Ok....
Anyone that loves books always thinks the book is better than the film, and I don't necessarily disagree. I can think of a few exceptions, but by and large it holds up. That being said, it's an unfair comparison to make for obvious reasons. And so I usually put my feelings for a book aside if I'm going to see an adaptation. I'm an avid reader and movie go-er so I try to have balance.
But I love Cloud Atlas very dearly, so it was difficult if not impossible not to make constant comparisons. I wish I knew what I'd have thought of the film if I was able to just watch it on its own terms and merits.
I think that the filmmakers made a mistake in not adhering to the book's structure. Part of the true beauty of the book is the cascade back down, once you get to the middle story. Connective themes start to better reveal themselves, both specific to the order of the stories and on a more macro level. I love how each abandoned story is picked up, hell, I loved how each story was abandoned in the first place. So to do away with that, either due to need or because they felt not doing so would be an improvement was a mistake to me.....but maybe the restructure was truly what's best for cinema, I simply do not know. I will not quibble with any adjustments made to each individual story, to me that's minor. Lastly, putting the book aside, the jumping around from story to story might have prevented one from getting heavily invested in each story, a character from that story, etc....maybe not, unsure. I guess the crosscutting makes it easier to start really driving home certain themes instead of letting them reveal themselves to the viewer, if you can trust the viewer.
Another issue would be that at times, the use of the same actors in heavy makeup took me out of the film....this was when the make up was bad, at least to my eyes...it was just hard for me to not view the character as the actor his or herself.
That being said, I did admire the use of the same cast, it seemed a natural extension of one of the books connective threads. So, if the execution was not perfect, to me the idea behind it was noble enough.
And, of course, kudos to all involved for making such a big-ass movie. The film has a little bit of everything....humor, romance, action, mystery, etc.....not easy to juggle the shifting tones of the book, but, they did as good a job as possible, I think. I'm sure different portions resonated with different people but I thought they really nailed the Sonmi portion, as well as the Forbisher portion. I could have watched a full movie based on either. The Cavendish portion was good, too, obviously the funniest part. The Ewing portion was the weakest, to me.
I don't know, I liked it more than I disliked it for sure, the more I type about it the more I think I'd have liked it even more if I could have removed myself from the comparisons....and I guess the best compliment I could pay it would be is that I'd love to see it again. Nobody could accuse the Wachowskis or Tykwer of not taking a major swing at this....they aimed high for sure.