I am not a Godfather III hater. In fact, I hardly can consider the movie any worse then the previous two. And, here's why...

For one thing, I don't consider The Godfather III to be, just the third installment. In Coppola's commentary for the film, he mentions that he tried his hardest to convince the studio to have it be named The Death of Michael Corleone. You see, it wasn't part three, it was the end, the last page. For example, say your building a a tall tower. Now, each block may be different but simmilar in so many other ways, whereas, the roof, the cap, is always much more unusual. This was simply a way to give us closure, not the story of the Corleones neccesarily. And I believe it did just that.

Also, what the hell is so horrible with Sophia Coppola's acting? I'll admit, not Oscar worthy, but, come one, you guys beat up on her too much. I mean, she played it all perfectly fine, definately believable. I mean, I've seen far worse acting, this is hardly considered to be horrible, or even bad.

Now, granted, the third movie is complicated. But, so was the second installment. I mean, it took me just as many viewings to understand The Godfather II as it did The Godfather III. I think the problem is simply that it wasn't as exciting, and it wasn't the same Michael. It was not a subject that many would find interesting. But I see it as, hey, this is where Michael is, whether I fancied it all or not. I was interested in Michael and his family. Indeed, they all changed quite a bit, but it had been a couple decades, and is change in character not inevitable?

The only thing I didn't like, was the fact that Vincent was made up entirely. But, you must remember, the book and the movie are both two different things. The movie was based on the novel, it wasn't the novel with moving pictures. I mean, when Vito dies, in the book, Michael is there to say goodbye, in the movie, his grandson is there to watch him die. In the second installment, when Vito's mother is killed, it is in a different way then in the book. The two worlds are different, and as much as I would have rather seen the movie more congruent to the novel, I did like the fact of Sonny's bastard son showing up.

So, there, thats all I have to say. Feel free to critisize, disagree, what have you. But, let me end with this. It is The Godfather we all fell in love with. And I see it like this, can you be an absolutely true fan if you hate part of the trilogy so very much? Hmmm...