Jim Sturgess | Galactica

An epic story of humankind in which the actions and consequences of our lives impact one another throughout the past, present, and future as one soul is shaped from a murderer into a savior and a single act of kindness ripples out for centuries to inspire a revolution.

Review:

Cloud Atlas… Is it a disaster or a masterpiece? Well, it’s a bit of both… It’s a story about a bunch of stories all interconnected. If you look at each individual story, they might seem dismal at times, but if you look at the movie as a whole it’s one helluva movie. You need to see this movie to decide your feelings about it.

Cloud Atlas is the adaptation of David Mitchell‘s Booker Prize nominated book of the same name. It contains stories that span over centuries, from the 19th Century till somewhere in the distant future. If that wasn’t a good enough Challenge for the three directors, they upped the insanity quotient by using the same three actors for different characters, in most of the six stories. Some of the actors played different genders and races too. Some of the make up was quite stupid.

As in the book, each story is tied to one another. In each, someone is reading or watching what happened in the past. In the movie, the story switches from one point in time to another and doesn’t follow a pattern. (It was almost as if we were seeing a George R R Martin Book on screen. )

When we movie from one time period to another, the dialogue of character is used as a voice over for another scene, which makes links. It’s adds another level of complexity and meaning to movie.

The basic story of each character is that they all are fighting for freedom. The underlying message of Cloud Atlas is wonderful. There are other links in the movie too like all of the main characters have a comet birthmark.

The movie, as I mentioned before, is a bunch of other stories that shows how they reverberate and reshape each other. What was especially interesting was that the directors used same actors for different roles by putting silly make up on them.

While you play spot the actor under all that make up you realize that this could also be a story of reincarnation.

The strangest thing in this movie might just be Tom Hanks. He could be crazy for doing such a role. But the movie showcases his versatility. He plays stupid roles speaking in different accents. Also in Neo-Seoul, everyone looked like a non-Asian wearing masks.

But there was a lot to like about this movie. The production design for any of the sets was wonderful. There were some beautifully shot action sequences. The end was also very beautiful and powerful. The movie delivers a powerful message. The music in the movie was beautiful and so was the acting of most of the cast.

If you have enough patience to sit for a three-hour movie and if you are able to follow the complex story line, you would like the movie.

Nevertheless you should see this movie and form your own opinion about it.

Final Verdict:

8.5/10

Cloud Atlas- Disaster or Masterpiece?