Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Review: Cloud Atlas

Review: Cloud Atlas
*Spoilers Alert
  Do NOT forget to rate and comment on this post when you finish.

Official "Cloud Atlas" Poster.
      'Cloud Atlas' is an ambitious and unique movie, which adapted a style that hasn't been done before. And in my opinion, I think the directors did a really good job. So throughout this review, please bear with me because I know it will be a little bit confusing.
"Donna Bae" and "Jim Stugress".
"Tom Hanks" and "Halle Berry".
      This movie contains 6 different stories that talk about how the actions of people affect the lives of others in the past, present, and future. First story takes place in the South Pacific Ocean, in 1849, where a lawyer 'Adam Ewing'(Jim Stugress) makes a deal and decides to return to his wife 'Tilda Ewing'(Donna Bae), and there is also 'Autua'(David Gyasi) the slave and 'Dr. Henry Goose'(Tom Hanks) the mysterious doctor. The second story is in 1939. It talks about 'Robert Frobisher'(Ben Whishaw) a bisexual English composer who is in love with young 'Rufus Sixmith'(James D'Arcy) and works for the manipulative composer 'Vyvyan Ayrs'(Jim Broadbant). The third one talks about journalist 'Luisa Rey'(Halle Berry) who is targeted by owner of a nuclear reactor 'Lloyd Hooks'(Hugh Grant) and his assassin 'Bill Smoke'(Hugo Weaving), after both old 'Rufus Sixmith'(James D'Arcy) and 'Dr. Isaac Sachs'(Tom Hanks) tips her about a conspiracy taking place in the facility. This story takes place in San Francisco, California in 1973. 
"Jim Broadbant" and " Ben Whishaw".
"Jim Stugress" and "David Gyasi".
      The fourth story, which takes place in the UK 2012, talks about 'Timothy Cavendish'(Jim Broadbant) ,who  is running away from a gangster author 'Dermot Hoggins'(Tom Hanks). He is tricked by his brother 'Denholm'(Hugh Grant) into hiding into a nursing home. The fifth one takes place in Neo Seoul 2144. 'Sonmi-451'(Donna Bae), a clone, is being interviewed about her escape and leading of the resistance movement 'Union'. 'Hae-Joo Chang'(Jim Stugress) is her love and the one who freed her. And the sixth one takes place in 2321, on an island where 'Zachary'(Tom Hanks) lives with his sister and niece, when suddenly 'Menronym'(Halle Berry) a member of the 'Presidents' visits him in need of his help.
"Halle Berry" and "Keith David".
"Hugh Grant".
      Being a movie with various stories, 'Cloud Atlas' was always going to be a difficult movie to advertise and show to people. No such attempt has been made before, to adapt such a difficult story. Nevertheless, it was for me a great and masterful movie. The stories were done perfectly. I think the right amount was given for each story as well as for each character within each story. So props for the people, who were in charge with the screenplay, the way they made all the stories intertwine in various ways was great. Though the connection between each one could have been done better. You will need to re watch it to truly grasp these connections. I think the decision of choosing three directors was a good one ,since I loved how each director brought a different 'thing' to each story he was in charge of. And the music in this film was spectacular, and the Golden Globe nomination for 'Best Original Score' was totally justified.
"James D'Arcy".
"Donna Bae" and "Jim Stugress".
      The movie is a little bit long, but this length is justified. The flow of the movie was good, but the editing could have been done better. I am sure that at first you may not understand it totally, but as the film goes along the relation between the various stories and characters will be clearer a little bit. At first, you will get overwhelmed with the various stories and information you will be given. And you will get startled, but at the end you will understand it more. If I had to rank the best 3 stories, I would start with 'Neo Seoul 2144' since the story and relation between the characters was really good. Then I would choose 'San Francisco 1973', the story was good and interesting, and the 3rd one would be that of  ' The Island 2321'.
"Susan Sarandon" and
"Jim Broadbant".
"Hugo Weaving".
      "Tom Hanks", "Halle Berry", "Hugo Weaving", "Jim Stugress", and "Hugh Grant", all of them played a role in each 6 stories. And every single actor who took part in the movie, especially the lead actors were TOTALLY transformed, to a point where they were unrecognizable. The make-up team did one of the best jobs I have ever seen. All the cast in my opinion did a great job. "Tom Hanks" as usual did a great job and was the one that carried the movie. He did a great job in 'The Island 2321' story as 'Zachary'. "Halle Berry" also did a nice job and I loved her as 'Luisa Rey' in the 'San Francisco 1973' story. It was nice to see "Jim Broadbent" back in that kind of movie. He did a wonderful job playing evil composer 'Vyvyan Ayrs'. "Hugo Weaving" and "Hugh Grant" were the only two actors to play evil characters in all of the stories, and I don't think anyone could have done that job as great as they did.
"Zhou Xun" and "Tom Hanks".
"James D'Arcy" and "Halle Berry".
      "Jim Stugress", who was totally unrecognizable, and "Donna Bae", who had to learn English for her role, had the best onscreen chemistry of all the actors. They wonderfully played "Hae-Joo Chang" and "Sonmi-451", and I think they had the best stories. "Ben Whishaw" gave us one of the best performances, and though he and "James D'Arcy" never spoke together during the film, their relationship was totally believable. And the other cast, including "Susan Sarandon", "Zhou Xun", "Keith David", and “David Gyasi" did a good job.
      In the end, 'Cloud Atlas' may be confusing and need to be watched more than one time to be truly understood, but no one can deny that the cast, directors and producers did a great job bringing to the big screen such a difficult story.
"Cloud Atlas".
-"Cloud Atlas" Info:
-Starring: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Stugress, Donna Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D'Arcy, Zhou Xun, Keith David, David Gyasi, Susan Sarandon, and Hugh Grant.
-Based on: 'Cloud Atlas' by David Mitchell.
-Studio(s): Cloud Atlas Productions and Warner Bros. Pictures.
-Directed by: Lana Wachowski, Tom Tywker, and Andy Wachowski.
-Music by: Tom Tywker, Johnny Klimek, and Reinhold Heil.
-Running: 171 minutes.
-Budget: $ 102,000,000.
-Budget: Domestic(US): 27,108,272.
                Foreign: $ 103,374,596.
-Ratings: -IMdb: 7.8/10/
                -Rotten Tomatoes: 67%
                -Metacritic: 55%.
           
                -PERSONAL RATING: 8.2/10.

-"Cloud Atlas" Trailer:

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