Megalopolis: Mega Hit or Mega Dud?

Becoming a Reality

The director of some of the most beloved movies ever made is back in a mega kind of way. Megalopolis is a passion project for legendary director Francis Ford Coppola, who is responsible for classics such as The Godfather trilogy (or, at least, the first two), Apocalypse Now, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The film’s production goes decades into the past, even all the way to the 1970s. However, due to difficulties of varying proportions, the film never made it off the ground until recently.

At first glance, the picture has potential to be a modern science fiction classic; not only is Coppola attached as director, but it also boasts an all-star cast and cost $120 million to make, being self-financed by Coppola himself. However, even with promising signs like those, that could not stop the movie from falling victim to several issues leading up to its wide release. 

Ever since Megalopolis first screened at the Cannes Film Festival back in May, it has proven itself as one of the most polarizing films to come out in recent years; I’ve seen both five-star and one-star reviews across the board, with some calling it a misunderstood masterpiece, and others claiming it’s a pretentious mess. Even now, as the movie tracks its release across nearly 2,000 theaters, it is looking to become a major box office bomb for a multitude of reasons, such as competition from DreamWorks’ The Wild Robot and abysmal audience reception, receiving a D+ grade from crowds polled by CinemaScore. 

Having recently caught the film at the Hackettstown Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas, just a less than 10-minute drive from campus, which side of the coin do I land on: the praisers or the detractors?

It’s Not All Doom and Gloom

Megalopolis is a science fiction epic, centered around a particular conflict in a setting called New Rome; it sees a man named Cesar Catilina eyeing a utopian-style future for the city, while clashing with the current Mayor, Franklyn Cicero. 

Meanwhile, Cicero’s daughter, Julia, finds herself torn between her father’s rule and her feelings for Catilina. The film features an ensemble cast including Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Shia LaBeouf, Aubrey Plaza, and many others to bring the characters in this area to life.

Despite the film’s polarization, and many of the glaring issues I have with it, I should give credit where it’s due; it does have a decent amount of qualities that I consider positive. For example, I did appreciate the movie’s visual style. It has a rather unique spin on the idea of a futuristic city, with New Rome containing several creative environments and eye-catching effects. The $120 million budget did not fully go to waste; I can respect Coppola’s commitment to self-financing the feature, especially given the clever style it boasts.

In addition, I can commend most of the cast for trying their hardest with the material. Namely, Driver and Espositio do sell the feud they maintain throughout the film. Even in their standalone moments, they perform their roles strongly, a sentiment which is shared by a few of the side characters as well. The highlight performance for me was Shia LaBeouf as one of the movie’s antagonists, Clodio Pulcher; his enthusiastic commitment to the character and script make him one of the most memorable parts of the entire film.

What Went Wrong?

Unfortunately, even with a plethora of promise in its visuals and cast, I could not get into Megalopolis as much as I wanted to. The primary issue I had with the film came from the writing; in addition to directing, Coppola wrote the script. Yet, despite that, I could not understand what the movie was trying to do.

For one, the film contains side plots that coincide with its core story. However, most of these subplots have similar issues: they tend to not go anywhere and leave next to no impact on the viewer, only serving to add more to the film when it already has a lot going on. The conflict between Catilina & Cicero and the arc of the latter’s daughter would have been enough to satisfy the movie’s runtime. Yet, because there are so many characters, other side plots simultaneously take place, making the picture feel overstuffed and hard to follow in some places.

Speaking of them, the characters in this movie also add to the bloated feeling the script has, due to there being so many. Since it has a massive ensemble cast, it can be easy to forget that some characters are even in the film; they end up underdeveloped or outright forgettable as a result. Some of the actors, such as Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Fishburne, are wasted and not given enough screen time, while others, like Aubrey Plaza and Jon Voight, give below par performances that range from wooden to annoying. 

But Wait… There’s More!

The convoluted script and below par characters are not the only glaring issues the film has; even some of the aspects surrounding them drags it down. For example, the editing is all over the place, with several sequences having a hyperactive style frequently cutting between multiple shots, and other scenes lingering on certain parts for a bit too long. In turn, this creates inconsistent pacing throughout the entire runtime; I’ll admit, during some of the slower moments, I was tempted to fall asleep. 

Even the musical score doesn’t leave any sort of takeaway. While some of it worked in the context of a few scenes, most of the tracks blend in with each other. There’s no standout piece in the entire film. In turn, this makes for one of the most forgettable scores I’ve heard in a movie in quite some time; there is promise with these symphonies, but the picture sadly goes nowhere with them.

Latest Case of Wasted Potential

Overall, while I respect Coppola’s ambition in making the movie a reality, and there are a few redeeming performances and visuals, Megalopolis did not live up to its potential due its messy script, unremarkable characters, inconsistent pacing, and forgettable music. There was a ton of promise behind this film, but it ultimately did not pay off in the end. Because of this, I do not recommend watching this movie in theaters, not even if you are a science fiction fan or loved Coppola’s other works. 

At most, I’d say this is a movie worth streaming once, nothing more or less. At the end of the day, this may have been Coppola’s passion project, but that does not make the movie any less faulty. To answer the question I set up in this review’s headline, I say that Megalopolis is, unfortunately, a mega dud. 

My Rating: