After an attempt on his father’s life, a by-the-book Marine captain must kill his father’s rivals and become head of his own crime family to protect those he loves.

is this supposed to be the Godfather? ?My God this misses the mark. ?Where's the sense of grandeur? Where is the Shakespearean struggle between father and son, and light and darkness that plagues Micheal as he weighs ?avenging his father, falling prey to his demons, or to be a "good" man?

I think is a great exercise to write a logline for this movie, to fit into the template we've established on the site. At the same time, since we obviously are not trying to sell the script, I it benefits to take a few liberties to show the hook and uniqueness of the film in a logline we craft. That's my reason I think "who wishes to avoid mob life" should stay, even if we wouldn't normally include something like that.
I've watched quite a few overly hyped movies, and most meet my expectations. While I don't really like Batman, when I recently watched the Dark Knight I was thoroughly enjoying the movie, even if I did identify a lot of problems that a lot of people gloss over.(I hardly think it's the best comic book movie, or even the best Batman movie.) But anyway, there was just something that turned me off from the Godfather and made me not want to watch its sequel.
I thought it may be that I don't really like older movies, but when I watched Casablanca I enjoyed it, and now I plan to spend a few weeks solely watching classic movies I've never been interested in watching before. I think I'll hold out on the Godfather until I'm a bit older. Maybe I'll appreciate it more in a few years.

Michael's over arching, proactive goal once he does take charge and in the other 2 movies is to make the family business legit. (His bridge to becoming legit is to invest in Las Vegas casinos, divest his crime holdings to his ?capos.)

He wants to fully assimilate, become just another regular Mike living the American dream.

(The very first words of dialogue in the film, spoken by the undertaker, Bonasera, are not coincidental: "I believe in America". ?But there he is pleading for the Godfather to give him justice ?because his faith in America has been betrayed by the American legal system.)

Here's my thematic word for the story arc of the entire franchise: assimilation. ?Or two words: going legit.

And, of course, he can't. ?The harder he tries, the more deeply enmeshed he becomes in the "lifestyle". ?He's made a deal with devil -- and there's no way out, no absolution.

(BTW: ?How the book and movie credibly effects Michael's flip from staying out of the family business to becoming inextricably involved is well-worth studying in detail, beat for beat, scene for scene.)