Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas is a bold and ambitious film that links six stories set in differing time periods which uses actors to play roles in each of the periods as if to suggest that we are all linked, through time, history and space. I saw the film over a week ago on a plane and while I usually try to write reviews within 24 hours of seeing a movie, it wasn't possible with Cloud Atlas. The time between seeing and reviewing as well as the nature of the movie means that I don't feel I can write a proper review so I'm just going to bullet point some of the thoughts I had while watching it. So here we go.

The opening five minutes are incredibly confusing.

An 8" screen in the back of a seat on a plane isn't the optimum medium to watch a movie like Cloud Atlas. 

I experienced character overload.

In the story set in 2012 London, Tom Hanks resembles an angry, mahogany Pirate with a half Irish, half Cockney accent. It's ridiculous.

Korean Hugh Grant doesn't work.

The film is bold for taking the Babel style interconnected stories movie a step further.

A friend from work left after 80 minutes. I don't really blame her.

 
In the section with the cannibals, Hugh Grant talks like Jar-Jar Binks.

Hugh Grant, Tom Hanks and Halle Berry are all very good actors but are hardly chameleon and are all mis-cast.

The film is ambitious and deserves praise for trying.

The prosthetics seem to focus mainly on the nasal area which is distracting and funny.

The race altering of the characters rarely if ever works.

The Korean James D'arcy looks like Mark Wahlberg.
 
The cross dressing works better than the race altering.

A scene in which a plane explodes was cut from my in flight version. I'm grateful for this.

In the cannibal section, Hugo Weaving looks just like a character from The Mighty Boosh. 

The "we're all connected" stuff annoyed me. There must be millions of similar stories and characters throughout history. Coincidence plays a part in this. 

For all the stuff going on, I was rarely interested in the characters.

I did enjoy Jim Broadbent's escape scene though.

The section in which Ben Whishaw was a composer was by far the most interesting and my favourite.

There is no tension and no excitement.

I like that Seoul features heavily instead of the usual New York.

There is too much going on, little of it interested me.

The film seems to suggest "Aren't we all the same?" Not really, no.

I didn't look for a meaning behind the stories because I wasn't interested enough to be bothered.

The CGI is impressive.

So there we go. Sorry for the incoherant rambling but as I say, I watched the film a while ago and have jet lag. No refunds.

5/10