Review of Cloud Atlas (2012) by Mloy X — 04 Feb 2014

Sonmi-451 (Doona Bae): Our lives are not our own. From womb to tomb, we are bound to others. Past and present. And by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.

Normally I'm a fan of the non-linear narrative format but in this film, there were just way too many characters to keep track of, too much subplots to digest from the multiple storylines, in too short a time that it made the film too disjointed and choppy. There was an interesting kernel of information here and there that was interesting and the concept of multiple lifetimes is always intriguing but unfortunately, if only the movie could have relayed all that in a more cohesive manner, this movie would have been more enjoyable. I understand the need to use prosthetics but it was a bit distracting to the story. If there was a single book that need to be split into three different films, this would have been the perfect candidate; but cramming all that information into one film was just too overwhelming and confusing that it deters the audience from fully appreciating the film's content and it's shame because the cast did a splendid job portraying all their different roles and the story was interesting enough; I even enjoyed the future-speak during Zachary's (Tom Hanks) lifetime. Maybe, in a few years, they'll remake this and split into separate films.