REEL DEAL: Cloud Atlas REVIEW

If the mysteries of the time and the universe still leaves you lost and the meaning of life gets a little blurry, probably its time for you to go on a special journey that will answer these questions for you. As the year has been full of superheros, chick flicks, and sometimes the same story with different actors and locations, how about going up, to the heavens and beyond to see the pattern of life, CLOUD ATLAS.

Journey across time and explore how fates intertwine when Cloud Atlas opens on December 5, 2012. Based on the best-selling novel by David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas is written for the screen and directed by acclaimed filmmakers Lana Wachowski, Tom Tykwer and Andy Wachowski. It features a stellar ensemble cast led by Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, James D’Arcy, Xun Zhou, Keith David, Susan Sarandon and Hugh Grant, all appearing in multiple roles.


Cloud Atlas explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Drama, mystery, action and enduring love thread through a story that unfolds in multiple lifetimes as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution. 

Cloud Atlas is produced by Grant Hill, Stefan Arndt, Lana Wachowski, Tom Tykwer, and Andy Wachowski. Philip Lee, Uwe Schott and Wilson Qiu serve as executive producers, with co-producers Peter Lam, Tony Teo and Alexander van Dülmen, and Gigi Oeri as associate producer.  The creative filmmaking team includes directors of photography John Toll and Frank Griebe; production designers Uli Hanisch and Hugh Bateup; editor Alexander Berner; costume designers Kym Barrett and Pierre-Yves Gayraud; and visual effects supervisor Dan Glass. The music is composed by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil.

Cloud Atlas is distributed in the Philippine by Pioneer Films.

Deliberation time kids! 

Show summary in 3 lines: Everything is connected

Technical Effects: 5 out of 5 stars (Since it covered different time periods, it effectively used effects made distinctly for the area with very good detail)

Acting and Actors: 3 out of 5 stars  (For the great cast doing multiple roles is awesome enough times 6 different timelines! Tom Hanks Halle Berry, Doona Bae and  Hugh Grant are the best pick) 

DVD worthiness: 4 out of 5 stars (hope it includes the Cloud Atlas Sextet!)

Music and Soundtracks:  4 out for 5 stars (From classic to rock, to pop to tribal, they have it all!)

3D Worthiness: YAY!
Pros: Actors, Cohesive Plot, Effects, Multiple Climax
Cons: sudden period jumps, language evolution, long screen time
Overall Rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars (I consider this one the best movies of the year and hoping that it would get nominations this Oscars)