The term “legend” is thrown about a great deal these days, but is there any other way to describe Francis Ford Coppola? He has been responsible for so many amazing movies during his legendary career that people just adore and he has won a ton of awards and his movies have made a ton of money at the box office. I myself have enjoyed a great deal of the work by Francis Ford Coppola, but Megalopolis was not for me.
How to Download Megalopolis
Megalopolis was released on September 27, 2024. You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice.
The Movie Review
This is going to sound weird, but hear me out. There is a famous scene in an episode of Family Guy where Peter says that he did not like The Godfather because “it insists upon itself”, that is exactly the way that I see Megalopolis. This is a very pretentious and self-serving movie that no doubt was a movie that Francis Ford Coppola was desperate to make and major props to the man for getting it done. However, it feels like this was a movie that was made purely for him.
A Vision of Ancient Rome in America
At the end of the day, he had a vision of a movie that saw America like ancient Rome, well that is what people have been telling me Megalopolis is and with character names like Cesar Catlina and Mayor Cicero, I guess that is the case. I could be dumb, but I just took this movie for what it was and I have to be honest and say that this was a real slog to get through. It comes in at over two hours, but it legit felt like it lasted three plus hours.
A Tale Set in New Rome
The movie is set in New Rome which is basically an alternate reality New York City. We have two men, first of all, we have Cesar who has a vision for a utopia kind of city, oh, he also has a superpower that lets him slow down time. Cesar is played by Adam Driver (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Marriage Story, House of Gucci) and to be fair, he is a great actor and he gives the role his all.
Mayor Cicero and the Fight for New Rome’s Future
While a fantastic utopia sounds great, there are some people with power in New Rome who do not want their status quo changed. Leading this charge is Giancarlo Esposito who plays Mayor Cicero. I love Giancarlo Esposito and if I see him in a trailer or if I hear that he is in a movie, it is automatically more likely that I am going to give it a watch. He is just such an awesome bad guy and once again, he does a solid job here.
A Love Triangle Adds to the Drama
Now, these two butting heads over the future of New Rome is made a bit more complicated by a woman called Julia, played by Nathalie Emmanuel (Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, F9). Julia is the lover of Cesar, but the daughter of the mayor so as you can probably guess, that does lead to a lot of tension. The movie has an incredible supporting cast with the likes of Aubrey Plaza, Jon Voight, and Laurence Fishburne to name a few, plus it was awesome to see Shia LaBeouf in a higher profile role.
My Final Thoughts on Megalopolis
I saw the trailer for Megalopolis a few times over the year, but despite that, I had no idea what kind of movie this actually was. I kind of thought I was getting a movie like the video game, Bioshock as far as the tone and vibe of things went and that kind of is here which I liked. However, there is so much going on here that it was so hard to keep track of. I was in for the first 30 or so minutes, they had me and I thought that this had a great deal of potential. Yet, the longer the movie went on, the less enjoyment I was having. I loved the way the movie looked, but by the end that was not enough to keep me interested.
While this has mostly been me complaining, I did not hate the movie, it just did not click with me, but I can see why there may be some people who just adore the movie. I am sure it is a very clever movie and props to the main man for getting it made. I have a feeling it will be hated or misunderstood by many, but absolutely loved by a few and hey, I am happy for you guys that did love this. Part of me thinks a second watch of this may make me like it more, but I had so little fun by the time this got to the end, I really do not want to sit through it again.
