Review of Cloud Atlas (2012) by Al H — 29 Jun 2014

This film is one of the most convoluted messes that I've ever watched. It has an ambitious idea, because they are trying to weave together 6 different stories from 6 different generations into one film. There seems to also be a thread of reincarnation in the stories as well, which is not executed very well. Honestly if I didn't know in advance a general synopsis of the film I probably would have struggled to make any connection between the stories aside from the presence of a birthmark. Part of the reason for the confusion is the horrible, awful, atrocious (I can't think of enough bad words for it) idea to use the same actors in different roles throughout the ages. This just served to confuse the whole thing unnecessarily. So now we naturally start to think that the resurrection is people being brought back in similar-looking bodies. Then the movie just becomes this goofy scavenger hunt "Oh, I think I saw Halle Berry there!" It takes away from the story. The other problem with carrying through the same actors is that most of them don't seem to have the acting range required to play 6 completely different characters in one film. For instance Hugo Weaving just seems to be playing the same person with a different name in each story. I think they would have been more effective if they just reinforced the birthmark angle (so we recognize a connection between the vital characters) and then use completely different actors in each story.

Oh I have more to say about this, because it is the #1 downfall of Cloud Atlas. Yes, the acting isn't varied enough, and the same actors make it confusing, but the single worst thing about the Eddie Murphy-style multicasting is the makeup. Holy crap, I don't remember the last time I've seen worse makeup effects. It's like they ordered disguises from Dr. Auguste Balls (from the Pink Panther films.) "Let's slap a bald cap and a ridiculous large warty nose on Tom Hanks, that will make him look completely different!" It doesn't even look slightly convincing, it simply looks like a guy wearing a horribly bad Halloween costume. Just terrible! There aren't words for how bad it is. Now all that complaining and yet there was something strange that I still found compelling in the film. Most of the individual stories were not all that original, I could probably easily name a movie or TV show that used the exact same plotline, but there was something almost romantic about the way they weaved this love story through the lifetimes. It strangely kept me watching despite how annoyed I was with other decisions they were making. I guess this just proves that storytelling can trump visuals. I'll still never watch Cloud Atlas again, but I can't say I'm upset I watched it. I don't know if I'd recommend it, but if you're interested at least give one hour of it a chance and see if it grows on you.