I find it quite hard to pass judgment on Cloud Atlas, the highly divisive and incredibly ambitious directorial collaboration between Tom Tykwer and the Wachowski siblings. It's one of those films that reaches for the stars and tries to get a hold of century-spanning tales with a multitude of characters of all ages and races.
The film is based on David Mitchell's novel of the same name. Mitchell is touted as one of the great writers of our time. Only time can tell if he'll be remembered in decades to come and I personally haven't read enough by him to really get a decent grasp of his range as a writer. However, I did read his Cloud Atlas and I liked it for the most part. It's six different stories rolled into one, all very loosely connected, and seamlessly jumping from historical novel to mystery to science-fiction. It's not without flaws, yet it still is immensely entertaining and fascinating to read. The only question is, who on Earth would want to risk his reputation to stem this mammoth of an adaptation?
Introduce Andy & Lana Wachowski and Tom Tykwer. The Wachowskis, beloved for The Matrix and despised for its terrible sequels and the unbelievably aggravating Speed Racer, certainly have a sense for scale and epic imagery (even despite their failings), while Tykwer, known for cult movie Run Lola Run, has proven that he has a hand for more emotional movie outings. They made the wise decision to film the different episodes of the movie separate from each other. While this might seem like a bad idea for a conventional movie project, it definitely improved the viewing experience as it kept the tone within each episode consistent (even though ultimately the film keeps jumping from episode to episode).
Summarizing the plot would be a foolish and quite complicated thing to do, so I'm not even going to attempt it. I can tell you that each episode has recurring actors, always in different wigs and make-up, with quite a range in quality. Sometimes the make-up looks extremely natural and at other times just plain laughable or embarrassingly bad (which definitely is the case with the "Asian"-ized versions of Jim Sturgess and Hugo Weaving).
Having read the novel definitely enhanced my viewing experience as it provided a road map for what to expect (and don't worry, there have been some changes to the stories to keep it fresh and make it more cinematic). The variety of storylines, silly accents and other humdrum never got in the way of the utter fascination and scope of the project. However, I can imagine that viewers who haven't read the novel will be left in the dust, so if you're a rather lazy reader, prepare yourself for 3 hours of headscratching or a nice long nap. Insofar the film has to be regarded as a failure as it doesn't fully comprehend anything but the main idea that everything is connected. Is that worth a 3 hour movie? I'd say yes, if you're willing to be swept away by the sheer size of it.
The movie has shortcomings, and not just a few. The tone is all over the place, there are comedic scenes where we witness a bunch of geezers escaping a retirement home, only to watch a couple minutes later some people getting bloodily and violently murdered. Performances range from heartbreaking to simply ridiculous and it's not even consistent for each actor. Tom Hanks is great in the science-fiction parts while he's hamming it up in most of the other episodes. Jim Sturgess is mostly a bore in his doe-eyed stare that he is mistaking for acting. Halle Berry is on fine form, yet never reaches the highs that one would expect from an Academy Award winner. Hugo Weaving aka The Matrix's Agent Smith is pretty much doing his usual stick and Jim Broadbent is being a British person, so the usual for him as well.
Yet with all those inconsistencies there is a sense of greatness under the surface that's simply irresistible. In its best moments Cloud Atlas manages to bring that greatness out and create moments of cinematic beauty. The film is like a muddy treasure chest of these moments, if you're willing to take your time and dig through the dirt you will eventually be rewarded. It's demanding a lot from the viewer but there's a great movie hidden inside it, you just have to give it the chance it so dearly missed when it bombed in theaters.
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