A confusing failure

Rating: 5/10 (27 December 2012)

I personally like fantasy and the escapism it provides, but a fantasy movie with the pretensions of being a drama is always at risk of becoming more of an unintended joke than a serious and gripping story. Unfortunately, Cloud Atlas completely fails to live up to its high set goals. The storyline feels forced, likewise the acting, and it is painful to see how hard everyone is trying to hold this impossible saga together and force some sense into it. There are loose ends everywhere and the multiple plots are confusing and poorly interconnected. The movie makers are trying to deliver some kind of universal and powerful message, but at the end of the movie that message still has failed to reach me. All I see is Tom Hanks and Hugh Grant everywhere, dressed up as different silly characters that has nothing to do with each other. It all makes me smirk, but at least that means the movie is entertaining in a way, and I thus manage to endure the drawn out three hours.