Francis Ford Coppola’s behemoth of a film “Megalopolis” finally debuted in wide release this weekend and has predictably garnered fan and critic reviews that run the gamut — but with crowds largely agreed that it’s an unintentional comedy. The movie is “a near perfect stylistic and tonal fusion of two of my favorite movies, Citizen Kane and Revenge of the Sith,” Harvard professor Erik Baker wrote on X (formerly Twitter):
But is it so bad it’s good, as the trope goes? Semafor’s Maxi Tani didn’t hate it. As he wrote, “Megalopolis is incredible, it’s about how Adam Driver triumphs over greed and corruption to build Hudson Yards. It’s very enjoyable to see so many big actors in what feels like an ambitious high school play. It’s bad but way more fun than a lot of the slop in theaters today.”
It could just be polarizing, as legitimately great art can often be. Critics at the New York Times and the New Yorker each broke with the early negative vibes and wrote in praise of the film earlier in the week.
An Aubrey Plaza fan account seemed to enjoy the movie for its multitudes. As @NBABabySecret put it, “Megalopolis is two hours and twenty minutes of watching Coppola write a ‘you smoke too tough, your swag too different, your b–ch too bad’ meme about himself and it f–king rocks.”
One filmgoer simply described “Megalopolis” as “One of the worst movies I’ve ever seen,” while smiling broadly and cheers-ing the poster.
As singer Kelly Clarkson once crooned, the film may be beautiful… a beautiful disaster. It also served as a refreshing project for some as a human film in an era facing the creeping approach of AI.
Of course, many of the problems with Coppola’s vision may come down to how audiences deal with sincerity, according to some viewers:
Fans on movie review site Letterboxd had opinions that were all over the map:
Writer Chris Brosnahan offered an explanation for one reason why the movie might be… the way it is. He shared an excerpt from an interview with Francis Ford Coppola about Elon Musk and added, “Something that explains some of how weird Megalopolis is — how much Francis Ford Coppola believes Elon Musk is a powerful force for hope in humanity.”
Director and comedian Demi Adejuyigbe had fun with a specific scene that has made the rounds on social media: Adam Driver’s viral read of the line, “Go back to the club.”
Podcast host Pure Kino said, “Megalopolis is like that episode of Community where the Dean went insane directing his commercial.”
Unfortunately for Coppola, the $120 million film only brought in $4 million this opening weekend… but at least social media is having a good time with it.
And the polarizing reaction could ultimately give “Megalopolis” some new life, if online fans have their way:
Beyond Driver creating a new club hit, the film’s odd visual sense inspired a number of memes:
