- Six movies in one!
I saw the trailer for Cloud Atlas and
was pleasantly surprised by the fact that I really wasn't sure what
the movie was about and only that Tom Hanks was playing more than one
role, and that the Wachowskis (Lana, Andy) was involved along with the Tom Tykwer, the director from one of my favourite films (Run Lola Run).
To be honest after the poor taste in my mouth left from the Matrix
series and the shocking fact that I don't really love Tom Hanks, it
is safe to say I went into Cloud Atlas with trepidation. I mean its
run time was 2 hours and 52 minutes, and it had quite a few things
that I was afraid of based on previous encounters with the various
actors and directors.
A friend of mine was pretty adamant
that I watch the trailer, and eventually with a bit of arm twisting,
I did. Truth be told it may have been one of the greatest trailers I
have ever seen. It showed many different worlds, all related (by
their own admission) but vastly different. You see actors playing
what appears to be many different roles and they discuss life, death,
birth and all things being connected. You see a lot and as the
saying goes nothing at all. I had to see the film and all my fears
quickly vanished just because of a trailer. All past transgressions
were forgotten and I was excited to see this film.
I couldn't really spoil the movie if I
tried due to the organization of the film and how it is shown. I'm
limited to just over a page for my review and I'd probably need five
just to get the basics down. But our story is connected by a few
things, firstly most of the main cast is playing six roles, and with
that there are six major time periods portrayed throughout the movie.
They are pre-1900, 1930s, 1970s, current day 2012, 22nd
century and finally a post-apocalyptic era. Quite the indication
that this movie is a rather large collection of visuals and genres
and that is quite the understatement. I would say that there is
probably at least one or two eras that will connect more with you
than others, and perhaps there may be a few that you won't enjoy at
all. But I suggest downright that you give the movie a chance. If
your only problem would be the time period jumping, don't worry, as
each sequence is only really about ten minutes, depending on pacing
and the like. I found that even in the dullest of moments in the
movie, it was only temporary, or the scenes were over quickly and
moving on to another story.
With a cast of such big names, Tom
Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, and Jim Broadbent, there should be
someone you enjoy but for me (and I say this with surprise) I enjoyed
everyone's portrayals of all their characters. I enjoyed Tom Hanks
many portrayals and enjoyed seeing him be villainous on a few
occasions. It was something I had not seen from him and enjoyed his
character Dermot Hoggins quite a bit (though of all his characters it
is most unfortunate that that is the one with the least screen time).
Halle Berry was another actor, who prior to this movie, I'm afraid I
often shunned, more about the roles she took which I felt were just
not “right” for her. I can't really explain it, I just never
felt she was the character I am supposed to believe she is. Here,
with her major roles she was really good, but I really enjoyed the
character of Luisa Ray, she didn't seem just to be this stereotype,
even though she was the sassy black woman reporter trying to get her
scoop. I'd also like to mention Keith David also stars in this movie
and I'd listen to him read the phone book. It's all about his voice
and I love it.
The movie, as I feared, does get a
little mumbled explaining the overall story and how it connects,
mostly through monologues spoken over some eras by Tom Hanks and
Doona Bae. Nothing so much to be a deal breaker but more that the
language used and with little time to fully comprehend. Though each
individual story is fantastic, it is just the threads that tie them
all together that are a little loose.
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| Wait... What? |
The movie was really enjoyable, I never
felt the movie was too long and would have easily been convinced to
watch a 90 minute movie on each era. They were all really enjoyable,
well-acted stories that shamefully were (with the exception of two
eras) tied together by some tattoos and general concepts such as
love, life and death. Still, I really did like each one I warn that
your mileage may vary as if even a couple of the stories bother you,
the lack of strong ties may be more bothersome.
I gave it a 9/10
PS: What exactly was Hugo Weaving in
the post-apocalyptic era? Ghost? Spirit? Mental illusion?
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