Cloud Atlas is six stories connecting life to other life's so well

Rating: 8/10 (25 November 2012)

"Cloud Atlas is six different story lines (1849, 1936, 1973, 2012, 2114, 2321) done so well I found it hard to look away from what I was being presented even when the scenes did not work"
Based on David Mitchell novel of the same name Cloud Atlas would be a novel called un-filmable because they are so many story lines and trying to connect them to each other would be hard. The Wachowski siblings enlisted Tom Tykwer to direct this very hard story to film. The story goes through six different eras over a time period of 427 years. The stories always have one connecting moment showing that the film is one full story. From a sick man on a voyage home to his wife to a journey of discovery many years into the future.
The Wachowski's and Tykwer to film this story came up with the idea to have one set of actors that played many roles throughout the film. For example actors like Tom Hanks and Halle Berry played about six characters throughout the film. Making this decision meant that makeup was very important because it is used to make an actor look different every time they are on screen and even when the makeup was very present in a bad way I still respected the decision to use these amounts of makeup during the film. Even when the story in some segments turned me off I would be brought back in once the next scene presented me with a visual that amazed me by how they filmed it. The Wachowski style is very present especially in the future scenes (which where the ones the directed) with the Neo Seoul landscape as the characters race through just astounded me.
Tom Hanks is probably the most known actor in the film which is a disadvantage to him because when they applied the makeup hard on him I had a problem believing he was the character. His best plot line is in the far future with Halle Berry and he acts his best but in the other plot lines he becomes too cartoonish. Halle Berry also widely known does better with the makeup because he face can be more constructed to look different. She was fine but her one solo plot line of the 70's was the worst in the film because how it started and paid off was not entirely interesting. Jim Broadbent plays many characters but he is just there for comedic relief and the film felt like it did not need him there because of how the rest of the film was structured. Doona Bae was unknown to me before watching this film and playing Sonmi she was the best of the film because she was the life and soul of the film. There was so many other actors including Jim Sturgess, Ben Whishaw and Hugo Weaving were also very good even though the did suffer from applied makeup that made me laugh at times.
The film was very ambitious especially the choice to use the makeup but for me it just looked so well. The story moved very well with great images but the biggest problem was some plot lines failed to make me feel something especially when mixed with plot lines the moved me to love this film more then I thought I would.
MOVIE GRADE: B+ (MVP: Donna Bae)