Whenever I hear the name Francis Ford Coppola, I remember the great words of “Family Guy’s” Peter Griffin reminding us that “The Godfather” insists upon itself. I wasn’t a fan of that film either.
However, this review is not about “The Godfather,” but rather Coppola’s return to theaters with his film “Megalopolis.”
“Megalopolis” follows Cesar Catalina (Adam Driver) as he wishes to build a utopia using a unique element known as “megalon” that would reshape the world as we know it.
Opposing him is Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), the mayor of New Rome who wants the world, and society, to remain as is.
Don’t be fooled by the city’s name, however. New Rome is just New York City with a colosseum located in Manhattan, which takes me out of the film’s attempts at immersion. Landmarks like the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building stand out like a sore thumb.
There are tons of skyline shots with Cesar Catalina looking outward that also took me out of the immersion. It was obvious to see that green screens were used.
The city’s name being changed comes as the result of the film being labeled as a fable, using allegories to reference how Coppola sees the United States following a similar path to that of the Romans.
The clashing ideals between Catalina and Cicero are what drive the film. Each scene with them debating over their ideals feels very poetic in a Shakespearean storytelling type of way.
The dialogue can be confusing at times, but the body language presented by the actors and context clues throughout the film help aid the audience’s understanding of both sides of the debate.
Cicero’s daughter Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel) also forms a romantic relationship with Catalina throughout the film, symbolizing that a compromise between what can be and what should be how the future of humanity plays out that further adds to the conflict between Catalina and Cicero.
While the first half of the film really digs deep into this ideological struggle between Cesar and Cicero, the second half features Wow Platinum (Aubrey Plaza) and Clodio Pulcher (Shia LeBeouf) as they team up to steal money from Hamilton Crassus III (Jon Voight), Clodio’s creation of a political uprising, and a Soviet satellite crashing into Manhattan.
This results in all interesting and straightforward plot elements being discarded, as the film rushes to complete subplots that are moving forward without a clear sense of where they’re going. It was so much of a mess that I genuinely got a headache watching things play out.
“Megalopolis” also tries something never done before. In a scene with Catalina, an audience member directly gets to ask him a question while a program runs prerecorded lines given by Driver to best respond to the question.
However, interesting as it may be, the conversation between audience and Catalina once again takes me out of the immersion.
I’m no longer focused on any plot in this movie but this random dude from row 13.
Some have claimed “Megalopolis” to be Coppola’s vanity project, and I can’t help but agree. This film throws so much of a promising plot out in the second half to where it’s hard to not see this as a film made for Coppola’s ego.
With a stacked cast and deflated storytelling over time, “Megalopolis” stands on the same ground as “The Godfather” as a film that truly does insist upon itself, and Coppola’s ego.
Rating: 2/5
Luke Brewer can be reached at 581-2812 or at lsbrewer@eiu.edu.
