Francis Ford Coppola has all the time been a boundary-pushing filmmaker. He directed masterpieces like The Godfather, The Godfather Half II, and Apocalypse Now. He’s additionally made some much less acclaimed movies like Jack and Twixt. He all the time has quite a bit to say, and along with his new $120 million sci-fi epic Megalopolis, he has outdone himself. Maybe probably the most polarizing film of the 12 months, everybody appears to have one thing totally different to say about this one. Personally, I don’t have plenty of optimistic issues to say about it.
This one might be robust to overview as a result of Coppola totally goes for it. He self-finances this film that has been a ardour mission of his for years. He’s taking huge swings that no person else in Hollywood takes. He operates on a degree we haven’t seen on the massive display shortly, and I respect him for that. However I can’t commend it as a result of Megalopolis is likely one of the largest misfires I’ve ever seen. Each artistic alternative may need labored higher for one more viewers member, however I couldn’t wrap my head round what this film was going for. It appears like an experimental scholar movie that occurs to run for two hours and 18 relentless minutes.
I’m not going to let you know my opinion is the proper one as a result of, as I stated, everybody will stroll out of this movie feeling in a different way. If you may make heads or tails of this film, I’m pleased with you. I believed Megalopolis was nightmarishly horrendous. So many concepts don’t have an excellent setup or payoff. It feels just like the amalgamation of 40 years of drafts all mixed into one. With an absurd quantity of characters (none of whom we care about), this movie is cinema’s most stunning catastrophe. I’m virtually in awe of it. Not like most horrible motion pictures, I wish to watch this movie once more as a result of I’m in disbelief that it exists.
Many scenes are edited so unusually that I couldn’t imagine how unintelligible they had been. The essential premise revolves round a political race between Cesar Catalina (the Roman affect could be very on-the-nose, as you possibly can inform) and Mayor Francis Cicero. They each wish to create a greater future and have totally different concepts, which involves a head when Cesar turns into concerned with Francis’s daughter, Julia. The premise just isn’t horrible, however the execution is atrocious.
Let’s begin with the setting. Megalopolis is ready in an alternate present-day “American Republic.” The characters dwell in New Rome, basically an alternate New York Metropolis dropped at life with CGI backdrops, units, and archival footage of the town (I may inform due to a Sbarro in Instances Sq. that existed years in the past). As a lot as I respect Coppola’s dedication to constructing a brand new world, I used to be not satisfied for a second. Lots of the backdrops really feel synthetic. It’s extraordinarily apparent when the actors stand in entrance of LED panels. One of many worst examples is a scene that’s speculated to be probably the most romantic a part of the movie: a kiss between two lovers as they stand on development pipes miles above the town. Besides you don’t purchase into the hazard for a second as a result of every thing appears to be like faux.
The pacing may be insufferable right here. Not solely is it a twisted internet of caricatures as a substitute of characters, however it drags on with lengthy, pretentious conversations that strive too exhausting to be profound. Does Coppola care about subtlety? Apparently not, as a result of many scenes characteristic characters verbally stating the movie’s themes out loud. Why is that this how he chooses to discover these themes? What’s going on? We also have a character performed by Laurence Fishburne, whose narration comes and goes all through. His narration begins out advantageous, however there are scenes the place it’s used to state issues that might have been communicated visually slightly than him saying it.
The cinematography works in some scenes and never a lot in others. Coppola employs an excellent use of daring, vibrant colours, and there’s no scarcity of wonderful photographs, significantly throughout a couple of out of doors nighttime scenes. However there may be an overuse of a shallow depth of subject (this comes from somebody who loves shallow depth of subject). Each scene is blocked and carried out like a foul stage play. Megalopolis feels just like the workings of a madman, free to create with out restraints, letting his actors have free roam and making an absurdly high-budget unbiased movie.
Regardless of the star-studded solid, nobody appears to search out their footing on this convoluted script. The emotional moments really feel pressured, and the dialogue typically seems stilted or incomprehensible. Adam Driver will get a couple of hilarious line readings, Aubrey Plaza’s character is absurd, and I don’t know what Shia LaBeouf and Jon Voight had been doing on this film. Truthfully, I’ve no clue what these two Transformers actors had been attempting to do with these performances. This can be a deranged miracle of a movie that must be seen to be believed. I often suggest that readers don’t watch the films I dislike, however I encourage you to expertise this as a result of I’ve by no means seen something prefer it.
We now have no romantic chemistry between Driver and Nathalie Emmanuel, moments the place the dialogue is so horrendous that I couldn’t assist however snort, and a narrative that meanders with out doing something attention-grabbing. There’s a scene the place a key character dies, which may have been tragic, however it’s one of the hysterical scenes I’ve seen all 12 months. We now have cut up screens the place the pictures get squashed and ugly. We now have political commentary that’s so apparent that we’ve individuals waving the slogan, “Make Rome Nice Once more.” That is cinematic brilliance, probably the most horrible waste of two and a half hours, or wherever in between. I don’t assume anybody can determine. I feel it’s self-indulgent and can depart you scratching your head.
SCORE: 1/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a rating of 1 equates to “Terrible.”
ComingSoon doesn’t get pleasure from giving out an terrible ranking, and it’s usually reserved for video video games which might be damaged or leisure that’s devoid of any redeeming qualities.
Dislcosure: ComingSoon attended a press screening for our Megalopolis overview.
