it was the casting ... only two who seemed to fit were Keaton, 'cause i bought her as a finely matured Kate, and Shire - because i always portended that Connie would grow more ruthless as the years wore on with Michael - she told him in the boathouse that she "wanted to come" to "take care" of him, but i was always under the impression that there was a ton of meat left on Connie's bone for a heel turn, if you will - loved seeing Talia chew it up.
Pacino IS Michael, but it just felt off ... dunno - i couldn't buy the MC of I & II as being the cropped coif waffler we saw in III. and that voice ... a combo of Ricky Roma and Gena Rowlands. dafuq happened? he had throat cancer? anybody?
Mantegna's Joey ZAH-ZAH was the lowpoint ... like some wannabe scemo hamming it for kicks at a Schenectady dinner theater. awful.
further, i guess they never bothered to catch Wallach's previous attempt at Italian, as a gepetto like figure in the ill-fated early 80s drama "The Pride of Jesse Holcomb" (oh, man ... Johnny Cash , WHY?) - all because Jimmy Caan pulled it off ... (or, to a lesser extent, Winkler).
and if Sofia was wooden, then Garcia was plastic. Andy has never impressed as being any more than a dollar store sub for when the $5 actor passes on a project ... TTDIDWYD might be the only thing i can stomach him in, but maybe that's because i get to indulge my Fairuza Balk cravings, if only for a few minutes.
i will watch III if i happen to stumble upon it, i do enjoy looking at Sofia - and the story is none too shabby ... but i can't buy that gaggle of greenhorns as "Corleone".