Megalopolis (2024)

Release Date: October 23, 2024
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Starring: Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza

I walked into Megalopolis without high hopes, which, honestly, might have been the best possible mindset. I figured I’d give it a shot—I mean, it’s Coppola! But sometimes even legends falter, and this time, the hype around Coppola’s decades-in-the-making dream project didn’t shield it from turning into an exhausting mess. It’s a film that clearly wants to be taken seriously, but by the end, I couldn’t decide if I’d been watching a fever dream or the longest film school project ever made.

Megalopolis has been marketed as a dystopian epic that wrestles with philosophical debates about progress, power, and the future of cities. Sounds ambitious, right? Yet, for all its scope and grandeur, what we get is an overlong jumble of weird time-stopping powers, awkward dialogue, and a plot that never quite makes sense. It’s like Coppola tried to piece together a mosaic from chunks of classic cinema but ended up with an incomprehensible mural.

The Setup: Time-Stopping Architects and Tired Ideas

In the center of this chaotic swirl is Adam Driver as Cesar, an architect who literally stops time in his quest to redesign a futuristic New York City, which is crumbling in the wake of a massive disaster. The city’s mayor, played by Giancarlo Esposito, is knee-deep in corruption and debt, trying to hold the city together while clashing with Cesar about its future. At first, I was intrigued by the concept—an architect who can bend time sounds intriguing. But as it played out, it felt more like a gimmick than a compelling plot device. I couldn’t help but ask: what’s the point?

Nathalie Emmanuel plays Julia, the mayor’s daughter and Cesar’s romantic interest, and yes, she too can stop time. Apparently, that’s a thing in this movie. Together, they get caught in a melodramatic romance that fails to click, bogged down by wooden dialogue and zero chemistry. Their dynamic could’ve been one of the film’s saving graces, but instead, it felt like a distraction in an already confused plot.

The Parallels: Classic Inspirations Gone Awry

As Megalopolis trudged along, I couldn’t help but notice its attempts to mimic other, better films. There are flashes of Metropolis, Blade Runner, and even Inception sprinkled throughout, but rather than paying homage, these moments feel like half-baked imitations. The movie’s central debate about tradition vs. progress could’ve been interesting—who doesn’t love a good philosophical clash? But the execution is so bloated and convoluted that any substance gets lost in a sea of bizarre digital landscapes and outlandish time-bending antics.

The thing is, I’m all for ambition in filmmaking, but the problem here is that Megalopolis never quite gels. The mind-bending visuals and the grand speeches about destiny and legacy all felt hollow—more like ideas that were scribbled on a napkin and never fully fleshed out. It’s a movie that tries to say something profound but ends up as incoherent rambling.

The Performances: Actors Drowning in Ambition

Here’s where it gets tricky: Adam Driver does his best to make Cesar an intriguing, tortured genius, but even his immense talent can’t salvage a character weighed down by a script that’s more interested in spouting pretentious monologues than building a relatable human being. Driver’s Cesar is supposed to be this visionary, but by the end, you’re just waiting for him to stop talking and let something, anything, happen.

Nathalie Emmanuel, who’s usually fantastic, is reduced to playing Julia as little more than a plot device. Her character drifts through the movie, alternating between helpless victim and enigmatic love interest, but never really doing anything. Giancarlo Esposito, meanwhile, brings his usual gravitas to the role of the mayor, but the script gives him little room to shine. His character’s corruption and existential crisis feel more like footnotes in a film that’s already overloaded with ideas.

Aubrey Plaza and Shia LaBeouf show up as supporting characters (yep, you read that right), but they too get lost in the clutter. Plaza’s Wow Platinum—yes, that’s her name—could’ve added some much-needed levity, but the movie takes itself way too seriously for that.

The Plot Twist: Wait, What?

And then there’s the twist—or rather, the lack of one. You keep waiting for that moment when everything clicks, when the seemingly random pieces finally come together. Spoiler alert: they don’t. In the final act, we get yet another confusing detour, but by then, I was too tired to care. I had already mentally checked out. Even the scenes that were supposed to feel epic—like Cesar pausing time in the middle of a crisis—just felt silly.

I’m all for weird, out-there storytelling, but Megalopolis is just too much. It’s as if Coppola took every idea he ever had about the future, crammed it into a single film, and hoped for the best. Unfortunately, the result is a bloated, overstuffed mess that never lands the punch it’s aiming for.

The Ending: More Confusion, Less Satisfaction

By the time the credits rolled, I wasn’t shocked or impressed—I was relieved it was finally over. The film ends with yet another attempt at a philosophical mic drop, but like most of the movie, it falls flat. What’s worse is that the ending leaves so many questions unanswered that it feels like Coppola forgot to finish the script.

Final Thoughts: A Wasted Opportunity

So, what’s the final verdict on Megalopolis? For a film that’s been in the works for decades, it’s a letdown of epic proportions. It’s got ambition, sure, and it swings for the fences, but it misses by a mile. While some of the visuals are impressive, and the concept of exploring the future of a metropolis is intriguing, the execution is all over the place. By the end, I was more baffled than blown away, and that’s not what you want from a supposed masterpiece.

My final rating? ⭐ (1/10).