Fittingly enough, Cloud Atlas needs just that. Or a highly accurate map or cinematic GPS system. Let's face it- weaving in and out of story lines spanning multiple centuries, you're bound to get a little lost.
I'm not sure if the actor-recycling for various roles is helpful or simply another confusing element. If the actors' various roles paralleled each other in some way it would be easier to understand. I had to read audience interpretations of this aspect of Cloud Atlas to attempt to wrap my mind around it. Some characters had star-shaped birthmarks, but the characters seemingly had no correlation to one another. Hugo Weaving portrayed a villain in each story, but why is that significant? And Tom Hanks' plethora of personas did not seem terribly significant either. The interpretation I read said that as time progressed, his character became a better and better person. That seems logical enough, but not overtly obvious during the film. Perhaps reading the book would shed some light onto all of this. But on the big screen, it just adds more for your brain to struggle to comprehend. The good part of the actor-recycling is they got to showcase their talent to shine in varying roles.
The trailer raved that it is visually astounding. This observation, though true to a degree, simply stems from the use of computers to make for complex scenery and makeup to make Tom Hanks have a bigger nose in the 1800s or give Halle Berry a weird skin growth which I guess implies she is from the future.
Now that I delivered the bad news, time for the good. Since there is such an entanglement of stories, there is undoubtably something that everyone can enjoy. I felt like I was watching five movies at once- a comedy, a thriller, a sic-fi adventure, a period piece, multiple love stories and more. I laughed out loud, cringed at the unexpected gory scenes and terrified by the portrayal of the future. For these reasons, Cloud Atlas is worth seeing, but perhaps it is better to read the book first for comprehension's sake.
The trailer raved that it is visually astounding. This observation, though true to a degree, simply stems from the use of computers to make for complex scenery and makeup to make Tom Hanks have a bigger nose in the 1800s or give Halle Berry a weird skin growth which I guess implies she is from the future.
Now that I delivered the bad news, time for the good. Since there is such an entanglement of stories, there is undoubtably something that everyone can enjoy. I felt like I was watching five movies at once- a comedy, a thriller, a sic-fi adventure, a period piece, multiple love stories and more. I laughed out loud, cringed at the unexpected gory scenes and terrified by the portrayal of the future. For these reasons, Cloud Atlas is worth seeing, but perhaps it is better to read the book first for comprehension's sake.
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