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So, I just registered to this site, as I hoped to find others with an interest in movies that I could discuss with.
As my first topic, I will post a review I made for The Godfather Part 3 some time ago. I have watched this film twice actually, once a few years ago, but I didn't remember much about it, so I rewatched it recently shortly after The Godfather Part 2(one of my favorites of all time), and I was somewhat disappointed about it, read more about my opinion below.
Let me start by saying, that The Godfather Part I is an amazing movie, a masterpiece by every mean, and that the second one, The Godfather Part II, is one of my favorite movies of all time! It has everything I search for in a movie. Strong set of characters which are all amazingly acted, an intriguing plot with great twists, and deep messages. It revolutionized cinema with it's parallel sequel/prequel storyline, and Michael Corleone became one of the greatest characters ever. Why is he so great, you ask? Because he was a monster, a good young man turned into a power-hungry, stern and powerful Emperor-kind-of-character. You could really feel his presence as he walked into the room, truly a force to be reckoned with! Which leads us to the first issue with this film, Michael himself. Well, I got to admit, I kind of like the idea of him ageing and wanting to make up for his mistakes, truly redeeming himself. And Pacino delivers a good performance this time as well.... however, not as Michael Corleone. This is not the character I loved to hate. He is acting like a completely different person. Smiling, laughing and being generally nice to people. I guess people can change with age, but the last time we saw Michael, he wasn't like this at all, so it kind of comes across as out of nowhere. Supposedly they tried to make Michael resemble his father more, Vito Corleone(played by the late Marlon Brando), he was more calm and good-hearted than his son was in Part II, but again, it feels kind of forced.
One of the biggest issues in this movie is the characters. The first two movies included a great variation of main characters, all of them well acted, relatable and interesting. Such as Tom Hagen(played by Robert Duvall, who unfortunately could not make it into this movie), Sonny Corleone, Fredo, Kay(who actually was in this movie, but it didn't feel like she had much to do). This movie focuses on three characters solely, Michael, his nephew Vincent and his daughter Mary.
Michael kind of takes the back-seat of this one and instead hands to torch over to Vincent. Who's, in my opinion, a really uninteresting and stupid character. They try to make him into this kinda-cool bad ass guy, who can on his own defeat two assassins armed with knives(which, by the way, feels more like something you would see in a James Bond movie, and not The Godfather). I kind of cringed when he became the new Godfather towards the end. To me it didn't feel like this guy would last a week in the plotting and backstabbing his two predecessors was part of. Also, where did this character come from? Apparently he was Sonny's bastard son, but I don't know, much like Michael's personality change, it kind of comes out of the blue.
Now, let's get on with it. Michael's daughter, Mary Corleone, played by the director Francis Coppola's own daughter, Sofia Coppola. She's one issue that REALLY drags the movie down. I've heard that Sofia has sort of redeemed her career recently with directing/producing, but as a young actress, she was downright horrible. She delivers every line with such a monotone voice and soulless face, that you kind of wonder throughout the film if the character is supposed to be mentally challenged in some way. There's not much to say about the character, since she displays almost zero personality. Actually makes me glad the character was shot in the end... even though her death-scene was as emotionless as always, and her father's yelling was so over the top that I actually laughed...
And speaking of Vincent and Mary. Their romance in this movie was extremely weird. It didn't take the plot anywhere, it didn't feel genuine at all and of course... they are cousins. I know that doesn't really make it illegal, but I don't know. It feels gross to me.
Now to the good parts about this movie. The feel. In many aspects, this really felt like a Godfather-movie, the camera-work, the plottings and killings. And the ending scene at the theater where Michael extract revenge on his foes is actually good, even if it of course doesn't bear the same gravitas as those in the first two. And the fact that it in some aspect continues the story in a natural fashion, taking the story of Michael Corleone's life to it's final chapter. Of course you could just end at Part II without feeling something is missing from the story, but if you want more out of that, this feels like a natural final chapter.
So, this is a flawed movie. It had some great ideas going for, but I just wished they were executed better. It was not a horrible movie or really that bad, and I know many considers if somewhat underrated. But for me, it didn't quite meet my expectations. Perhaps I am just comparing it too much to the first two movies.
I give it a 6/10! ]
As my first topic, I will post a review I made for The Godfather Part 3 some time ago. I have watched this film twice actually, once a few years ago, but I didn't remember much about it, so I rewatched it recently shortly after The Godfather Part 2(one of my favorites of all time), and I was somewhat disappointed about it, read more about my opinion below.
Let me start by saying, that The Godfather Part I is an amazing movie, a masterpiece by every mean, and that the second one, The Godfather Part II, is one of my favorite movies of all time! It has everything I search for in a movie. Strong set of characters which are all amazingly acted, an intriguing plot with great twists, and deep messages. It revolutionized cinema with it's parallel sequel/prequel storyline, and Michael Corleone became one of the greatest characters ever. Why is he so great, you ask? Because he was a monster, a good young man turned into a power-hungry, stern and powerful Emperor-kind-of-character. You could really feel his presence as he walked into the room, truly a force to be reckoned with! Which leads us to the first issue with this film, Michael himself. Well, I got to admit, I kind of like the idea of him ageing and wanting to make up for his mistakes, truly redeeming himself. And Pacino delivers a good performance this time as well.... however, not as Michael Corleone. This is not the character I loved to hate. He is acting like a completely different person. Smiling, laughing and being generally nice to people. I guess people can change with age, but the last time we saw Michael, he wasn't like this at all, so it kind of comes across as out of nowhere. Supposedly they tried to make Michael resemble his father more, Vito Corleone(played by the late Marlon Brando), he was more calm and good-hearted than his son was in Part II, but again, it feels kind of forced.
One of the biggest issues in this movie is the characters. The first two movies included a great variation of main characters, all of them well acted, relatable and interesting. Such as Tom Hagen(played by Robert Duvall, who unfortunately could not make it into this movie), Sonny Corleone, Fredo, Kay(who actually was in this movie, but it didn't feel like she had much to do). This movie focuses on three characters solely, Michael, his nephew Vincent and his daughter Mary.
Michael kind of takes the back-seat of this one and instead hands to torch over to Vincent. Who's, in my opinion, a really uninteresting and stupid character. They try to make him into this kinda-cool bad ass guy, who can on his own defeat two assassins armed with knives(which, by the way, feels more like something you would see in a James Bond movie, and not The Godfather). I kind of cringed when he became the new Godfather towards the end. To me it didn't feel like this guy would last a week in the plotting and backstabbing his two predecessors was part of. Also, where did this character come from? Apparently he was Sonny's bastard son, but I don't know, much like Michael's personality change, it kind of comes out of the blue.
Now, let's get on with it. Michael's daughter, Mary Corleone, played by the director Francis Coppola's own daughter, Sofia Coppola. She's one issue that REALLY drags the movie down. I've heard that Sofia has sort of redeemed her career recently with directing/producing, but as a young actress, she was downright horrible. She delivers every line with such a monotone voice and soulless face, that you kind of wonder throughout the film if the character is supposed to be mentally challenged in some way. There's not much to say about the character, since she displays almost zero personality. Actually makes me glad the character was shot in the end... even though her death-scene was as emotionless as always, and her father's yelling was so over the top that I actually laughed...
And speaking of Vincent and Mary. Their romance in this movie was extremely weird. It didn't take the plot anywhere, it didn't feel genuine at all and of course... they are cousins. I know that doesn't really make it illegal, but I don't know. It feels gross to me.
Now to the good parts about this movie. The feel. In many aspects, this really felt like a Godfather-movie, the camera-work, the plottings and killings. And the ending scene at the theater where Michael extract revenge on his foes is actually good, even if it of course doesn't bear the same gravitas as those in the first two. And the fact that it in some aspect continues the story in a natural fashion, taking the story of Michael Corleone's life to it's final chapter. Of course you could just end at Part II without feeling something is missing from the story, but if you want more out of that, this feels like a natural final chapter.
So, this is a flawed movie. It had some great ideas going for, but I just wished they were executed better. It was not a horrible movie or really that bad, and I know many considers if somewhat underrated. But for me, it didn't quite meet my expectations. Perhaps I am just comparing it too much to the first two movies.
I give it a 6/10! ]
