Director: Andrew Morahan
Writer: Mike Jefferies, Piers Ashworth (Screenplay)
Starring: Kuno Becker, JJ Field, Leo Gregory, Kasia Smutniak, Anya Lahiri, Nick Moran
Plot: The heroes compete on the greatest stage of all, the FIFA World Cup Finals.
Runtime: 1 Hour 36 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Soap Opera Boredom
Story: Goal III starts as we follow three footballers from Real Madrid Santiago (Becker) and two England internationals Liam (Feild) and Charlie (Gregory), they have finished their season and now the World Cup is on the horizon. Charlie gets a movie role, Liam will need to find a new club, which sees him return to Newcastle, while Santiago gets an injury which sees him ruled out of the world cup and leaving Real Madrid.
The Santiago watching from the touchline and seemingly forgotten about in this movie, we focus on the England lads who must learn life lesson while trying to make history.
Thoughts on Goal III
Characters – Santiago was the main character in the first two movies, here he is just the teammate that watches his teammates play in the world after getting injured, we have the smallest possible scene of him looking back at the love he lost in Roz, though they don’t mention names. Liam is being released by Real Madrid, returning to Newcastle, where he discovers a big surprise, a daughter he never knew he had, Liam must learn to give up his party style life to become the father he never knew he could be. Charlie remains at the big club, he gets a film role and meets the girl of his dreams, with his life turning around, he is ready to make history. Sophia is the actress that Charlie falls in love with, she is willing to make a new life with him too.
Performances – Kuno Becker has been the highlight of the franchise until this film, he is barely in the film which disappoints greatly. When we look at the newcomers JJ Feild and Leo Gregory, they both struggle in this film too. In fairness none of this acting is in any way shape or form near the standards we are used too.
Story – The story decides to make this film become an England story by pretty much writing Santiago out of the film, with his teammates needing to sort their careers and lives out during the World Cup. First problem, this is going to be a list,
· we have no timeline between the end of the last one and the events in this one.
· Where did Gavin Harris go?
· Who are these two new players, are they world beaters or just squad fillers?
· Why did we forget Santiago’s story, which the franchise is about?
· When did this become a soap opera?
Enough of the lists now, we do seen to have a script that feels like scraped soap opera, because everything that happens is too unrealistic, with too many, badly delivered lines. Plus that ending, really, are we ending a trilogy like that?
Romance/Sports – There is a romance in this film, it isn’t realistic in anyway though, the sports side of the film also takes a backburner here to life, we are meant to care if these players can make an impact right?
Settings – The film is meant to be follow the England camp preparing for the world cup, we are meant to be in Germany, though we never see any locations to make us believe this.
Scene of the Movie – Ummm, pass.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Pushing Santiago to the background.
Final Thoughts – This is a terrible finally to the franchise, this forgets the original character turning the film into a soap opera.
Overall: Painful watching.
Rating
