Movie review: the successful sequel to the horror film Smile 2 and Francis Ford Coppola’s long-in-development Megalopolis
- Smile 2.
- Megalopolis.
Smile 2.
Two years ago, director Parker Finn drew on the most mediocre horror scares and recognizable concepts to create a surprisingly creepy and inventive movie that was both frightening and curiously broadcasting how trauma literally breaks and devours. The second installment of Smile not only delved deeper into the trauma metaphor, but also technically began to look much more inventive and enjoyable. Finally, when director Finn had an impressive budget, the movie’s aesthetic visual language and style began to shine through.
But not only the picture of the movie became a delight to the eyes, but the performer of the main role – actress Naomi Scott, who in addition to being very beautiful, but also plastic in both emotional scenes and dance. Plus the actress is a professional singer herself, which adds harmony to the events taking place. Scott’s mimicry spectrum is so varied that each emotional beat humanizes her character.
Regarding the theme of trauma itself, it went into the dark underside of show business, where the media image forcibly creates a subpersonality and does not let the wings of the inner self to open, which then leads to a parade of self-destruction. Of course, the line of the oppressive mother and the problems of toxic motherhood is presented in an extremely fatuous way, which makes the self-repetition spit.
But there are much more inventive moments here, as well as technical attraction. Already the opening scene with a powerful long shot immediately informs that in terms of creativity the sequel will please more than once. The only problem with the second part is that the plot lost the detective intrigue of the first part and in general does not develop the mythology of the monster in any way. And it seems like the suspense is still there, but it’s not as scary anymore. That said, Smile 2 is really an example of a great sequel.
Megalopolis.
As much as I love The Godfather or Apocalypse Now, I wouldn’t recommend Megalopolis to anyone. Francis Ford Coppola’s long movie is an impossible two-hour torture that I watched at 2x speed. Megalopolis should be seen as a parable, a fairy tale, but is perceived as a dementia grandfather who constantly tries to broadcast lofty quotes with pathos. But in reality – it is a terrible and tasteless stream of banal thoughts, where there is no structure. The same can be said about the plot, also devoid of coherence and clarity.
The disgusting interlacing of various scenes with grotesque characters and buffoonish content plunges into a dull circus ride. Of course, Coppola doesn’t care whether the audience likes his pseudo-philosophical epic. One can see that Megalopolis is a pure stream of author’s thought and a tool to realize his free creativity. On the other hand, Coppola doesn’t force anyone to watch his creation. Well, if I have a choice, I choose not to watch it.
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