It isn’t often that you come across something like “Megalopolis.” In today’s entertainment industry, fewer risks are being taken. Studios and production companies, wary of new intellectual properties and ideas because of big-budget flops, are increasingly opting for the more bland but economically predictable route of producing reboots, remakes and sequels. Films that are seen as riskier just aren’t given spending power, and with recent issues, such as the SAG-AFTRA strike, the WGA strike and streaming fatigue, resulting in a feeling of recession in Hollywood, it looks like the future will bring even more of the same.
After seeing the train wreck that was “Megalopolis,” I understand why. Maybe more sequels aren’t the worst thing. You know what? Even more sequels! Every movie needs a sequel.
I went into “Megalopolis” after closely following the development of the film for years. "Megalopolis" was written, directed and produced by Francis Ford Coppola, one of the greatest and most accomplished figures in the film industry today. In the 1970s, Coppola directed the “Godfather” films and “Apocalypse Now” (a film he also risked a lot on), films that rank among my favorites because of their excellent writing, deep themes and experimental natures. These films have also had far-reaching impacts on the film industry.
Around that same time, Coppola had the beginnings of the idea for what would eventually become “Megalopolis.” After nearly four decades in development hell, and over $120 million of his personal fortune spent, it had arrived, with big names like Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito and Aubrey Plaza in starring roles. All this considered, my expectations were sky high.
Unfortunately, “Megalopolis” is an objectively terrible movie. It’s also very difficult to describe. It seems like for the past 50 years, every time Coppola has had an idea or came up with a witty one-liner or clever piece of dialogue, he wrote it down. Then, he made a movie that condensed every single thing he wrote down into 138 minutes, no matter how out of place or nonsensical. The movie is absolutely crammed with ideas—it’s bursting at the seams. Coppola fit enough material in this movie to make five movies; but if all the unnecessary material was cut, it would probably only run half an hour. It’s an absolute mess: Plot devices are introduced but never mentioned again, and plot lines begin, fizzle out and are picked back up with no explanation. One minute, you think it’s a science fiction epic. Then, it’s a political commentary. Nope, it’s a boardroom drama. Oh, wait … it’s a rom-com? Dystopian thriller, maybe? Murder mystery?
I don’t know. No one does.
If you haven’t seen the film for yourself, you might not quite understand the magnitude of the madness that I’m describing. Let’s go over some characters and plot points. The protagonist is Cesar Catalina (Adam Driver), a world-class architect working for the city of New Rome, an alternate version of New York. He can also stop time. Cesar has won a Nobel Prize for inventing the revolutionary building material Megalon, which he discovered in (or was inspired by—the movie is unclear on this) the womb of his dead wife. He wants to use Megalon to build a utopian society, Megalopolis, but Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), the mayor of New Rome and Cesar’s aristocratic rival, stands in his way. Oh, Cicero was also the prosecuting attorney who accused Cesar of murdering his wife. And Cicero’s daughter, Julia, is Cesar’s lover, and inexplicably, she can see when Cesar stops time. This is just the exposition—there is so, so, so much more, and it all makes even less sense the more you reflect on it.
I think I would need to watch the film a few more times to catch everything that is trying to be done here—and I mean that in a bad way. It seems like Coppola set out to create a movie about everything and, in doing so, failed at doing anything. There are so many different messages and themes in the movie that some of his most important ones, namely the connections between the ancient Roman Catilinarian conspiracy and our modern political system, are lost in the maelstrom of ideas.
Despite the convoluted plot, there were a few things about the film that I enjoyed. Firstly, the acting was a rare bright spot compared with the rest of the movie. The actors did the best they could with the script that was provided. I thought that Shia LaBeouf did especially well with his character, Clodio Pulcher, whom Coppola uses to comment on what he sees as the nefariousness of modern far-right and populist politics. His performance was the most consistent and actually reminded me of the real-life people that Coppola was speaking of, something that can’t be said of the other “commentary” characters.
Secondly, every once in a while, you do catch a glimpse of Coppola’s former brilliance. There were a few times that the cinematography affected me to the point of a whispered, “That’s a cool shot.” There’s one sequence that I especially liked: Cesar is being chauffeured through a bleak New Roman neighborhood, where modern, blocky buildings share the street front with giant Roman statues. As the music swells and the limo passes the sculptures, they fall and crumble to dust. It’s an emotional shot, and it makes you feel, for a few seconds, like you understand what Coppola is trying to accomplish.
However, what’s so frustrating about “Megalopolis” is that this understanding only lasts for a few seconds—it’s followed by a ridiculous “character development” scene for Cesar that, stylistically, is completely different from what came before it and ruins all the momentum that was just created. “Megalopolis” is riddled with these moments. I sometimes had this sense that a truly great film was here somewhere, hidden beneath the atrocious dialogue and confused plot. However, just like Coppola’s directorial career after his 70s successes, it quickly faded away.
But what’s weird about “Megalopolis”—and why I would actually recommend watching it—is that it’s very entertaining in a way that bad movies usually aren’t. Other terrible films that are entrenched in popular culture, such as Tommy Wiseau’s “The Room,” are legitimately a struggle to get through. Some of them are so awful that they could be considered torture devices; you just want them to stop. Even though it was an awful movie, I didn’t really want “Megalopolis” to stop. The viewing experience wasn’t agonizing like it was for these other movies—actually, quite the opposite. “Megalopolis” kept me intrigued throughout its entire runtime. Many other films haven’t, and I think that speaks to how unique “Megalopolis” is. At least Coppola succeeded in making something different.
“Megalopolis” will go down in history as a mega flop and a failed experiment by one of Hollywood’s most respected figures. I just hope it isn’t used as a reason to stifle creativity in an industry already on the decline.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.