Many years in the making, Megalopolis is about a director who spends his own funds to create his project. From director Francis Ford Coppola comes a saga where artists and egos collide in a futuristic universe filled with deceit and power. For fans of Coppola’s previous projects, this film has layers of amazement. While it’s all over the place, it still works.

The film focuses on Cesar Catilina (played by Adam Driver). He is an artist that challenges time, reality, and art through his self-absorbed way of thinking. He has the power to stop and move time and reality. A utopian future in New York city spirals as Cesar’s ego always keeps him on the lookout for the most growth potential possible. The mayor is Franklyn Cicero (played by Giancarlo Esposito), and he is not fond of Cesar’s approaches. Right in the middle, there is Julia Cicero (played by Nathalie Emmanuel). Julia is the daughter of Franklyn and is working for Cesar. Characters in this film come together to create their own narrative. Cesar’s reputation and universe begins to go awry due to his questionable involvement with others, including a young stud named Clodio Pulcher (played by Shia LaBeouf). Clodio looks down on Cesar and wants to acquire the kind of power Cesar has.

The film is over-done, but Coppola is strong as usual with his storylines in Megalopolis. Unfortunately, the characters frequently go down cheesy paths. The seriousness of this film comes through the narration. Fundi Romaine (played by Laurence Fishbourne) is both a character and the narrator. The film explores the idea of maturity and the center of authority in Coppola’s world of the rich and wealthy. Even the family dynamic is curious, especially with Cesar’s uncle Hamilton Crassus II (played by Jon Voight). He is not always on the same page as Cesar but stands loyally by the throne. Megalopolis is like the philanthropic approach to what Coppola tries to accomplish with his artistry in filmmaking. The utopian future in this setting gives viewers a lot to think about.

There is a quote in the film, “Artists can never lose the control of time.”  The ability to control time toys with the audience’s mind during the entirety of Megalopolis as do themes related to hatred, power, enemies, and deceit. The film also has many suspenseful factors which elicit a sense of overwhelm.

Despite some setbacks, Megalopolis is a continuum of all kinds of dreams hoping to develop into something bigger. The dramatics thrive faithfully in way that is expected from Coppola after long ago establishing respect with the now famous saying, “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse,” from The Godfather. There are plenty of “can’t refuse” offers in Megalopolis. The creative forms of corruption make Megalopolis visually audacious. The IMAX version will loop in more depth and layers to help audiences understand the narrative in the 10X immersive experience. Three out of four stars for Megalopolis.