Summary
The first twoGodfathermovies have earned their place among the greatest films ever made, and sadly,The Godfather Part IIIcould not live up to their legacy. After making movie history whenThe GodfatherandThe Godfather Part IIboth won Academy Awards for Best Picture, when the franchise returned after 16 years in 1990, it did not stack up against the reputation of its predecessors. With convoluted plotlines, miscast characters, and a rushed script,The Godfather Part IIIhad many issues that meant it was forever doomed to be considered the weakest entry in the series.
Although Francis Ford Coppola’srecut version titledThe Godfather Coda: The Death of MichaelCorleonewent a long way toward correcting some of the theatrical edition’s faults, this was not enough to recontextualize it as equal in quality to the earlier movies.The Godfather Part IIIhad plenty of issues, and even though there were many interesting concepts and engaging aspects to it, it could not live up to its lofty legacy.The Godfather Part IIIreceived some unfair criticism, but looking back on it today, it’s clear many of the complaints aimed at it were justified.
10The Godfather 3’s Story Felt Like An Epilogue, Not A Full Movie
The Godfather 3 was more of a postscript
When comparingThe Godfather Part IIIto its predecessors, one of the most striking issues was that it felt more like an epilogue to the story than a fully-fledged feature film. Unlike the previous entries' unmatched exploration of power, betrayal, and family dynamics, the thirdGodfatherwas more interested in tying up loose ends and reflecting on past events. This meant that althoughPart IIIhad plenty of impactful moments, it could never live up to the astounding achievements of the first two films.
The Godfather Part IIIended the saga of the Corleone family, and evenFrancis Ford Coppola repeatedly referred to it as an epilogue or coda. With this in mind, theGodfatherseries became a far more enjoyable experience if the first two movies were viewed as a duology andPart IIIas an epilogue. RepositioningThe Godfather Part IIIwithin this context allowed for its more compelling aspects to be appreciated without harshly comparing it to the first two movies, which have long been in the running for status as among the greatest films ever made.
9Sofia Coppola Was Miscast As Mary Corleone
One of the largest complaints posed at the lackluster reception toThe Godfather Part IIIwas that Sofia Coppola was woefully miscast as Mary Corleone, the daughter of Michael Corleone and Kay Adams. As director Francis Ford Coppola’s daughter, Sofia’s performance was critically panned, leading to some feeling she was only cast due to nepotism. Disappointingly,Coppola did not have the acting chops needed to pull off such a vital role, and her unsuitability for the part was apparent throughout the film.
To make matters worse, Coppola acted as a last-minute replacement for Winona Ryder, who had originally been cast as Mary. While viewers will never know if Ryder could have done a better job, based on her previously acclaimed performances and roles, an alternative universe with Ryder in that part feels far more appropriate.Ryder’s absence doomedThe Godfather Part IIIand was just one of many compounding aspects that meant the film did not live up to the reputation of the previous two movies.
8The Godfather 3 Needed Robert Duvall’s Tom Hagen
The character of Tom Hagen was one of the most significant in the first twoGodfathermovies, and many viewers felt he should have been the one to take over after the death of Vito Corleone. Once Michael became the head of the family, all hell broke loose, which led to the murder of Fredo and mounting tensions within the Italian mafia. As a viewer, it felt like things could have been much different with Hagen at the helm, and this conflict could have acted as a great storyline forThe Godfather Part III.
This was actually the plan originally, but Hagen’s actor Robert Duvall butted heads with the studio over money issues. Although Duvall was reportedly offered $1 million to appear inThe Godfather Part III, he took issue with Al Pacino’s $8 million payday, which meant negotiations broke down, and he was written out of the story. Sadly, Duvall’s absence was sorely felt, and those who love revising film history have long extolled thata confrontation between Michael Corleone and Tom Hagen would have helped elevatePart IIIto the level of its two predecessors.
What If The Godfather: Part III Had Starred Duvall’s Hagen
Robert Duvall’s Tom Hagen is an integral part of the first two Godfather films, but his absence in the third installment is a letdown for audiences.
7The Godfather 3 Does Not Work As A Stand Alone Story
The Godfather 3 was reliant on the legacy of the previous films
One of the biggest reasons that the first twoGodfathermovies earned such an acclaimed place in film history was that, although they worked so well together, they were also excellent movies on their own merits. A major problem withThe Godfather Part IIIwas that it did not work well as a stand-alone story. While viewers could jump in onPart IIand still become invested in the struggles of Michael Corleone and the flashbacks to his father’s rise in organized crime, without knowledge of these characters' arcs,The Godfather Part IIIdoes not make any sense.
The originalGodfatherwas an incredible crime story, the likes of which cinema had never previously seen, andPart IIcan be seen as a dual narrative that tells the opposing and interconnected stories of a father and son. However,The Godfather Part IIIneeds so much prior context that it becomes less like an independent movie and more like an extended add-onto what came before. Audiences should not be left scratching their heads or wishing they had watched a recap of another movie, and for this reason,Part IIIpaled in comparison to the previous films.
6Coppola Was No Longer At The Top Of His Game
The Godfather 3 was produced long after Coppola’s heyday
When Francis Ford Coppola made the first two films inThe Godfatherseries, he was at the absolute top of his game as a filmmaker. Coppola was producing work with a level of artistry equal to the best filmmakers who ever lived, and this incredible confidence poured intoevery scene inThe GodfatherandPart II. Sadly, this was not the case forPart III, asCoppola was only convinced to make it in the first place because he had just suffered several box office bombsand needed something to establish his standing in Hollywood.
While the previous movies felt like stories that Coppola absolutely needed to tell on screen, his heart wasn’t in it forThe Godfather Part III. Coppola believed that the first two films in the series had completed the story, but Paramount Pictures spent years trying to convince him to come back for another outing. While the first twoGodfatherswere produced out of a sense of artistic passion and creative energy, the circumstances under whichThe Godfather Part IIIwas released were primarily financial.
5Mary Corleone’s Romance Subplot Was Uncomfortable
Looking back onThe Godfather Part III, one subplot made for frankly uncomfortable viewing. Sofia Coppola’s portrayal of Mary Corleone got plenty of criticism, but the even worse part was her incestuous romance with her cousin Vincent Corleone. While there were allusions to the couple’s romance being forbidden, looking back onThe Godfather Part III,these were brushed over as mildly taboo instead of a truly shocking overstepping of boundaries.
AsThe Godfather Part IIIbuilt toward its grand conclusion, the incestuous romance between Mary and Vincent appeared to be presented as a sad case of star-crossed lovers. However, as a viewer, this plotline felt miscalculated on every level, as it was impossible to get fully invested in the tragedy of its conclusion because of just how much it pushed against the ethics of familial relationships. WhileThe Godfather Part IIIhas been unfairly judged over the years, few would deny that this plotline was incredibly creepy.
4The Godfather 3 Script Was Rushed
The Godfather 3 was written in just six weeks
While so many criticisms ofThe Godfather Part IIIrelate to its casting decisions, the movie itself had a clarity issue caused by its rushed script. AlthoughFrancis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo requested six months to get their screenplay ready, Paramount shockingly gave them just six weeks (viaCollider.) With an obligation to rush out a script that needed extra time, care, and attention, it’s no surprise that aspects ofThe Godfather Part IIIfelt convoluted and dissatisfying.
A major reasonThe Godfather Part IIIdidn’t live up to the other movies was that it was written with a high-pressure deadline looming in the background. Sadly, Coppola no longer had the clout needed to demand the freedom he and Puzo required to craft a script that was worthy of living up to two of the greatest films ever written. Unsurprisingly,The Godfather Part IIIdidn’t live up to its predecessor’s legacy, as its script was never given the chance to improve over further redrafts and rewrites.
3The Absence Of Vito Corleone
The Godfather 3 lacked the one of its most important characters
The character arcs of Vito and Michael Corleone were the driving force behind much of the success of the first twoGodfathermovies. As a father-son story told over several decades, part of the appeal ofThe Godfatherwas watching Vito Corleone’s rise in the criminal underworld and seeing how that affected the next generation of his family. The first twoGodfathermovies were just as much about Vito as they were about Michael, and two career-defining performances from Marlon Brando and Robert DeNiro helped make him one of cinema’s most enduring characters.
Although Vito’s memory loomed heavily overThe Godfather Part III, the fact that his character was not included meant that the third entry paled in comparison to the previous two.The dual narrative ofPart IIhelped give extra resonance to the failures of Michaelas the new leader of the Corleone family, and this sense of thematic depth felt like it was missing fromPart III. It makes sense that Francis Ford Coppola consideredPart IIImore of an epilogue than a true third installment, as its second protagonist was missing from the story.
The Godfather 3 featured a much different Pacino
From his work alone in the 1970s, Al Pacino earned his reputation as amongthe greatest actors ever. With astounding performances in movies likeSerpicoandDog Day Afternoon, Pacino set a new standard for performers and, along with actors like Robert De Niro and Jack Nicholson, became poster boys for the New Hollywood era of filmmaking. While Pacino’s work kept up a high standard in later years, by the time it got to the 1990s, his style had become far more abrasive and lacked the subtle nuances of Michael Corleone in the first twoGodfathermovies.
This change in style was noticeable inThe Godfather Part III, and rather than truly embodying Michael’s character, there was a sense that audiences were witnessing Pacino imitating Michael.It had been 16 years since Pacino had played the character, and this level of distance had an impact. While that’s not to say that Pacino did a bad job as Michael inPart III, there was just something slightly off that meant it could not live up to the previous two movies.
1The Godfather 3 Plotlines Were Overstuffed And Convoluted
The Godfather 3 should have been more streamlined
While the first twoGodfathermovies have received universal praise for their incredible pacing and masterfully balanced story arcs, the hard truth was thatThe Godfather Part IIIhad overstuffed and convoluted plotlines. A major fault was that the sheer magnitude of subplots and intricate characters' relationships inPart IIIseemed to serve little purpose.The Godfather Part IIIattempted to tackle too many themes at once and, in the process, got bogged down under the weight of its own magnitude.
There was Michael Corleone’s quest for redemption, his corrupt dealings with the Vatican, his daughter’s incestuous relationship, and a litany of other disjointed storylines.The Godfather Part IIIalso introduced new primary characters, such as Vincent and Mary Corleone, whose motivations and arcs felt underdeveloped and, quite frankly, rushed. Sadly,The Godfather Part IIIwas a lesson in wasted opportunities, and if its story had been streamlined and simplified a little bit more, it could have potentially stacked up against its predecessors.
The Godfather Part III
Cast
The Godfather Part III: Released on August 10, 2025, this third installment in Francis Ford Coppola’s trilogy follows Michael Corleone’s efforts to legitimize his crime family’s interests in 1979 while dealing with his past sins and mentoring a young protege in both New York and Italy.
