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For what it is worth, Francis Ford Coppola is unafraid to take big swings like Megalopolis. A fable of the fall of the Roman Empire, Coppola's first move in over a decade is overstuffed with ambition.
Unfortunately, it leads to a muddled mess of a movie. Megalopolis, for all its glitz and glamor, is a shallow exploration of greed and power. If it were made by anyone else, it would be considered a massive failure. Because it is Coppola, one of the greatest filmmakers ever, it gets graded on a curve.
To be frank, Megalopolis is an incoherent heap of trash for 90%. Its premise alone is interesting, but it becomes a sequence of scenes instead of a steady narrative. And visually, the Metropolis-like city has a yellow tint that harkens back to the Godfather Omerta Edition.
I do not know what the future holds for Coppola, who was once in the conversation of the greatest filmmaker ever. Megalopolis leaves a bad taste in your mouth as a fan of his work. After seeing it, there is no wonder why it took a while for studios to bite on its distribution.
Megalopolis review
In New Rome, there is a major conflict. The conflict is between Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver), an idealist architect with big ideas to push the city forward. He wants to create a sustainable metropolis out of Megalon.
Opposite him is Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), New Rome's conservative mayor. He wishes to keep the city at status quo, corruption and all.
In between them is Cicero's daughter, Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel). She starts a relationship with Cesar, complicating his feud with Cicero.
Corruption in New Rome
One thing is for sure — every character in Megalopolis is corrupt. From sleeping with journalists to screwing over your cousin, you do not root for anyone in the movie.
It is a complexity that Coppola has explored in his past work (and a lot more successfully). Think Michael Corleone or Walter Kurtz from The Godfather and Apocalypse Now.
Adam Driver and the cast
But in Megalopolis, Driver is the vessel through which we watch the movie. To be clear, Driver is a phenomenal actor. However, it feels like he is delivering more of the same in his recent work here.
Despite another silly accent, Cesar is not too far from Driver's character in House of Gucci. Megalopolis is like House of Gucci if the movie was not able to make itself the butt of the joke.
The rest of the star-studded ensemble, which features has-beens (Shia LaBeouf) and underrated gems (Chloe Fineman), vary in the quality of their work. Aubrey Plaza plays Wow Platinum, a power-hungry TV personality who attempts to marry her way into it.
Despite Plaza's usual charisma she brings to projects, her performance falls flat. Most of the Megalopolis actors feel like they are there solely to get to say they worked with Francis Ford Coppola.
Balancing the various storylines
Maybe it is the script's fault, which has a heavy dose of exposition. In his past work, Coppola has shown the ability to handle several storylines—everyone tries to replicate The Godfather Part II to no avail—but he may have lost his touch.
There are just too many ideas in Megalopolis. It may be an epic, but Coppola overstuffs the movie with dream sequences, sex scenes, and shady business. Perhaps these scenes are homages to his past work. There is also a case it is just disjointed.
Certain scenes feel hokey, a word never associated with the peak of Coppola's career. Megalopolis is a swing at recapturing the old magic.
Francis Ford Coppola made it happen
But credit where credit is due — Coppola wanted to make this movie and made it happen. Not many filmmakers would make a movie of this scope, let alone self-finance it.
That is the biggest appeal of Megalopolis. Not to preach about the importance of independent cinema, but Coppola's movie is one-of-a-kind. Blockbusters may eat up the money at the box office, but few are as ambitious as Megalopolis.
Not every risk works out, just like no batter hits 1.000 in baseball — Coppola's average in Megalopolis is probably in the .100s. But it is almost adorable how much effort and care is put into Megalopolis.
I wish more worked in Megalopolis. After all, it is not often that we get a new Coppola joint. It is disappointing to see him go out this way if this is his last movie.
Unfortunately, not every filmmaker can be Hayao Miyazaki, who delivers the hits at 83. The Boy and the Heron is one of his finest works, thanks to its intimacy. Megalopolis has the ambitions of a young man, but it does not portray Coppola's growth in the 60+ year career he has had.
Should you watch Megalopolis?
Megalopolis likes to ask big questions with no answers (the not-so-subtle political references to today's age do not help). Francis Ford Coppola accomplished his mission of making Megalopolis, but was it worth it?
The problem may be that a new guard has taken over Hollywood. Above the superhero movies and IP schlock that floods theaters every week, there are so many talented filmmakers, including his daughter Sofia Coppola, with more to say.
A for effort, but Megalopolis is a dud.
Grade: D
Megalopolis is in theaters.
