Odd-ball, time sprawling sci-fi deep thinker, Cloud Atlas, hit our home boxes recently on DVD, Blu-ray and digital download and for anyone that couldn’t quite decide whether or not to watch it, you should probably give it a go. You might not come out the other side with any more understanding as such, but at least you’ll know what all the fuss was about yourself.
With an impressive cast that includes Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant, Hugo Weaving (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Captain America: The Winter Soldier), James D’Arcy (Hitchcock), Susan Sarandon and Ben Wishaw (Skyfall), it’s got a lot of star appeal under its high brow hood. They’re added to by a few less known faces, like Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae and Zhou Xun, completing a very strong cast.
The overarching premise, in case you don’t get it while your mind’s boggling at the randomness of some of the scene construction, is that everyone’s actions have consequences well into the future. It also explores the concept that are our present day lives are largely a product of our forebear’s actions and decisions in the past. It’s a view point that can often be missed by us as we scuttle around in our daily lives, but the film manages to remind us of its importance without being a dull preach.
The film is based on the book of the same name by David Mitchell, which was adapted as a screenplay by Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski, of Matrix fame, along with Tom Tykwer (Run Lola, Run). The trio also directed the movie, as well as co-producing it with Grant Hill (V for Vendetta) and Stefan Arndt.
It’s a difficult plot to explain with such a wide-ranging timescale, but essentially the film covers six interlinked and chronologically consequential stories ranging from 1849 to the far flung future of the 24th century. Starting out in the South Pacific Ocean the story jumps around in time from Cambridge and Edinburgh in the 1930s, San Francisco in the 1970s, present day Britain, Neo Soel in 2144 and a remote island in 2321.
Most of the cast members play multiple roles in the film, giving them a chance to show the breadth of their acting skills. Hugh Grant is pretty nefarious throughout as he place a slave owner in the 17th century, the head of a nuclear reactor that plans to blow it up to boost the oil and gas industry, a sex-crazed restaurant manager in Neo Seoul and a wild tribesman on the island in the far flung future, which makes feel convincing.
Tam Hanks has more of a two side series of roles that includes a self serving and twisted Doctor, a power plant scientist that tries to blow the whistle and a hallucination tormented villager. It’s a similar story for Jim Broadbent (Another Year), who plays a bungling publisher in one time period and a self serving composer in another. Halle Berry is more of a righteous character throughout, along with the brilliant Doona Bae and Susan Sarandon (Thelma and Louis, Robot and Frank).
The Cloud Atlas DVD is gripping in general, blending good stories with some sci-fi action and adventure, but the sheer length of the film makes it a tough one to prioritise to to watch more than once, even though it’ll leave you with unanswered questions at the end. It’s an ostentatious extravaganza that doesn’t lose sight of the overarching premise for one second, making it an enthralling time spanning sci-fi odyssey.
Cloud Atlas DVD review: 3.5/5
