Important thing to get into the Cloud

Rating: 7/10 (15 December 2012)

Don't do like me and work too hard on guessing which souls are which in each time period, because it's almost always different "soulmate" couples that are featured and a major character in one life might be extremely minor or even dead in another life. Tom Hank's characters are easy to point out, but it's not so easy for the other lesser-known actors. So, that being said, the stories take place in 6 time periods in different locations ranging from 1849 to 2321, 2 of which might be considered science-fiction. The characters in each story, that are alternating and not linear one after the other, are souls that reincarnate and are somehow linked together. Those 6 intertwined stories are simple easy-to-follow affairs provided you don't think too much about identities on the first viewing. By themselves, they are of different genres (comedy, drama, action, sci-fi, romance, historical) sometimes combining (example: sci-fi romance). They are interesting, but not great. Few of those would have the potential for a feature-length film.
Cloud Atlas is a bold, ambitious project with decent directing by the 3 directors, but it's moderately successful in its impact. I didn't find it too confusing and sometimes even clever in how it transitioned. I think what doesn't help the emotional impact is that it's not the same couple of souls being featured in each time frame. Some might find it a strength, I felt as if it unfocused and hindered character build-up and evolution. I would have preferred more emphasis on 3 or 4 characters instead of the dozen there was, but I have to keep in mind it's a book adaptation and it probably worked better in book format. The acting was OK, nothing great, with the highlights being Ed Broadbent (the old guy) and the main Asian actress. It was a difficult undertaking, but sometimes the makeup really failed and actually detracted from story immersion (Agent Smith, Hugo Weaving, as that woman was horrible). The film is obviously a commercial failure and I find it silly to lambaste a film for that. It might become a cult film and I wouldn't mind seeing it again although I didn't adore it. I think it's worth watching at least twice.
Rating: 7 out of 10 (Very good)