isnt that the point? I get the impression coppola tried an obvious and very flat satire here (usa seen as new roman empire by a lot of people nowadays) and -according to the sfgate-review warning- failed miserably. guess I will give it a try if theres a decent 
version.
okok, seems to be the fountainhead. sort of. damn.
e/
(20 min in and trying to supress it, but at a certain point you just cant help it but to start rolling your eyes…)
yep, first hour the roman stuff is meant to be the half-assed, sort-of “satirical” part; its weird, its flat, its bad and it doesnt work. and then comes the second hour; its clear that drivers character is the tortured, misunderstood and framed genius. thats it. then he loses his mojo (cause he is tortured, misunderstood and framed). and then he gets it back, five minutes later, thanks to the “heroine” of the film and his true muse (aka love interest). (gawd, its getting worse by the minute…I cant watch this anymore.)
jumped to the end. its like the ending of things to come with metropolis on top, sprinkled with some musk-esque sf-absurdity, only even more pathetic. the masses are rising up and the bad guy gets spanked. I have to assume this is meant to be as serious as it gets. good grief. kinda wanna puke. this is bad. real bad. sorry, francis. (feels like a las-vegas-show, trying to be a society-critical social drama. but rich people. or whatever.)
oh, fuck off, movie! (godda be shittn me 
)
e2/ ah, there it is again;
And that to me is the most outrageous part: if there is one thing we learned in the 20th century, besides “demagogue Hitler-types are bad” (which is the basic level at which the film’s polemics take place) it is that Utopia should never be a one-man-invention and gift to the people. Yet, to cut a long story short, there is a sense that it is exactly what Coppola is driving at, removing any kind of nuance and subtlety in the process. It’s not exactly “The Fountainhead” level of disgraceful, but it shares with it too many ideas already.
(good review)
(sorry my sudden obsession, but the film and the stuff around it is just such a trainwreck of such epic proportions that its hard to resist to stop digging)
e3/ the overmaxed praise astroturf-ai-reviews at imdb are really something;
Megalopolis is a cinematic tour de force that unflinchingly dissects the precarious state of contemporary American democracy through a chilling parallel with the fall of the Roman Empire. Directed with audacious vision, the film’s chaotic narrative structure mirrors the tumultuous reality it seeks to critique, deftly illustrating how systemic instability can erode even the most resilient of republics.
The screenplay navigates a labyrinth of political intrigue, social unrest, and ideological extremism, echoing the historical disintegration that befell Rome. This intentional disorder in storytelling serves as a profound metaphor for the modern world’s volatile dynamics, underscoring the fragility of democratic institutions in the face of rising neo-fascism and pervasive disinformation.
…
In an era where the specter of authoritarianism looms large, Megalopolis is not just a film but a prescient warning. It implores us to heed the lessons of history and remain vigilant, lest we witness the collapse of our own democratic ideals.
This film is an intellectual triumph, demanding reflection and action from its audience.
fuckyeah!
