A spectacle that entertains while simultaneously numbing the brain.

Rating: 6/10 (11 March 2013)

Cloud Atlas is the latest event in the Wachowski brothers' adventure in cinema. Depending on which stage of their career path you look at, their name on the credits either excites or sinks the stomach. Beginning with the superb high of Bound, shot rapidly and cheaply to 'prove' they could be trusted with a mega budget for The Matrix, their career trajectory has been downwards ever since, bottoming out (hopefully) with the ill-judged, stodgy mess that was Speed Racer. Four years on and they're back with, well, what is it? Cloud Atlas is a spectacle. It's beautiful. The cinematography and effects edge towards astounding, are mostly satisfying and make for a very attractive, no, a stunning film. Visually, that is. Much (most?) is shot against green screens, which has allowed them to sculpt worlds that present to us that which swirls around in their minds. It's a trip most will enjoy looking at immensely.
For me, the visuals are the principal selling point. The contrasts between the closed sets of a study and ship compared with the expansive realms of forests and cityscapes are expressed wonderfully; the costumes and make-up are vivid, imaginative and prompt silent games of Guess Who as the star names play multiple characters, Halle Berry and Jim Sturgess leading the pack with seven characters apiece.
On the subject of stars, Cloud Atlas is packed with them: Tom Hanks, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Hugh Grant, Ben Wishaw, James D'Arcy, Susan Sarandon It's no mean feat watching each of them bounce between roles, so it must have been one heck of a task for each of them playing them. Each, without exception, manages to differentiate between characters suitably but, man, it's hard to keep up sometimes.
Cloud Atlas is so chock-a-block full of worlds, times, characters and story lines that it becomes cluttered and confused early on and doesn't ever let up. Perhaps the best advice to heed when viewing Cloud Atlas is to approach it like Shakespeare: Don't attempt to understand every syllable of every word (or even every soliloquy, for that matter), just sit back, go with it and then assess what you've absorbed as the credits roll.
I've said it before (most recently with American Mary) it's not a good sign when a film requires two directors. But three? Really? This is a classic case of too many cooks spoiling the broth. Maybe the Wachowskis were so concerned about their rapid descent through Hollywood's hierarchy they felt they needed to bring in Tom Tykwer (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer) to save them. Perhaps they should have employed him and left him to it.
Instead, despite/because three men shared the megaphone (as well as writing and producing duties), we have a three-hour head spin that entertains while simultaneously numbing the brain. Brevity is not in the directors' vocabulary; hell, you can even watch the 'extended' trailer, which is a full 5 minutes & 42 seconds, the length of some short films! So what is it actually about? Cloud Atlas is summed up perfectly in the final few minutes when Sonmi-451 (Doona Bae) states, "Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb we are bound to others, past and present. And by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future." It's a beautiful sentiment that allows our thoughts and imaginations to journey across worlds, times and planes of existence and it's not the slightest issue that the journey Tykwer and the Wachowskis take us on is eight minutes shy of three hours. The issue is that feels like three hours! There is a more succinct explanation courtesy of Stephen King in his Dark Tower epic: "Go, then, there are other worlds than these."
For more reviews from The Squiss, subscribe to my blog and like the Facebook page.