie ended too abruptly and I was surprised when it was actually over.
There are a few things that keep the movie from being stellar, however, and it’s not Sofia Coppola’s acting. Supposedly her role as Michael’s daughter, Mary, sunk the movie (the criticism sunk her acting career). She doesn’t appear in it enough to make this true. She was more than adequate as the naive and trusting young woman who falls in love with her cousin. The biggest culprit is easily the length of time between the second movie and the third movie - 16 years to be exact. Al Pacino chews the scenery as the Corleone patriarch and is coasting on his star power, something he didn’t have in the early 70s. Audiences are as mature as the actors. Audiences love the familiar, but when something is too familiar, it leaves a little disappointment. Also, while most of the previous actors were brought back, they were darn hard to recognize. I couldn’t figure out who was who half the time. Lastly, I mentioned the terrible dialog. Everyone sounded like a bad caricature of Italian mobsters, particularly Joe Mantegna who plays Fat Tony in The Simpsons. Here he plays mobster Joey Zasa.
In some regards, the movie was a bit of a time capsule. I totally forgot there was a time that Andy Garcia was hot hot hot and he doesn’t disappoint as the handsome, passionate and hot tempered illegitimate son of Sonny Corleone. Michael tries to train up Vincent in the family business after he tries to bite the ear off of Joey Zasa. It’s less about passing the torch and more about honouring Sonny. In some regards the movie is about cycles of violence - the movie ends where Vito’s story started in Sicily.
There easily could have been a fourth Godfather movie, but it was probably wise to end it here. Time has shown what happens when an extra movie is made *cough* Indiana Jones *cough* and it becomes unnecessary. I’m kind of surprised that The Godfather saga hasn’t been remade at all come to think of it!
