Too much crammed into three hours

Rating: 4/10 (19 March 2018)

This film is nearly three hours long. It bounces back and forth between half a dozen different milieus in as many different plots. And, those are back and forth between past and future generations. The milieu are Hawaii, London, San Francisco, Seoul, the high seas, a place on another plant in our galaxy, and various other places around the globe at different times. If it sounds confusing, well, that's because it is.
I doubt that anyone who sat in a theater and saw this film when it came out, immediately afterwards could write down the different scenarios, varying periods of time for each, and who the main characters were of each plot. My guess is that few people could even list half of the plots, characters and time frames.
As for messages, this is a very hodgepodge of mores and morals covering family, creativity, sexuality, freedom, oppression, love, a type of pagan faith, and more. Numerous social issues are included in the movie. Among them are murder and mayhem, corruption and killing, stealing and betrayal, lying and cheating, fantasy and sci-fi, oppression and revolution, slavery and racism, tyranny and torture, fame and fortune, pride and power, music and creativity, superstition and mythology.
Seven actors appear as six different characters in the various scenarios and time periods. They include Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant and Jim Broadbent. Another dozen actors have three to five roles. Several more have two roles. Perhaps the filmmakers were trying to set a record for a film with multiple roles. They probably succeeded in that.
My guess is that the high rating many people give this film is solely for its entertainment in the plethora of scenes, settings, period costumes, and makeup. That and some imaginative camera work and lots of special effects. If those things are one's idea of entertainment, then "Cloud Atlas" is a winner. But it wasn't a smash hit at the box office.
I prefer good stories that I can relate to someone after seeing a movie, with specifics. No one without a photographic memory would be able to do so after watching this film. The various film genres in this movie are mind numbing. There's no comedy, sports or Western, but it has about everything else. Drama, mystery, murder, action, war, sci-fi, horror, fantasy, romance - all are here in "Cloud Atlas."
Outside of the music, which received widespread praise, reviews of the film varied. It received a standing ovation for its premier at the Toronto Film Festival, but it wasn't otherwise widely lauded. The movie finally topped its $128.5-million budget with worldwide release that netted a total box office of $130.5 million.
The movie was based on a 2004 novel by English author David Mitchell. Mitchell said that he doubted a movie could be made of his book. Well, a movie was made. But my guess is that readers of the book would have far more recall and memory about the stories. After all, who could expect an audience to remember much of a 500-page book, with multiple plots, time frames and characters, crammed into a movie of just under three hours?