cloud atlas movie review tom hanks

Castles in the sky

We are republishing this review in honor of the 10th anniversary of the passing of Roger Ebert . Read why one of our contributors chose this review here .

Even as I was watching “Cloud Atlas” the first time, I knew I would need to see it again. Now that I’ve seen it the second time, I know I’d like to see it a third time — but I no longer believe repeated viewings will solve anything. To borrow Churchill’s description of Russia, “it is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” It fascinates in the moment. It’s getting from one moment to the next that is tricky.

Surely this is one of the most ambitious films ever made. The little world of film criticism has been alive with interpretations of it, which propose to explain something that lies outside explanation. Any explanation of a work of art must be found in it, not taken to it. As a film teacher, I was always being told by students that a film by David Lynch , say, or Warner Herzog, was “a retelling of the life of Christ, say, or ‘Moby Dick.’ ” My standard reply was: Maybe it’s simply the telling of itself.

Yet “Cloud Atlas” cries out for an explanation, and surely you’ve noticed that I’ve been tap-dancing around one. I could tell you that it relates six stories taking place between the years 1849 and 2346. I could tell you that the same actors appear in different roles, playing characters of different races, genders and ages. Some are not even human, but fabricants. I could tell you that the acting and makeup are so effective that often I had no idea if I was looking at Tom Hanks , Halle Berry or Jim Broadbent . I could tell you that, and what help is it?

I could tell you that each segment is a refashioning of the story contained in the previous one. That the same birthmark turns up in every period of time. That a repeated motif is that all lives are connected by a thirst for freedom. That the movie was inspired by the much-loved novel of the same name by David Mitchell . That in the novel, the stories were told in chronological order, and then circled back again from end to beginning. That the movie finds its connections through the reappearances of the same actors in different roles and deliberately refers to one story from within another.

Now are you wiser? I’m treading water. And now could follow a very long paragraph introducing and describing the different characters played by the actors. But you would lose your way all the same, because many of the performances and disguises are so cunningly effective. I could tell you that Halle Berry’s work as a mid-1970s investigative reporter works well for me, and the gnarly wisdom of Tom Hanks as an old man telling tales is the most impenetrable.

I despair. I think you will want to see this daring and visionary film, directed by Lana Wachowski , Tom Tykwer and Andy Wachowski . Anywhere you go where movie people gather, it will be discussed. Deep theories will be proposed. Someone will say, “I don’t know what in the hell I saw.” The names of Freud and Jung will come up. And now you expect me to unwrap the mystery from the enigma and present you with a nice shiny riddle?

Sometimes the key to one movie can be suggested by another one. We know that the title refers to early drawings of the shapes and behavior of clouds. Not long ago I saw a Swedish film, “ Simon and the Oaks ,” about a day-dreaming boy who formed a bond with an oak tree. In its limbs, he would lie reading books of imagination and then allow his eyes to rest on the clouds overhead. As he read a book about desert wanderers, the clouds seemed to take shape as a ghostly caravan of camels in procession across the sky.

I was never, ever bored by “Cloud Atlas.” On my second viewing, I gave up any attempt to work out the logical connections between the segments, stories and characters. What was important was that I set my mind free to play. Clouds do not really look like camels or sailing ships or castles in the sky. They are simply a natural process at work. So too, perhaps, are our lives. Because we have minds and clouds do not, we desire freedom. That is the shape the characters in “Cloud Atlas” take, and how they attempt to direct our thoughts. Any concrete, factual attempt to nail the film down to cold fact, to tell you what it “means,” is as pointless as trying to build a clockwork orange.

But, oh, what a film this is! And what a demonstration of the magical, dreamlike qualities of the cinema. And what an opportunity for the actors. And what a leap by the directors, who free themselves from the chains of narrative continuity. And then the wisdom of the old man staring into the flames makes perfect sense.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

Cloud Atlas

• Jim Broadbent as Timothy, etc.
• Halle Berry as Luisa Rey, etc.
• Susan Sarandon as Horrox, etc.
• Tom Hanks as Zachry, etc.
• Hugh Weaving as Noakes, etc.
• Hugh Grant as Kona Chief, etc.

Written and directed by

• Lana Wachowski

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Parents' guide to, cloud atlas.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 16 Reviews
• Kids Say 12 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Enormous scale and spectacle, but weak characters, story.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Cloud Atlas -- the Wachowskis' massive sci-fi epic that takes place over six time periods, with several actors (including Tom Hanks and Halle Berry) playing roles in each -- has strong fantasy violence, including bloody attacks and battles with both guns and blades. Main characters…

Why Age 16+?

Sporadic strong language includes "f--k," "s--t," "c--k," "p---y," "hell," "ass,

At least one female character appears topless, and there are two sex scenes (it'

Many of the main characters die, and many are shot or stabbed, with spurting blo

Many characters drink alcohol (ranging from beer to wine to harder drinks), most

Samsung phone is shown, but not prominently.

Any Positive Content?

Amid the sometimes convoluted storytelling, the film promotes the ideas that all

None of the film's many characters has enough screen time to achieve much depth

Parents need to know that Cloud Atlas -- the Wachowskis ' massive sci-fi epic that takes place over six time periods, with several actors (including Tom Hanks and Halle Berry ) playing roles in each -- has strong fantasy violence, including bloody attacks and battles with both guns and blades. Main characters die, and one commits suicide. Language is strong, though sporadic, with several uses of both "f--k" and "s--t." There are a few sex scenes, with one female appearing topless. Many characters drink, a few smoke cigarettes, and two smoke pot. Like Avatar , the movie's sheer, overwhelming size, scale, and spectacle may appeal to many audiences, and teens will likely be clamoring to see it; whether they'll enjoy it is less clear.

To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Sporadic strong language includes "f--k," "s--t," "c--k," "p---y," "hell," "ass," "damn," "goddamn," racial slurs like the "N" word and "wetback," and "Jesus" (as an exclamation).

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

At least one female character appears topless, and there are two sex scenes (it's questionable that the act is consensual in one), with no other nudity shown. There's some strong innuendo in one scene as a rude customer in a futuristic restaurant uses a squeeze bottle of mayonnaise and pretends to ejaculate on a waitress' back. There's a scene in which a man escapes his lover's bedroom, presumably after sex; they share a kiss. In another scene, sex is interrupted by a cat, and there's some innuendo around the term "p---y."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Violence & Scariness

Many of the main characters die, and many are shot or stabbed, with spurting blood. One dies in an airplane explosion. There are bloody attacks and battles with blades and guns, a few one-on-one fights, and threats; both children and adults die. A character commits suicide with a gun (put in mouth). A man throws another man from a high balcony. A bad guy shoots a dog (off screen). A little girl is shown to be fatally sick, with a poisoned, swollen foot.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Many characters drink alcohol (ranging from beer to wine to harder drinks), mostly in a social way. Once or twice, characters overindulge in a comic way, but only briefly. In one segment, the main characters smoke some pot. Some characters smoke cigarettes in a background way. In a futuristic sement, a character is addicted to a drug known as "soap" and overdoses.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Positive messages.

Amid the sometimes convoluted storytelling, the film promotes the ideas that all things/people are connected and that love can transcend space and time. There are small examples of bravery and trying to help others throughout.

Positive Role Models

None of the film's many characters has enough screen time to achieve much depth or resonance. But a few of them are good and brave, and a few fairly strong female characters emerge. One character has a kind of "bad conscience" demon that tries to convince him to do selfish and/or cowardly things. At first he gives into the demon's commands, but eventually he learns to stand up for himself and do things for others. Some characters risk their lives for what they believe in.

Where to Watch

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Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents Say (16)
• Kids Say (12)

Based on 16 parent reviews

Unnecessary violence spoils mundane plot.

Read the book, what's the story.

With six interwoven stories, CLOUD ATLAS attempts to show how acts in one time period can resonate in another. In the 19th century, a notary ( Jim Sturgess ) receives mysterious treatments from a doctor ( Tom Hanks ) and befriends an escaped slave. In 1931, a young musician ( Ben Whishaw ) goes to work for a legendary composer ( Jim Broadbent ). In 1975, a journalist ( Halle Berry ) investigates a nuclear power company. In the present day, a publisher (Broadbent) escapes some gangsters by checking into a retirement home but can't check back out. In the near future, a clone waitress (Doona Bae) learns that she has a greater destiny. And in the far future, a simple tribesman (Hanks) receives a visit from a technologically advanced woman (Berry).

Is It Any Good?

By normal standards, this is a disappointing movie, but it isn't an ordinary movie. If the six stories were disentangled and laid out separately, it would be clear that none of them has much depth or surprise. Cloud Atlas cuts corners to rush the multitude of shallow characters through their story arcs, which results in a general lack of rhythm. It becomes one long, monotonous thrum. What's more, the almost fetishistic use of makeup to distinguish the characters from the actors who play them is highly distracting, and the guessing game of who's behind which fake appendage becomes more interesting than the story itself.

But since Cloud Atlas is an "epic folly" (like David Lynch's Dune ), many audiences will find themselves swept away and perhaps even enchanted by the movie's mere efforts to be huge and impressive. Throughout Hollywood history, size and scale have often triumphed over content, and, for many, the magnifying and inflating of these empty stories may make them seem resonant.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Cloud Atlas ' violence . Does "fantasy" violence have a different impact than "realistic" violence? How does the violence contribute to the story in this movie?

How does the movie portray sex /sexual relationships?

If the movie's theme is "connections" and events resonating throughout time, what are some examples of this? Can you think of a way that this has happened in real life?

Which character is the most admirable? Which story affected you the most?

Movie Details

• In theaters : October 26, 2012
• On DVD or streaming : May 14, 2013
• Cast : Halle Berry , Jim Sturgess , Tom Hanks
• Directors : Lilly Wachowski , Lana Wachowski , Tom Tykwer
• Inclusion Information : Female directors, Transgender directors, Female actors, Black actors
• Studio : Warner Bros.
• Genre : Drama
• Topics : Magic and Fantasy
• Run time : 172 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : violence, language, sexuality/nudity and some drug use
• Last updated : May 17, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

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Cloud Atlas Reviews

Cloud Atlas tells a huge story in ways that often felt personal and small.

Full Review | Oct 3, 2022

Cloud Atlas will confound and maybe even aggravate some unwilling to, quite simply, “go with the flow.” But others will find what few have: a bold, technically awesome, and thematically enduring picture whose arrangement and ambition are unprecedented.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Sep 21, 2022

It’s a highly ambitious picture that pulls off an incredibly clever storytelling technique. But it could also be viewed as a three-hour grind that features many of the Wachowski’s familiar self-indulgences.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Aug 19, 2022

I was hypnotized by Cloud Atlas.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Mar 23, 2022

Its a film unlike any other ever madeone that explores the fluidity of sexuality and genderand a thrilling cinematic experience. The Matrix may have put the Wachowskis on the map. Cloud Atlas proves their real brilliance.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Mar 20, 2022

Far from a block that fits neatly into any sort of structured agenda, Cloud Atlas is a symphony of emotion that plays the synapses and the spine...

Full Review | Sep 10, 2021

[There's'] far too many actors in this town to have to bother paying Tom Hanks $100,000,000 and putting him in nine hundred scenes as different ethnicities and races.

Full Review | Aug 31, 2021

There were so many prosthetic noses.

For all its jabbering about the "connectedness" of humanity, the film never makes any kind of point

Full Review | Jul 2, 2021

As a work of art, Cloud Atlas is no success. The film founders under the burden of its makers' various, perhaps contradictory ideological concerns.

Full Review | Feb 12, 2021

It's like a treasure hunt to uncover the nuggets of brilliance hidden beneath the tangled mess of six interweaving storylines.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Dec 1, 2020

A messy, ambitious film that blends science fiction, philosophical rambling, and impressive narrative prowess, with stunning visuals, and engaging stories and characters.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Jul 15, 2020

Cloud Atlas manages to weave these stories into a thought provoking, beautiful and a boldly ambitious sci-fi film.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 15, 2020

Cloud Atlas is a glorious reward for readers who've slogged through a brilliant but flawed novel, and the soundtrack is the cherry on top of the icing on the cake.

Full Review | Jun 30, 2020

One of the best science fiction movies I have seen this year. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Jun 25, 2020

A daring extravaganza of images and themes, a film that asserts itself as worthy of repeated viewings, not only for its quality, but its generously expansive scope.

Full Review | Aug 5, 2019

Yes, Cloud Atlas is massively ambitious, and impressive. But as it labours to clarify its own confusion, mapping every last nook of narrative space, any sense of real mystery is obliterated by platitudes about freedom.

Full Review | Jul 31, 2019

While Cloud Atlas has its flaws, there are plenty of moments where I found myself seeing the big picture and fully realizing the weight of every storyline linking to one another throughout time.

Full Review | Original Score: 7.5/10 | Jul 2, 2019

Tykwer and the Wachowskis clearly aimed for the stars, and while the final product ultimately falls short, there is still quite a bit to admire in the failure of their epic folly.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jun 8, 2019

I wouldn't call The Cloud Atlas pure cinema, but... the mix and mash trumps the balderdash.

Full Review | Feb 25, 2019

Movie review: Tom Hanks and Halle Berry in…

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Movie review: tom hanks and halle berry in “cloud atlas,” an epic yarn of karmic connection.

Xun Zhou, left, as Rose, and Tom Hanks as Zachry, in "Cloud Atlas."

Timothy Cavendish (Jim Broadbent) experiences a little instant-karma payback in the sweeping epic "Cloud Atlas."

Xun Zhou, left, as Rose, and Tom Hanks as Zachry, in "Cloud Atlas."

It will aid your experience of the swirling, sweeping dramatic adventure “Cloud Atlas,” if you embrace the idea of being a little bit lost.

There will be signposts that confound but also help orient you during a cinematic journey that spans 500 years. The film introduces six different datelines and storylines. 1849 South Pacific, 1936 Scotland, 1973 San Francisco, 2012 England, 2144 Neo Seoul and the mid 2300s Post-Apocalyptic Hawaii. It then interweaves them for the next 172 minutes.

There will be faces that vaguely resemble others with stories that call and respond across radically different periods in human history. “Cloud Atlas” is one of those interlocking puzzlers sure to launch a thousand senior theses.

Directors Lana and Andy Wachowski (“The “Matrix” trilogy) have joined forces with director and composer Tom Tykwer (“Run Lola Run”) to bring British writer David Mitchell’s 2004, century-spanning, multiple- genre, karma-contemplating best-seller of the same name to the big screen.

Tom Hanks and Halle Berry headline a cast that includes Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant, Susan Sarandon, as well as Keith David and Ben Whishaw. Yes, “Cloud Atlas” resembles one of those ’70s flicks packed to the gills with stars. Only here a number of them play multiple characters.

Berry and Hanks portray six each. Theirs becomes one of the stories of powerful connection that tracks across the centuries. In 1970s San Francisco, for instance, they meet at a nuclear reactor. She’s investigative reporter Luisa Rey. He’s Isaac Sachs, a plant employee. Grant plays power plant owner Lloyd Hooks who arrives nattily dressed and with a whiff of smarm.

Also one for the ages is the affection of characters portrayed by Jim Sturgess (“Across the Universe”) and South Korean actress Donna Bae: from a young couple in the mid 1800s reckoning with the vice of slavery to Somni-451, a genetically engineered being or “fabricant” and her revolutionary champion Hae-Joo Chang.

Hugo Weaving, who came to the fore as the baddie in the “Matrix” films, also plays six characters, all of them gradations of evil, including a caretaker in a nursing home in present-day Britain. Outta the way, Nurse Ratchet! There’s a new meanie policing the ward.

Yes, it’s a mad mad mad mad world. But there are some throughlines to the movie’s pleasures and pains, its tender connections and greedy violence. Enslavement and liberation are chief among them.

The intitial salvo of stories concerns American Adam Ewing (Sturgess) and stowaway slave Autua (David Gyasi); young and gifted composer Robert Frobisher (Whishaw), his beloved Sixsmith (James D’Arcy), and the aging composer Vyvyan Ayrs (Broadbent); reporter Luisa Rey; small press publisher Timothy Cavendish (Broadbent again); Sonmi-451 and her fellow engineered restaurant workers; and goatherd Zachry (Hanks) and Meronym (Berry), an emissary from a more advanced culture.

Sitting at a desk typing at the start of “Cloud Atlas,” publisher Cavendish admits his own dislike of literary devices like flashbacks and flash forwards.

It’s a wink and a cautionary note. But, he adds, “there is a method to this madness.”

Visually vivid, with an aching score co-written by Tykwer, “Cloud Atlas” celebrates a liberation cosmology.

Yes, at times its lessons feel forced. And I can hardly wait to see what New Yorker magazine critic Anthony Lane makes of Zachry and Meronym’s syntax. He was brutally funny on Yoda in “Stars Wars Episode III.”

But if you are vulnerable to movies — or fortune cookies, for that matter — that honor the fact that humans are deeply interconnected, then “Cloud Atlas” has your number.

Lisa Kennedy: 303-954-1567, [email protected] or twitter.com/bylisakennedy

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The Washburn Review

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“Cloud Atlas” Movie Review

AJ Dome, Washburn Review November 11, 2012

That’s the buzz word surrounding what is now my favorite film this season, and perhaps all year.

“Cloud Atlas” is composed of six separate story arcs, all interconnected by a continuous theme, spanning 500 years with the actors portraying several different characters throughout. The six main actors within the film all get their limelight, but it’s the ever-changing state of their appearance which is most obvious–and most impressive. Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae and Hugo Weaving are the biggest players within the worlds of “Cloud Atlas.”

Hugh Grant also stars in what might be considered the scariest role he’s ever performed. I mean, c’mon, Hugh Grant just isn’t what comes to mind when filmmakers need a large, imposing, heavily made-up native warrior. But Grant pulls it off in the most surprising way imaginable, and I am in no way providing a spoiler by saying that.

Word of caution: I will use the word “impressive” quite a bit in this article. The most impressive part of this film is the cohesiveness of the stories. Three directors are credited with bringing this monumental film to light. The Wachowski siblings (Lana and Andy of “The Matrix” series), and German director Tom Tykwer adapted the film from a 2004 novel of the same name, tackling the stories as separate short films, and then splicing them together into the biggest picture of all.

Speaking of the “biggest picture of all,” this film was funded by independent sources, including the German government. With a budget of $102 million, it’s one of the most expensive independent films of all time.

And it shows. Of course the Wachowskis are no strangers to excellent digital imagery, but “Cloud Atlas” is without a doubt beautiful, polarizing, and sometimes graphic. It’s well-deserved of its “R” rating, but it’s not a tasteless rating. It’s a film with realistic details, right down to sounds and textures, but with magical ideas and intense visuals. It relies on the pictures to hook you from the very beginning, with some overlaid voiced-over dialogue and a small sampling of each individual story. After that, the stories remained separated in content and even genre–jumping from drama to dark comedy to action/adventure.

The way it sneaks up on you is subtle, like a silent black cat, ready to pounce and dig its claws into your spine. And when it does, it’s certainly effective; I was riveted to my theater seat for the entire two hours and 45 minutes of run-time.

Fortunately, it doesn’t feel like a long movie. It actually leaves you yearning for more, silently wishing that it would continue, even though you feel satisfied with the conclusions. It’s kind of like life, actually. I’m sure at the very end some people feel compelled to continue, even though they’re satisfied with the results.

This idea of continual connections involving basic concepts of life and living is the recurring theme I mentioned earlier. If this sounds like a difficult subject to film, that’s because it is. “Unfilmable” has been used to describe this story, yet it’s out in theaters now, and critics are divided. Some love it, some hate it, but there’s no middle ground. I like it when a film does that.

Now, “Cloud Atlas” doesn’t come controversy-free. In one of the stories, a few of the actors are portraying Asian characters. The actors are white, so they were made to appear Asian through makeup, prosthetics, and computer graphics, with a heavy focus on the shape of their eyes. It’s pretty obvious, and it doesn’t mesh with the high quality of the rest of the film. It’s also not the best choice as a director if you’re wanting to stay politically correct and remain artistically detailed.

However, do not discount this film solely because of this plot device. “Cloud Atlas” has an intrinsic value worth far more than anything race or political correctness can affect. Don’t let negative critiques fool you. To quote my best friend Tyler, “if you’re looking for something to hate, you’re going to find it.”

This film is about people and the interconnectedness of their lives. Deja vu, intrinsic memories, small ripples of change spanning centuries–in reality, it has no clear beginning or end. It just continues forever, and with “Cloud Atlas,” we’re sampling a small fictional piece of humanity’s puzzle. Thankfully it’s an extremely high-quality piece of the puzzle.

I have a friend who’s studying film at the University of Southern California right now. He described “Cloud Atlas” to me like this: “It’s a movie in the same sense that a Lamborghini is a car.”

I’m going to take that description in a slightly different direction. “Cloud Atlas” is to cinema what the Bugatti Veyron is to cars. For those unfamiliar with the Veyron, it’s a $1.7 million German machine with a 16-cylinder engine, capable of mind-boggling numbers. It only takes two seconds to reach 60 miles per hour, and it tops out at 253 miles per hour… possibly more, if you dare.

Bugatti Veyron, meet “Cloud Atlas.” It’s much like you: dramatic, beautiful, scary at times, exciting at others, and very ambitious. And most importantly, “Cloud Atlas” doesn’t cost a million dollars. Just $9 will transport you through time and space, telling the story of how we’re all connected, whether we know it or not.

It’s $9 well spent.

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• cloud atlas
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