Why am I not surprised that D.J. Palladino chose Cloud Atlas on which to unload a supply of venomous sarcasm apparently stored for just such an occasion? The review dubbed the movie “confusing,” containing “Hollywood-spawned pabulum philosophy,” and providing “just a New Age answer.”
For me, and obviously other members of the audience with whom I viewed the film, it translated a great novel to the screen with some added ideology to broaden audience appeal. It did so missing nary a beat. The Wachowski siblings deserve applause for taking on a near-impossible task and delivering a tightly constructed, eminently watchable film.
Rather than settling for New Age pabulum, the film shows that we humans have a hard time learning from history and continue to make the same mistakes from one generation to another – an extremely important message at this time in our history. It’s hard to review a movie without injecting one’s perspectives. Perhaps you selected the wrong reviewer for this purpose.