Mesmerizing, yet imperfect scifi epic

Rating: 7/10 (6 April 2013)

Cloud Atlas offers a mesmerizing scifi experience which at the same time might just be too big of an undertaking for filmatization. The gargantuan proportions of the 2004 source novel does not dishearten director trio, Wachowski siblings and Tom Tykwer, as they bring Cloud Atlas to the big screen.
Talking about epic undertaking, Cloud Atlas novel is composed of 6 loosely interlinked stories taking place from 19th century to mankind's distant future. Each story share some variation of the main characters and depict how their actions have direct consequences for the future. Sounds confusing and there is no denying that Cloud Atlas is a challenging film to grasp initially, but once the viewer gets the hang of the story mechanics the film transforms from confusing mess into something thought provoking.
Not all Cloud Atlas' stories are equal and I felt more drawn towards the dystopic and apocalyptic scifi worlds of the Wachowski siblings which were so very unreal and yet managed to stay completely credible at the same time. Unquestionably Wachowskis futuristic worlds lack the human touch of Tom Tykwer's stories, but to me the stylistic realisation of these unreal visions of future were simply inspiring. No matter which of the stories the viewer prefers the entire production is paced and edited seamlessly making the film coherent experience overall. No easy feat with 6 different stories and 3 different directors! In addition to technical praise extra notation must be given for the films actors who give out solid performances. One is however above others and I was positively surprised to see veteran actor Tom Hanks really break away from his comfort zone and provide terrific performances through the film.
Despite the overall positive impression I got from Cloud Atlas, it cannot be overlooked that cramming 6 separate stories into single film is poised to generate problems. This becomes especially evident towards the end of the film when it becomes clear that there simply is not enough running time to allow all 6 stories to fully develop to their maximum potential. This could have been overlooked alone, but honestly I was disappointed to see that the film lacked a climatic closure where all the stories would merge together.
Despite the films shortcoming Cloud Atlas offers a unique film experience and undoutbly withholds content to last multiple viewing sessions. It is a film best assessed with feeling rather than reason to ensure best end result.