A recently anticipated film, “Megalopolis”, premiered September 27, with its star-studded cast. Francis Ford Coppola has been working on the film for over four decades and spent over $120 million, directed, written, produced and paid for by Coppola, which raised the money from selling off a portion of his northern California wine empire. The cast of “Megalopolis” was star-studded, such as Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Kathryn Hunter, Grace VanderWaal, Chloe Fineman, James Remar, D. B. Sweeney and Dustin Hoffman.
With all this being said, the movie undoubtedly flopped at the box office, and both viewers and critics have strong opinions on it. The film got a 2.0-star rating on Google Review, 5/10 on IMDb, and 47% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The movie was in headlines even before its premiere, as Lionsgate pulled a trailer hours after it was found that it contained AI-generated quotes, falsifying critical reviews. Extras in the film also sued Coppola for inappropriate touching and kissing in the workplace. And even though this cast has many big names, some of them were cast there for all the wrong reasons.
In an article with the Rolling Stones, published in August, Coppola states he intentionally cast “canceled” actors in “Megalopolis” because he didn’t want the film deemed a “woke Hollywood production that’s simply lecturing viewers.”
Actor Shia LaBeouf, Clodio Pulcher, in the film, was sued in 2020 by his ex-girlfriend for sexual battery, assault and emotional distress. In 2017 Dustin Hoffman, Nush Bernman in the film, was accused by seven women of sexual misconduct or assault and Jon Voight, who has turned heads in Hollywood for his conservative views and outspoken support for Donald Trump.
Vultures released a movie review titled “Megalopolis Is a Work of Absolute Madness” after its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2024. Describing the ways in which characters spoke in the film. Such as old-fashioned phrases, mixing Shakespeare with Latin.
Some characters spoke in rhyme, and at one point in the film, Adam Driver’s character Caesar did the entire “To be or not to be” soliloquy from Hamlet.
“I went into “Megalopolis” with high hopes, even after hearing how it performed on the festival circuit,” said first-year Erin Detelfsen. “I knew it had been in the works for longer than my parents have been alive, and really wanted to enjoy it. It’s not that the film was too experimental, but it felt very surface level. Had he made it in the 1970s this film would have been revolutionary, but in 2024 it is just plain. It felt like an imitation of Christopher Nolan’s film (“Batman” trilogy and “Inception”).”
The movie is set in an alternate, 21st-century New York City called “New Rome” in the film). The plot follows visionary architect Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver) as he clashes with the corrupt Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), who opposes Catalina’s plans to revitalize New Rome by building the futuristic utopia “Megalopolis.”
The film references Roman history, mainly the Catilinarian conspiracy of 63 BC and the transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire. But even if you know about the Catilinarian conspiracies, what happens in this film is still very confusing.
The main character, Cesar Catilina, wins the Nobel Prize for inventing the revolutionary building material megalodon. He also has a secret power to stop time, which allows him to work on his artistic process while everyone is still frozen.
Despite Caesar’s worldly success, he has fallen into alcoholism after his wife kills herself for him being too focused on his work. Because of these events, he also loses his mistress, Wow Platinum (Aubrey Plaza), as she feels that Ceasers are too obsessed with his dead wife. After leaving Caesar, Wow marries Caesar’s uncle Hamilton Crassus III, the world’s richest man.
Although Crassus likes his nephew, his mind and health are in decline, and he is easily manipulated by individuals like his other nephew, Clodio Pulcher, who wants to inherit the Crassus bank.
Crassus and Wow throw a decadent wedding reception. Ironically, the headliner is pop star Vesta Sweetwater (Grace VanderWaal), who appeals to New Rome by promising to remain a virgin until marriage.
To neutralize Cesar, Pulcher leaks a paparazzi video of Cesar having sex with Vesta, prompting Cicero to condemn Cesar in a speech drawn from real-life Catilinarian orations. Although Cicero arrests Cesar for rape, Julia exonerates Cesar by discovering that Vesta faked her age and is actually in her twenties.
The film then switches to a Soviet satellite crashing into Earth, destroying much of New Rome. This prompts Cesar to build a Megalopolis in the ruins, financing the project with his family fortune. In a press conference, he makes the case for bold artistic projects that show people that a better world is possible. However, the cost of building a Megalopolis contrasts with street poverty. Pulcher becomes a populist politician, encouraging ordinary Romans to oppose Megalopolis as an expensive project that won’t help them.
This American epic science fiction drama was written by Francis Ford Coppola, known for directing “The Godfather”, writing the screenplay of “The Great Gatsby” and on the film board for many films. Coppola attempted to produce the film in 1989 and 2001. Still, the studios refused to finance the movie each time, due to Coppola’s string of late-career box-office disappointments and the September 11 attacks. In April 2019, Coppola announced that he planned to direct, which he had been developing for many years.
“Megalopolis” is an appallingly bad film that defies explanation. It’s incoherent, and as soon as you seem to understand what is going on, the film switches up and introduces a completely new plotline.
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