“Cloud Atlas” is a weird and wild storytelling odyssey that follows a single soul through the centuries.

Like last summer’s “Prometheus,” “Cloud Atlas” is a bold film with dynamic visuals that doesn’t live up to its ambitions. Unlike “Prometheus,” though, “Cloud Atlas” doesn’t collapse under its own weight because of a ridiculous script. At nearly three hours long, “Cloud Atlas” seldom slows its pace and remains entertaining the whole way through. That in itself is a remarkable feat.

Based on David Mitchell’s 2004 novel, “Cloud Atlas” weaves together six stories that range in place and time from a South Pacific voyage in 1849 to a post apocalyptic future set 106 years after “the fall.” The protagonists of each story apparently are the same person reincarnated over time and they are played by Jim Sturgess (1849), Ben Wishaw (1936), Halle Berry (1973), Jim Broadbent (2012), Doona Bae (2144) and Tom Hanks (after the fall).