Cloud Atlas Review

Let me start off by saying that the only reason I went to see this film is because EVERYBODY would not stop talking about this past week. I mean on the TV, the news, advertisements, everybody was saying how good Cloud Atlas was and how revolutionary it was. It even got a 10 minute standing ovation when it was shown at the Toronto Film Festival. I was just curious to see how good this was since people have been building it up all week. So I went to see it so I can judge it through my opinion and it was... okay. It was just okay, nothing spectacular, average, or below average. I have this strange feeling inside that I should have liked it more, because there is something in that movie that I am supposed to enjoy or adore but I do not know what it is, all I know is that it is missing. There's something in it that speaks to me but I just could not have found it. Based on a novel by David Mitchell, the basic premise of Cloud Atlas is well, there are multiple stories, but it's not even told in order or in separate segments, they go on at the same time. Well not at the same time, they just show it around the same time they are telling their other stories at the same time. I'm just confusing you am I? Basically these stories are all connected in some way and the movie basically is teaching is that it is the study of mankind and how one action can lead to a consequence that effects the future and how certain acts of kindness can cause a ripple to start revolution in humanity that may affect the past, present, and future, and how also what we may do may affect someone in another life. The actors in this movie such as Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Susan Sarandon, and Keith David, all play multiple characters in multiple stories. They play these separate characters with different ideals and personalities but are connected to each other in some way and I think for some reason the characters know this. It is like each character each actor is playing is simply one character and the friendships or conflicts with one another are represented in each different story. To be quite honest I do not how if I can explain this movie well, not that it's a mess but I think I only got the gist of what this movie is trying to get across. I can't complain that it is not a linear story or that they should have just told these stories in different segments because that is obviously what the filmmakers did not want to do, either they thought in would not get the message across as strongly, it would not be faithful to the book probably because it was also written the same way, I don't know I never read it, or both. But to be fair it sort of works to the film's advantage. I have to be honest I was confused sometimes but if I agree if they told a linear story or just separated them into segments, they would not have been able to get the message out or the message would not have been as strong. Because I totally agree with the overall moral they are trying to present, it's fascinating and they could do a lot with that. So this is not a bad way to tell this story or to convey this message because I sort of get what they are trying to get across. It works just a little for me. Plus I like the stories that the film presents to us sometimes their dark, gothic, futuristic, humorous, psychological, thrilling, suspenseful, adventurous, mysterious, and overall entertaining. They are just a cluster of different genres put together and they work off each other well with the type of story the movie is telling. I also really like the characters in these different stories, they're well developed, interesting, believable, and enjoyable whether they are heroes or villains. So I really appreciate that they do tell original stories along with some creative characters. Well except when one of Tom Hanks' character who I guess is schizophrenic and sees "the devil" even though he looks less like a devil and looks more like The Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, so that was a little silly. So the movie does have enjoyable stories and enjoyable characters, plus these stories do make the amount of sense needed in order for the message to work but I do I not love this movie. Well maybe because I think there was little more explanation needed or maybe I completely missed something about it and it just flew right over my head. I feel like there is this void in me that needs to be filled from this movie in order for me to completely understand it. Its a movie that probably needs to be seen more than once and honestly movies like that really annoy me because I feel that they do not respect my intelligence and just make me feel that I am not as smart as I think I am. Inception was kind of like that but at least with Inception even if seen once, people can get a little more than the gist of it and it can get them thinking and discussing about it nonstop to the point that they can say "Ooohhh, I get that now!" But at least the stories are all told in a beginning, middle, and end, and what I mean by that is all stories share the same amount of time when they are telling there three act structure. For example, when one story is at it's beginning they are all at the beginning, when one is in the middle all of them are in the middle, when one is at its climax they are all at its climax, and when one is concluding they are all concluding, and they let you know pretty well so that makes it easier. Plus the stories are so good that when one goes on but suddenly pauses you feel disappointed because you want to more, but ironically that happens for the next story, then the next. I know it happened to me because I got engaged in them and once further into the movie there are moments that did make me go "Oooh, okay" so I understood some parts of it and what the movie was trying to do. I probably will see this movie again maybe on TV or something, I probably won't go purchase this on DVD because I am not all over it that much, so it most likely will not be in the near future when I plan to watch it again. But maybe the movie did that on purpose, maybe it does respect the audience's intelligence and wants them to think about it and constantly do, that happens when a movie conveys a good message or story. I'm still thinking about it as I am writing this review, so it works. Maybe that void in me will be filled sometime in the future, but for now I will say that I'm glad I saw, I'm glad that I can get across some opinion about it. It does have good stories, and it does have good characters, good directors may I add, there were about three of them, because this movie has some really nice shots, lighting, editing and settings, and it has stuff that I should really love but I missed it. I wish there could have been a way to make it easier for me but hey, what you see is what you get and I was satisfied with what I got with this movie. Grade: P-