REVIEW: Megalopolis- Its ambition is staggering and admirable but Francis Ford Coppola’s swansong is a complete mess
Written by Sam Clark on 7th October 2024
Francis Ford Coppola is no stranger to a hectic and disastrous film production process. Production on Apocalypse Now became infamous and iconic for just how difficult it became, undoubtedly one of the worst examples in Hollywood history. Coppola now properly returns to the directing chair for the first time in well over a decade (his recent films have been largely unknown, straight to video pictures) to deliver, what could be regarded as the biggest passion project of his (over) fifty year career, with ‘Megalopolis’.
Very long story short, he has ended up self-financing this $120 million dollar epic (because no studio would), and you are, sadly, left wondering why he has even bothered. The budget is just one of many, many things that has made this undertaking such a challenge. He has been developing this since 1979. The film takes place in ‘New Rome’, a modern-day fable that combines modern America with Ancient Rome (the only clear element in what is an otherwise spectacularly confusing story). Adam Driver is Caesar Catilina, a driven and tenacious architect who is determined to build the perfect city and civilization that he so desperately believes in. His uncle is Hamilton Crassus III (Jon Voight), a wealthy and powerful banker who seems to be Caesar’s primary source of support and income.
The rest of this ensemble includes Nathalie Emmanuel (Julia Cicero), Aubrey Plaza (Wow Platinum), Giancarlo Esposito (Mayor Cicero), Shia Labeouf (Clodio Pulcher), Laurence Fishburne (Fundi Romaine), Talia Shire (Constance Crassus Catilina), Jason Schwartzman (Jason Zanderz) and Dustin Hoffman (Nush Berman). Caesar sees his vision opposed by Esposito’s Mayor Cicero who does not agree with what his vision, partly because Caesar is demolishing entire areas of the city to pave way for his grand utopia. The entire film is filled with conflict with people who agree and disagree with him.
He utilizes this glowing, golden material known as ‘Megalon’, with which he plans to build his city with (this did remind me of ‘unobtanium’ from the ‘Avatar’ films and not in a good way- fifteen years later, you still can’t say that with a straight face). Part of me wishes to save you the boredom of having to read endless paragraphs that explain the plot, but the other half of me would not be able to if I wanted to, as ‘Megalopolis’ spirals into nothing more than an ego-filled, empty, existential yawn of a film. I, for one, do not hate it as much as some have, nor am I angry with it or at it, but the sense of crushing disappointment mixed with anticlimax is overwhelming.
I was aware of the venomous critical reactions going in, but they only paint so much of the picture. Aside from awful green screen (visually, most of it reminded me of Jude Law’s Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, a 2004 science-fiction flick that had very distracting visuals), terribly unlikable characters and no clear direction of where anything is going, I just could not, for all the will in the world, take any of it seriously, and trust me, this takes itself far too seriously up to the point of self ridicule. Characters stand around and have philosophical discussions about all manner of things in the most unconvincing of ways, all of which Coppola so desperately wants you to take on board. The film’s biggest dilemma and most frustrating thing is that I understand what he is trying to do, but the way in which it is executed is just so off-puttingly pretentious and unnecessarily convoluted.
Without wishing too give too much away, the final frame of the film was, coincidentally, the final nail in the coffin that solidified everything wrong with the film. Coppola’s reputation is certainly nothing to worry about (and I doubt he himself is concerned frankly), and he is certainly aware that this is his biggest get out of jail free card (given the fact that he made The Godfather films), but you do wonder what went so wrong here. Films that have been trapped in developmental hell can be disastrous when poorly executed. The most astounding thing is that we are saying this about someone who is, to some, the greatest director who has ever lived.
Financially, this has proved to be one of the worst opening weekends ever for a big budget film. The film debuted with $6 million dollars with a $120 million dollar budget. Before long, it will be forgotten about. Perhaps it’ll achieve some form of cult status in the future, but for now, his return to the big screen makes you doubt whether he should have come back at all.
In cinemas now.
3/10