Movie Review: 'Megalopolis'

“Megalopolis” is the newest film written, directed and produced by Francis Ford Coppola. You may know Coppola from some of his famous works including, “Apocalypse Now” and “The Godfather” trilogy. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest directors of all time. But does “Megalopolis” live up to the high standard that Coppola has been held to over the years?

“Megalopolis” is an incredibly confusing movie. Although it is not as confusing as absurdist films such as “Beau Is Afraid,” it still has the potential to lose its audience at times. “Megalopolis” fully embraces and walks the line of absurdism while still managing to handle a plot that revolves around greed, corruption, time, love, grief and political turmoil. 

As usual with Coppola films, “Megalopolis” is spearheaded by an all-star cast full of big names that you are sure to recognize. Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight and Laurence Fishburne all share the screen together in dramatic fashion. 

The actors' chemistry, combined with the whacky plot and script, comes together to create an experience that will leave a lasting impression on audiences. Whether that impression is a positive or negative is something that we will have to wait to see. 

Although each of these actors and actresses do an amazing job of portraying their characters, only three stood out to give memorable performances. These three are Driver, Plaza and LaBeouf, who each knock their characters out of the park for unique reasons. 

Driver proves once again that he is worthy of being the leading actor on a large budget film by bringing his distinctive acting style and setting it to maximum levels. His often slow and methodical delivery of lines is countered throughout by his charismatic delivery depending on what type of scene is being shot. 

For all of the fans of Driver yelling in his films — which seems to have become a common trait for any film he is featured in — rest assured, you will get your fix with this film. Although, his yelling this time around is more subtle than it was in “A Marriage Story” or “Black KKKlansman.” Driver is most memorable, however, for his long monologues throughout the film. 

Plaza stands out for an impressively zany performance — fully embracing a borderline psychotic character in a way that is worthy of recognition. 

LaBeouf is similar to Plaza in the sense that he also fully embraces the out-of-the-ordinary script, and it works like magic. Most of the memorable lines and quotable dialogue from this film are delivered by LaBeouf, and many of the standout scenes have him at the center. 

“Megalopolis” is the dystopian sci-fi story of New Rome, and the ambitious plans of Cesar Catalina — played by Driver — to transform New Rome into Megalopolis, a utopian society. These plans are openly opposed by the mayor of New Rome, Cicero — played by Esposito. 

Throughout the film, we follow Cesar as he faces many challenges on the course to creating his dream, but it is easy to become lost or confused about what is going on. The film itself seems to want to answer the question of “what makes an artist,” but because this is such a challenging question to answer, it can lose its audience. 

This seems to be the case with “Megalopolis.” IMDb currently rates the film at a 5.4 out of 10, which is much lower than what I think it deserves. Once the film has been out for a while and people have more time to digest its contents, we may see a raise in this score. 

The visuals and soundtrack for this film are both remarkable, with incredible cinematography and fantastical imagery representing a modern-ish time heavily influenced by ancient Roman culture. Coppola has once again proven that he can create an incredible world that feels lived in, even though it may lose its audience with the plot. 

As previously mentioned, the dialogue and conversations are very memorable. In fact, most of this film is genuinely funny because of the interactions between the characters —  not that this is supposed to be a comedy or anything, just that the characters are so rigid and don’t actually talk like real  people would. It is almost as if they were written to parody the upper class and their unorthodox way of life. 

Audiences may benefit from having knowledge on how to dissect the imagery and metaphors given to them in “Megalopolis,” and going into it knowing that the movie is not going to give you all of the answers. Another thing that may benefit the viewer is brushing up on Roman history, as the film revolves heavily around a society that is incredibly influenced by Rome. 

So, is “Megalopolis” a flop? It is too early to say. While the film is incredibly absurd and overall an enjoyable experience, it is also possible that this absurdism could lose the attention of its audience. 

The theater was packed to the brim during the showing, but a few people left before the film had even ended, surely thinking they had better things to do than try to understand the twisted mind of Coppola. “Megalopolis” is a film that is worth watching if the viewer is willing to take some extra time to understand its more subtle messaging.