Charming, but difficult to like

Rating: 5/10 (9 February 2013)

Let it be known that I went into this film knowing exactly why critics thought it was mediocre and exactly why audiences loved it. I thought, just by reading the reviews, that I would be on the audience's side...and I'm not.
It's easy to see that this film was going for an epic scope, but it never made it. Instead, we're left with a number of wide shots and great looking environments for brief amounts of time before we're whisked away to the next story line.
Let me make it clear early on: I WAS NOT CONFUSED, NOR LOST AT ANY POINT DURING THIS FILM. I UNDERSTOOD IT FROM START TO FINISH AND SAW ALL THE THEMES IT WAS GOING FOR. The criticism I hear being thrown from the defenders of the film to its detractors is that "you didn't understand it". Well, I did. It's still not very good.
This film is not even that complicated. The themes are quite straight forward, and it's clear what they are from the very beginning. The problem was, they were never all that compelling. Sure, there was the potential for a great ending, but it all turned out pretty cliché and disappointing.
I won't go as far as to say, like many critics, that the film is borderline pretentious, because I don't think it is. Normally, I like these kinds of films and I was really hoping to like Cloud Atlas.
Other problems with the film is the tiring Wachowski directing, especially during the action sequences. I was reminded not too fondly of the dreadful Matrix sequels and their flashy and unbelievably unrealistic fight scenes.
The dialogue turned out to be pretty flat at times as well, opting for clichés and simplicity more than anything.
One thing I did really enjoy, however, was Tom Hanks and his many portrayals. He managed to melt into his roles and brought me back to the great Hanks films of the last two decades.