“Megalopolis” Review

Starring Adam Driver, "Megalopolis" represents Francis Ford Coppola's return to filmmaking on a massive scale in this epic fable of power, creation and destruction. 

First, let me just say how tickled I was by the experience of seeing “Megalopolis”. It’s 2024 and I was still able to see a new film by the great Francis Ford Coppola based on a completely original idea, with a massive cast and a budget of $120 million on an IMAX screen. That alone deserves some celebration in our modern landscape where this kind of treatment is almost always reserved for films based on pre-existing material. However, that’s the only element of “Megalopolis” that is worth praise. Despite the talented voices attached to the film and the passionate drive of Coppola, the film finds itself crushed underneath its own ambition.

In an alternate version of New York City, christened “New Rome”, a visionary architect named Cesar Catalina (Adam Driver) with the ability to stop time has big plans for the city. Utilizing a revolutionary new element, Cesar plans to remake the city into a utopia which does not bode well with New Rome’s mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito) who wishes to maintain the status quo. Amidst the conflict, Cicero’s daughter Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel) offers to help Cesar with his vision, resulting in a whirlwind romance. With many opportunities brewing in this struggle for power, a plethora of other elites all try to make their mark which could threaten Cesar’s utopia before it even begins. 

Combining elements of science-fiction, social commentary, personal drama and political strife, Francis Ford Coppola’s return to filmmaking after over a decade certainly is making the big swing. In development since the 70s, making “Megalopolis” has long been a dream of the New Hollywood legend and, hearing Coppola talk about the film in various interviews over the years, one can’t deny his passion for the project. After all, upon seriously revisiting the film within the past few years, Coppola raised $120 million of his own money to finance the film. With such high stakes, I really wanted to like “Megalopolis”. But after seeing this mess of a film, I am in the bizarre situation of having both a dislike for the film as well as deep-seated admiration. 

Any interesting ideas of utopia versus dystopia, power inequities and the disgusting extravagance of the super wealthy are lost in the film’s unfocused script. The massive ensemble cast, which includes the likes of Jon Voight, Shia LaBeouf, Laurence Fishburne, Jason Schwartzman and Dustin Hoffman, feels underutilized with several characters struggling for any worthwhile presence. Even those who manage to have meaty roles, such as Adam Driver and Nathalie Emmanuel, are struck down by the dialogue which likes to go back and forth from elegant and grand to pedestrian. It feels like a poor mix of Shakespeare and dime store romance novels. The only actors that I felt really pulled off this jarring mix were Shia LaBeouf and Aubrey Plaza who just embraced the film’s madness and infused the insanity into their performances. 

As far as allegories go, the idea of comparing Rome’s collapse to the state of America is an interesting one but any connections feel underwhelming since the city of New Rome lacks a clear identity. Half of the time, mainly with interior scenes, the production design does have a strong personality to it with the elegance of the Roman Empire juxtaposed with its brutality. But the other half, this city looks just like New York but with a new name. It’s very tough to become immersed in a world when you struggle to comprehend what this world actually is. 

On the other hand, the massive budget is dripping from every frame. Despite my misgivings about the film’s narrative and its many structural flaws, I was blown away by what Coppola was able to achieve with some of his more visually dazzling scenes. The effects are grand and many sequences are bursting with abstract creativity and exceptional imagery. One scene set in Madison Square Garden is especially impressive with Coppola reenvisioning the world’s most famous arena as a modern Roman Coliseum with chariot races and acrobatics, 

But for all its strong visuals, the script has far too many inconsistencies, subplots and moments of unhelpful craziness to result in a satisfying or engaging story. Cesar’s quest to build his utopia is constantly sidetracked for other people’s ambitions and there is an unfortunate lack of focus that makes the already two-hour-and-18-minute film feel like a compromised final cut. Except Francis Ford Coppola had complete control of “Megalopolis”. There were no studio heads breathing down his neck or any backhanded suits trying to compromise the artist’s vision. This is all Coppola and it causes great concern when you see that the man who made “The Godfather” films, “Apocalypse Now”, “Rumble Fish”, “The Outsiders”, “The Conversation” and “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” created this film. 

Despite big goals, eventually the film’s runtime can barely handle the weight of Coppola’s story, resulting in a film that gets slower the more you watch it. Half the time, I felt like Martin Sheen’s Captain Willard, the protagonist of “Apocalypse Now”, slowly moving towards an impending evil with the journey becoming more hazardous with each move forward, resulting in a maddening experience. After a while, watching “Megalopolis” became an experiment in slow-burning insanity as I became unsure how much time was passing outside of my IMAX theater. Was it ten minutes? Ten hours? Ten years? Who knows? Who even cares? 

While “Megalopolis” is a film that I think failed to achieve its goals, I still can’t help but respect the ambitions of Francis Ford Coppola. He made this film his way and it still is incredible to think that this legend of cinema tried to make a grand return to cinema and that so many other talented people joined him in his quest. Coppola’s film just became far too convoluted for me to grow any sort of attachment to his vision. While the film has already become the subject of much polarization from critics and audiences, I can see “Megalopolis” growing a massive following. It’s just a following that I probably won’t be a part of.