Cloud Atlas(2012)- User Reviews

This film in its entirety is *tantalizing*, in every bit of the word: It evokes various levels of curiosity and interest, yet is about something that is almost out of our grasp; in-comprehensible and unobtainable - It needs to be watched more than once. You will either love or hate this film: if you have any wonder or interest in 1.What happens in human existence after death; 2.The infinite possibilities in humanity to shape our species' own future; 3.Scifi-fantasy films that boarder reality and question *everything*; then you will probably like this movie.

This movie sweeps across the established movie genres, it has everything - yes, even some really great humor. The acting is inspiring - the same actors frequently play polar opposite, sometimes unrecognizable characters - and it's not until just after the end credits begin that they reveal just how many characters are played by each actor. In that aspect alone, this film is brilliant. This is a visually stunning film - the cinematography is a masterpiece in it's own right. This could have easily been a catastrophic cluster-butt of a film, with random ideals and plots thrown everywhere to drown out the main themes. Most movie-goers who do not at least wonder about the above 3 mentioned interests, will see the movie as such. Instead, it's a well orchestrated and strategic mesh of intertwining human spirits, good and evil, within each space-time occurrence, and their spirits' resulting role(s) in the future. There are 6 cross sections cut from time in history/present/future that are examined, and are pieced back together in a sort of soap-opera kind of editing style, all the while focusing on the same few spirits evolving through time. But the challenges and themes between them are well documented which keeps the plots flowing. I usually try to avoid including any synopsis at all costs, but I feel here it's very relevant to explain the artistic value of this film. And I commend Tom Hanks and Halle Berry, among others in the film, for accepting the risk and challenge with this type of film, and succeeding gracefully.