Bit off a bit more than it could chew...

Rating: 6/10 (9 January 2016)

While "Cloud Atlas" is anything but a boring movie, the directors had bitten off a bit more than they were able to chew, and as such, certain perts of this grand tale became a bit too jumbled and at points it seemed like the directors just completely gave up. It was a bit too much with all the jumping around back and forth between story lines and between time periods.
The storyline was interesting, but it was shot in the foot by wanting to accomplish too much and becoming a bit strained and confusing along the way.
Visually then "Cloud Atlas" is spectacular and pure eye candy. The CGI was great and quite real, adding a very lifelike and believable atmosphere to the movie. And, for most parts, it was interesting to see the cast in all those different roles and characters. I say for most parts because when they turned the Caucasian cast into Koreans, it was just horrible to look at. They looked nothing like Koreans at all. They ended up looking like mutated burn victims. It was so bad to look at. And the same for turning the Asian into a Caucasian woman. It just looked too forced and unnatural. And this really kicked the movie on the shin and sent it down a notch.
The cast was just impressive, to say the least. They had some really talented performers in the movie, and they delivered well in each of their many roles.
It was a shame that the directors were tripping themselves with their over-ambitions and the God awful attempts of changing people's races, because "Cloud Atlas" was on the bring of being phenomenal.
An interesting story, aside from the horrible flaws, and "Cloud Atlas" is well-worth watching. Just bear in mind that it runs at about 160 minutes.