I'm already giggling picturing the cries of protest that will rise up when I post this review, but the hell with it, I really like Zach Snyder's Sucker Punch. I never deliberately play the contrarian, I just seem to often gravitate towards films that have been maligned by the masses, and I can't really help it. Now, in this film's case, a few of the many and varied negative criticisms are somewhat warranted, yet blown out of proportion when you really take a good look at the story. The film is pure style, and although Zachary might have let his imagination run a little wild and clutter the whole affair with fanboy fantasies and video game visuals, there is a clear and discernible story beneath if one cares to look. Now, the only way that story is entirely comprehended is by watching the extended director's cut, which includes an absolutely crucial, pivotal scene that's should have never, ever ended up on the editing room floor for the theatrical version. Seriously, they we're straight up asking for hostility and confusion by not keeping it in every cut of the film, it's just common sense. Speaking of story, here we go: the film opens in breathless style and classic patented Snyder slo mo, with young Baby Doll (Emily Browning) trying to save her little sister from their tyrannically abusive stepfather. Outsmarted and shipped off to an austere mental institution, her journey is a sad, surreal and somewhat befuddling one, but there's a method to the madness that might not be clear with only one viewing of the film. The asylum she is sent to is plagued by a sinister orderly (Oscar Isaac) who is abusing the girls in his care, and as a result, Baby Doll channels such horrors into a grandiose set of fantasy worlds, the base of which rests on a burlesque style brothel where she and others work for volatile pimp Blue (also Isaac). Joined by Amber (Jamie Chung), Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish), Rocket (Jena Malone) and Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), she blocks out the reality of what is happening and replaces the details of an elaborate, systematic escape attempt with impossibly epic, highly stylized adventures, each of a different theme or set in a vaguely familiar period of history. Battling medieval dragons, giant samurai golems with mini-guns, WWI zombie hordes in a gaunt, bombed out European landscape, it's all a detailed rush of sound and fury that hits you like a ton of bricks, and although is far too much for the film to handle and still get its point across, it's completely dazzling stuff, especially on Blu ray. Guided by a mysterious Wise Man (a kickass, rootin tootin Scott Glenn) who shows up in a different get up each time and mentored by brothel Madam of sorts Vera Gorski (Carla Gugino), each setting holds the key to move along a certain cog in their plan, correlating back down the line of delusions straight to the asylum, if a little tenuously. Now it all hinges on the arrival of the High Roller (Jon Hamm), a rich playboy who has come to the brothel to see Baby Doll dance, and probably more. Here's where they messed up royally: The scene I mentioned earlier is a monologue from him that is pretty much one of the most important parts of the film, capping off both realities beautifully, and without it, not only is Hamm relegated to basically a walk on extra, the entire final punch of the climax is rendered lost and neutered, not too mention quite uncomfortable in a sense. Whoever was in charge of that particular piece of the editing should be tarred, feathered and run off the studio lot by teamsters. With the scene left in on the extended version, however, the story is given both point and purpose, feeling like a complete vision with a little weight to go along with it's Hindenburg sized bag of visual tricks. Not Snyder's best for sure, but it's in no way close to the turkey some people will have you believe it is. Whiners. Style over substance? Yes, I'll definitely concede there's an imbalance, but don't try and tell me the whole thing is bereft of substance at all, because that is a lazily researched argument. The soundtrack is a treasure chest, I might add, with beautiful covers of Sweet Dreams and Sing Me To Sleep sung by Browning herself.
1,133 Reviews
Snyder pushing buttons for polarising results.
hitchcockthelegend7 November 2017
Off the bat I have to say I'm over thirty years older than what some pro critics have claimed is the demographic for this one. Sucker Punch, as reviews etc attest, is not for everyone, it has been called any number of things in derogative fashion, which since I enjoyed the film a lot means I'm a misogynist fetishist gamer, which to the best of my knowledge is not true. Lest I'm in the closet and now in middle age about to unleash traits and feelings previously untapped. Which if the latter is true you would have to say well done Zack Snyder, for that's serious film making...
Sucker Punch is loud, full of visual orgasms, musically adroit, exciting, clever and very sexy. Snyder has made no secret of his fetish leanings when making this piece, but it hardy constitutes a dark seedy mind at work. It can easily be argued that the film is very much pro women, the story itself - in amongst the explosive thunder of the fantastical action - is tender and beautiful, complete with emotional kickers. Perhaps it's in the eye of the beholder? But I see a strong female led action movie, with shifting fantasy realms, and cunningly it calls for deeper ponder come the finale.
Love it or hate it, Snyder has pushed buttons with this exercise. Better that than another cash cow sequel or another remake, re- imaging or rebirth. 7/10
Sucker Punch is loud, full of visual orgasms, musically adroit, exciting, clever and very sexy. Snyder has made no secret of his fetish leanings when making this piece, but it hardy constitutes a dark seedy mind at work. It can easily be argued that the film is very much pro women, the story itself - in amongst the explosive thunder of the fantastical action - is tender and beautiful, complete with emotional kickers. Perhaps it's in the eye of the beholder? But I see a strong female led action movie, with shifting fantasy realms, and cunningly it calls for deeper ponder come the finale.
Love it or hate it, Snyder has pushed buttons with this exercise. Better that than another cash cow sequel or another remake, re- imaging or rebirth. 7/10
Idiosyncratic, atmospheric and engaging fantasy
vandeman-scott5 July 2020
With its rustic-futuristic visuals, synergic use of classic rock music, overt sexuality, and dreamlike action sequences, SUCKER PUNCH feels like a live action homage to 1981's HEAVY METAL with a heaping helping of MATRIX folded in for good measure. Excellent, quirky performances from a bevy of skilled young actresses serve to enhance the idiosyncratic nature of this film.
From its atmospheric use of color to its smallest detail (think a snowflake melting on an eyelash), SUCKER PUNCH is a visual feast. The movie sounds great, too. Contemporary versions of songs like "White Rabbit," "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)," and "Love is the Drug," to name a few, harmonize well with both the imagery and the unique, fantasy-within-a-dream storyline.
Like many, I'm scraping the bottom of the Netflix quarantine barrel and wasn't expecting much more from this movie than a forgettable distraction. I couldn't possibly have been more pleasantly surprised. SUCKER PUNCH grabbed me from its third-wall-busting opening shot and held my attention right to the eyebrow-raising ending. I'll be watching again. Soon.
7 stars.
From its atmospheric use of color to its smallest detail (think a snowflake melting on an eyelash), SUCKER PUNCH is a visual feast. The movie sounds great, too. Contemporary versions of songs like "White Rabbit," "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)," and "Love is the Drug," to name a few, harmonize well with both the imagery and the unique, fantasy-within-a-dream storyline.
Like many, I'm scraping the bottom of the Netflix quarantine barrel and wasn't expecting much more from this movie than a forgettable distraction. I couldn't possibly have been more pleasantly surprised. SUCKER PUNCH grabbed me from its third-wall-busting opening shot and held my attention right to the eyebrow-raising ending. I'll be watching again. Soon.
7 stars.
One word... underrated!
lechihoanglonghiie21 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Not everyone can see through an emotional story in a visually-stylized movie. Besides the spectacular cinematography, editing, action sequences, there's also a touching story behind it. It's not a movie for everyone, but I was actually appreciated Zack Snyder's vision and his visually brilliant storytelling. Although there are cons in this movie, I actually love how the concept of fantasy and reality and blurring line between them are being portrayed in this movie. Also, I love the ensemble cast in this movie, especially the 5 female leads. Either way, it has got to be one of the most overlooked movies of the last decade.
A fistful of mediocrity.
johnnymacbest25 March 2011
With 300, Zack Snyder has made it abundantly clear that his movies dazzle they eyes, indeed they do, but his characters never engage the audience in a personal and emotional level. And Sucker Punch is just that. A visually dazzling collage of mental insanity taken to the extreme with a fairly interesting premise that looks promising on the surface, but never truly lets you sink your teeth into the inner workings of the main character.
Emily Browning plays Babydoll, a blond bombshell who is placed in a mental institution by her cold stepfather, and is then seen trying to persuade the orderlies into lobotomizing her to keep her from giving details surrounding a tragedy in her life. However, Babydoll begins to create a dreamworld in which not only to pass the time, but to figure a way out of the asylum.
As if that makes any sense whatsoever, here are the main problems with Sucker Punch that's been plaguing modern cinema; no plot and character development. Barely any of the characters that the protagonist meets are developed. They're just static talking heads spouting out lines that are trying to hammer into the audience that they are more than just cliché's and cardboard cutouts. The acting feels stiff and artificial with no sense of tension or suspense. You never feel that the characters are in real danger of any kind. It just goes thru the motions and despite having a nice premise to go on, the film feels like a half-ass-ed attempt to be something new and fresh.
Sucker Punch has some merits. The special effects and action scenes are impressive. I did get a kick out of some of the battle scenes which are nicely choreographed and executed with lots of explosions. Watching it is sort of like looking at a silent film on steroids but minus the heart and soul of that bygone era.
The incredible aesthetic beauty and action choreography are a lot impressive than Snyder's 300. But the problem with Sucker Punch is that even in a fantasy film, or any action film for that matter, you have to put effort into making the audience care for your characters no matter how good looking the action and special effects are. You simply won't care who lives or dies in this film. At some point, you have to try to make the audience care. This film simply never does.
I think that I got my point across perfectly clear regarding this film. If it entertained you, fine, then it did it's job. The problem is is that there's nothing remotely remarkable about this film aside from the visual aspect of this film. If more time was spent fleshing out the story, characters, with a more coherent script, then this could've been a really good film. But since so much potential was utterly wasted, I have no choice but to give my grade and it's a D.
Emily Browning plays Babydoll, a blond bombshell who is placed in a mental institution by her cold stepfather, and is then seen trying to persuade the orderlies into lobotomizing her to keep her from giving details surrounding a tragedy in her life. However, Babydoll begins to create a dreamworld in which not only to pass the time, but to figure a way out of the asylum.
As if that makes any sense whatsoever, here are the main problems with Sucker Punch that's been plaguing modern cinema; no plot and character development. Barely any of the characters that the protagonist meets are developed. They're just static talking heads spouting out lines that are trying to hammer into the audience that they are more than just cliché's and cardboard cutouts. The acting feels stiff and artificial with no sense of tension or suspense. You never feel that the characters are in real danger of any kind. It just goes thru the motions and despite having a nice premise to go on, the film feels like a half-ass-ed attempt to be something new and fresh.
Sucker Punch has some merits. The special effects and action scenes are impressive. I did get a kick out of some of the battle scenes which are nicely choreographed and executed with lots of explosions. Watching it is sort of like looking at a silent film on steroids but minus the heart and soul of that bygone era.
The incredible aesthetic beauty and action choreography are a lot impressive than Snyder's 300. But the problem with Sucker Punch is that even in a fantasy film, or any action film for that matter, you have to put effort into making the audience care for your characters no matter how good looking the action and special effects are. You simply won't care who lives or dies in this film. At some point, you have to try to make the audience care. This film simply never does.
I think that I got my point across perfectly clear regarding this film. If it entertained you, fine, then it did it's job. The problem is is that there's nothing remotely remarkable about this film aside from the visual aspect of this film. If more time was spent fleshing out the story, characters, with a more coherent script, then this could've been a really good film. But since so much potential was utterly wasted, I have no choice but to give my grade and it's a D.
Not as awful as you have heard but just empty, noisy, pointless, heartless and cynically commercial
bob the moo7 July 2011
Of course I had heard all the negative reviews when I sat to watch this. Of course I had seen the MTV-friendly action trailer. But critics can be biased and marketing can be misleading, so I decided to give this a go. On the face of it this film could have been similar to Pan's Labyrinth in regards the idea of a young girl/woman living through hardship and extending that hardship into a fantasy world of demons and otherworldly creatures. Certainly after watching the first very stylish fifteen minutes this felt like a film that would take this foundation of abuse and deep physiological injury and do something exciting, interesting and clever with it – at least, that's how it felt it could have been.
The problem is that, despite setting up these themes, the film does nothing with them – nothing at all. The dual fantasy sequences do not connect to any of the ideas or possible themes but rather represent an action sequence in the place of a (often mundane) aspect of the girl's plan to escape the burlesque house (which itself is a fantasy version of the mental institution). So for example when Babydoll dances to distract the mayor to allow the others to pickpocket a cigarette lighter , we cut away to a sequence of the girls raiding a castle to kill a dragon and steal the crystals that make it breathe fire. It might as well be a different film in these action sequences, and indeed they are – but the problem is that these sequences seem to be the film that Snyder wanted to make.
In fairness these massively dumb action sequences are full of style and presentation with impressive effects. They work for what they are and, even though the slow-mo, use of music and overall design is derivative, it does still provide plenty of style. But they aren't connected to anything in the film and this means that they have the same effect as they do in the trailer – "oh, that's fancy" but nothing more. There is no heart to them and as such these parts of the film are nothing more than another blockbuster with loads of effects but nothing else.
The lack of anything else is what kills the film because by the halfway point the empty noise becomes nothing more than noise. It is not even that it fails to make something of the ideas, characters and story – it is that it simply has no desire to do anything with them – like it is happy to be nothing. This annoyed me and it gets worse as the ending of the film attempts to suddenly have a darkness, to have a heart – it is too little too late and it doesn't work. In the absence of ideas to interest the viewer, one is left to think about other things. The exploitative fetishism of school-girl outfits, guns, sexuality and violence is one such thing I thought about – particularly since it was in a film whose final lines of dialogue appear to lift up the women characters. The sexual costumes and imagery do nothing of the sort but there is not some underlying misogyny as some have claimed – it is simply another part of Synder making his film as emptily commercial as possible, and sexy young women being sexy sells – just as gun porn and special effects sell. The cast match this as well – occasionally they look like they could have delivered more but ultimately they are little more than sexual effects. Browning, Cornish and Malone have a bit of heart to them but Hudgens and Chung are just flesh (not that I minded too much). This is not a film that cares about its cast – and the audience won't either.
Sucker Punch is not as awful as you have heard – it is too expensive and stylish for that. No, it is just poor because it simply does nothing other than empty, heartless style that is noisy and pointless. The ideas and themes go nowhere and the film has no interest in them or the characters. All that matters is slow-motion, cool music, big action and comic book style – if that is all you want without caring about any of it then this will fill your ears and eyes for a while – but if you want more then best give this a miss.
The problem is that, despite setting up these themes, the film does nothing with them – nothing at all. The dual fantasy sequences do not connect to any of the ideas or possible themes but rather represent an action sequence in the place of a (often mundane) aspect of the girl's plan to escape the burlesque house (which itself is a fantasy version of the mental institution). So for example when Babydoll dances to distract the mayor to allow the others to pickpocket a cigarette lighter , we cut away to a sequence of the girls raiding a castle to kill a dragon and steal the crystals that make it breathe fire. It might as well be a different film in these action sequences, and indeed they are – but the problem is that these sequences seem to be the film that Snyder wanted to make.
In fairness these massively dumb action sequences are full of style and presentation with impressive effects. They work for what they are and, even though the slow-mo, use of music and overall design is derivative, it does still provide plenty of style. But they aren't connected to anything in the film and this means that they have the same effect as they do in the trailer – "oh, that's fancy" but nothing more. There is no heart to them and as such these parts of the film are nothing more than another blockbuster with loads of effects but nothing else.
The lack of anything else is what kills the film because by the halfway point the empty noise becomes nothing more than noise. It is not even that it fails to make something of the ideas, characters and story – it is that it simply has no desire to do anything with them – like it is happy to be nothing. This annoyed me and it gets worse as the ending of the film attempts to suddenly have a darkness, to have a heart – it is too little too late and it doesn't work. In the absence of ideas to interest the viewer, one is left to think about other things. The exploitative fetishism of school-girl outfits, guns, sexuality and violence is one such thing I thought about – particularly since it was in a film whose final lines of dialogue appear to lift up the women characters. The sexual costumes and imagery do nothing of the sort but there is not some underlying misogyny as some have claimed – it is simply another part of Synder making his film as emptily commercial as possible, and sexy young women being sexy sells – just as gun porn and special effects sell. The cast match this as well – occasionally they look like they could have delivered more but ultimately they are little more than sexual effects. Browning, Cornish and Malone have a bit of heart to them but Hudgens and Chung are just flesh (not that I minded too much). This is not a film that cares about its cast – and the audience won't either.
Sucker Punch is not as awful as you have heard – it is too expensive and stylish for that. No, it is just poor because it simply does nothing other than empty, heartless style that is noisy and pointless. The ideas and themes go nowhere and the film has no interest in them or the characters. All that matters is slow-motion, cool music, big action and comic book style – if that is all you want without caring about any of it then this will fill your ears and eyes for a while – but if you want more then best give this a miss.
Very unconventional, but entertaining and beautiful
Enchorde20 April 2011
Warning: Spoilers
First of all, Sucker Punch is a really controversial, odd movie, certainly not for everyone. It's an uncommon mix of spectacular high octane action and a dark grey psychological drama about a girl wrongfully imprisoned and abused at a mental institution. These sometimes sharp shifts between genres, and contrasts in storytelling, might not be to everyone's liking. If you expect a simple and purely entertaining action movie, you'll probably feel cheated and disappointed, because Sucker Punch certainly isn't that. Sucker Punch works on more levels than that.
Babydoll is a young girl imprisoned and abused at a mental institution in a bid by her stepfather to get to a big heritage. To cope with the abuse Babydoll glides into a different levels of sub-reality in her own imagination. One is that the asylum is instead a brothel (hence the name Babydoll), and in next Babydoll and the other girls form a special military unit in different fantasy or science fiction worlds. It's in these third level worlds that all the action are in. And the action is very good, filled with effects and coordinated combat. But if the movie would have consisted only if this it would have been too simple, unmotivated. The brothel-world builds a framework that the action work inside, and suddenly all action makes perfect sense. But to be honest, without the action the movie would have been quite boring. The different levels in the movie really needs, and feeds of another.
If you want a mental picture of how this works, one way to put it is that Sucker Punch is how the result would be if two of Snyder's earlier movies would have been cut together. Sucker Punch is an peculiar mix of both 300 and Watchmen.
At the same time, Sucker Punch can look like a teenage boys simple fantasy. Hard action, scantily clad young women and both fantasy and sci-fi war. But to discard Sucker Punch as something simple as that is wrong. Then you have missed the bigger picture. I really liked how Snyder makes the different levels interact. How visual small tags in one level become important in another, and vice versa. And one of the big strengths of the movie is the visual component. Sucker Punch is a very beautiful movie. It is skillfully filmed, with smart perspectives and editing, enhanced by a lot of impressive special effects.
I enjoyed Sucker Punch. But then I from the beginning expected a very odd movie. I think it is a must to be open to a unconventional and sometimes provocative storytelling. If you expect something ordinary, you will most likely set you up for a disappointment.
7/10
Babydoll is a young girl imprisoned and abused at a mental institution in a bid by her stepfather to get to a big heritage. To cope with the abuse Babydoll glides into a different levels of sub-reality in her own imagination. One is that the asylum is instead a brothel (hence the name Babydoll), and in next Babydoll and the other girls form a special military unit in different fantasy or science fiction worlds. It's in these third level worlds that all the action are in. And the action is very good, filled with effects and coordinated combat. But if the movie would have consisted only if this it would have been too simple, unmotivated. The brothel-world builds a framework that the action work inside, and suddenly all action makes perfect sense. But to be honest, without the action the movie would have been quite boring. The different levels in the movie really needs, and feeds of another.
If you want a mental picture of how this works, one way to put it is that Sucker Punch is how the result would be if two of Snyder's earlier movies would have been cut together. Sucker Punch is an peculiar mix of both 300 and Watchmen.
At the same time, Sucker Punch can look like a teenage boys simple fantasy. Hard action, scantily clad young women and both fantasy and sci-fi war. But to discard Sucker Punch as something simple as that is wrong. Then you have missed the bigger picture. I really liked how Snyder makes the different levels interact. How visual small tags in one level become important in another, and vice versa. And one of the big strengths of the movie is the visual component. Sucker Punch is a very beautiful movie. It is skillfully filmed, with smart perspectives and editing, enhanced by a lot of impressive special effects.
I enjoyed Sucker Punch. But then I from the beginning expected a very odd movie. I think it is a must to be open to a unconventional and sometimes provocative storytelling. If you expect something ordinary, you will most likely set you up for a disappointment.
7/10
A disaster
zetes27 March 2011
Warning: Spoilers
A crime against the cinema. It's too bad. I honestly have enjoyed Zack Snyder's films in the past, besides that crappy owl movie he made last year. I'd classify them more as guilty pleasures than actual good movies, but I found them entertaining and neat to look at. Sucker Punch, though, combines all his worst traits and adds a script that he himself wrote (along with co-writer Steve Shibuya). His previous films were all adaptations, three of picture books and one a remake of a George A. Romero classic. He didn't have to think much himself to make those neat images. Sucker Punch demonstrates that he just doesn't have the ability to think of things himself. It's a movie that combines mental hospitals, burlesque shows, giant samurai warriors, half-mechanical zombie-Nazis, mech suits, orcs, dragons, killer robots, and atomic bombs, pretty much every cool thing one can think of.
And then one might guess that the problem is overkill. It isn't (well, that may be a smaller problem). The major problem is that there's not a single thing we haven't seen before here. Also, the plot is created in the worst possible way. The skeleton of it is pretty much identical to Inception. While this film had to have been conceived beforehand, so you can't blame it for ripping Nolan's film off, that's just one more strike against it. Emily Browning plays a girl who accidentally kills her sister while trying to defend her from her rampaging stepfather. She's sent to a mental hospital, where she hides behind two levels of reality. In the first level down, she's the new girl at a burlesque house/whorehouse. Snyder inserts a very video game-esque premise: she and her hooker friends (Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens and Jamie Chung) are basically sex slaves, and they must find five objects to help them escape. Now, up to this point, the film is tolerable. It's not good, but it's watchable. The girls are very attractive, and the visuals are kind of old-fashioned and nice to look at.
But here comes the third level: whenever the girls are about to steal the next thing they need to escape, they all descend into a fantasy world which is about the most video game-like thing to ever appear in a movie. Well, kind of. There was Scott Pilgrim vs. the World last year. That one actually used video games in a clever, metaphorical way, and it did it with its tongue in its cheek. Snyder really thinks we want to watch people play video games on the big screen. The worst thing was, after I experienced the abject horrors of how boring this could possibly be the first time, I realized I was going to have to sit through this same thing four more times. Oh, these sequences are beyond awful, with these girls fighting through dozens of not-very-great-looking CGI Nazis, robots, orcs, whatever. This is the worst parts of every event movie of the past decade mashed into never-ending sequences. There's nothing logical about the existence of these sequences. The funny thing is, in that second level of reality, while these fantasy sequences are going on, Browning is dancing sexily in front of whomever the girls want to distract. I think Snyder had to have known that the premise that this girl is such a sexy dancer that anyone watching her would be so utterly distracted that the other girls could steal from them was laughably ridiculous. But, watching the movie, I'm not so sure he was smart enough to realize this. He's also not smart enough to realize that the audience this film was intended for would probably rather be watching the girl dance sexily than watch these hot girls play video games in front of us.
While these video game sequences are some of the worst cinema I've ever experienced, and about the worst bit of narrative, as well, Snyder isn't done completely screwing up. He completely miscalculates which characters the audience gives a damn about. He also doesn't make any sense of the connection between the first and second levels of reality (we'll thankfully forget about the third), and characters whom we met in the second level but not in the first aren't able to connect to the audience when we meet them there. The film ends with a character whom we don't know and don't give a crap about. And then I stand up and flee the theater, and it's all I can do not to start a riot in the lobby.
And then one might guess that the problem is overkill. It isn't (well, that may be a smaller problem). The major problem is that there's not a single thing we haven't seen before here. Also, the plot is created in the worst possible way. The skeleton of it is pretty much identical to Inception. While this film had to have been conceived beforehand, so you can't blame it for ripping Nolan's film off, that's just one more strike against it. Emily Browning plays a girl who accidentally kills her sister while trying to defend her from her rampaging stepfather. She's sent to a mental hospital, where she hides behind two levels of reality. In the first level down, she's the new girl at a burlesque house/whorehouse. Snyder inserts a very video game-esque premise: she and her hooker friends (Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens and Jamie Chung) are basically sex slaves, and they must find five objects to help them escape. Now, up to this point, the film is tolerable. It's not good, but it's watchable. The girls are very attractive, and the visuals are kind of old-fashioned and nice to look at.
But here comes the third level: whenever the girls are about to steal the next thing they need to escape, they all descend into a fantasy world which is about the most video game-like thing to ever appear in a movie. Well, kind of. There was Scott Pilgrim vs. the World last year. That one actually used video games in a clever, metaphorical way, and it did it with its tongue in its cheek. Snyder really thinks we want to watch people play video games on the big screen. The worst thing was, after I experienced the abject horrors of how boring this could possibly be the first time, I realized I was going to have to sit through this same thing four more times. Oh, these sequences are beyond awful, with these girls fighting through dozens of not-very-great-looking CGI Nazis, robots, orcs, whatever. This is the worst parts of every event movie of the past decade mashed into never-ending sequences. There's nothing logical about the existence of these sequences. The funny thing is, in that second level of reality, while these fantasy sequences are going on, Browning is dancing sexily in front of whomever the girls want to distract. I think Snyder had to have known that the premise that this girl is such a sexy dancer that anyone watching her would be so utterly distracted that the other girls could steal from them was laughably ridiculous. But, watching the movie, I'm not so sure he was smart enough to realize this. He's also not smart enough to realize that the audience this film was intended for would probably rather be watching the girl dance sexily than watch these hot girls play video games in front of us.
While these video game sequences are some of the worst cinema I've ever experienced, and about the worst bit of narrative, as well, Snyder isn't done completely screwing up. He completely miscalculates which characters the audience gives a damn about. He also doesn't make any sense of the connection between the first and second levels of reality (we'll thankfully forget about the third), and characters whom we met in the second level but not in the first aren't able to connect to the audience when we meet them there. The film ends with a character whom we don't know and don't give a crap about. And then I stand up and flee the theater, and it's all I can do not to start a riot in the lobby.
Watch it twice for the heartbreak.
dilloncamp13 April 2021
Really underrated movie. It's not just your typical stylized action flick, it's quite a heartbreaking story in its core.
On a rewatch of this movie I really started to understand what was REALLY going on here. Once you understand what's really going on in the movie it will break your heart.
Great action, great story line, characters you really feel for.
I think this movie is rated so low because the people drawn to it don't think past the surface.
On a rewatch of this movie I really started to understand what was REALLY going on here. Once you understand what's really going on in the movie it will break your heart.
Great action, great story line, characters you really feel for.
I think this movie is rated so low because the people drawn to it don't think past the surface.
Welcome to the asylum
Tweekums17 September 2014
Warning: Spoilers
In the opening sequence we see a girl attempting to save her little sister from her abusive stepfather; unfortunately she is too late and he has already killed her; he then has her committed to a sinister asylum. The director, Blue, tells her she must be ready to please High Roller in a few days
the asylum appears to double as a brothel with the female inmates expected to satisfy rich 'visitors'. As part of their therapy the girls must dance; when our protagonist, who has been dubbed Babydoll, starts to perform she finds herself transported to a fantasy world where she meets a man who tells her she will need five things to gain her freedom; a map, fire, a knife, a key and another item only she will know
he also gives her a variety of weapons that she will need to defeat three twelve foot demonic samurai! Once they are dispatched she finds herself back in the asylum; apparently her dance was amazing. She then tells the girls of her plans to escape and together they work to get the items; each time the try to get one Babydoll distracts people with her dance; during which times she is transported to a different fantasy world where she and the other girls battle a variety of dangers and any failures have consequences in the real world
assuming anything we see after her arrival at the asylum is real.
I probably wouldn't have watched this if my favourite reviewer hadn't been very negative about it; I was curious to see why! Perhaps because of this it proved better than my expectations; the story is dark; much darker than I expected. The fantasy scenes feature some fairly obvious CGI and music video aesthetics but that just emphasised that what we are seeing is fantasy rather than the reality of the film. The action is stylishly, rather than realistically, choreographed and looks great. One of the main complaints about the film is the fact that the girls are sexualised, even though they don't do anything sexual; this isn't too unfair and I'm sure some, but not all, viewers will feel uncomfortable with it others will love the sight of Emily Browning dispatching foes with a katana while wearing in a skimpy sailor fuku! Those expecting a happy ending with everybody escaping will be in for quite a shock as there are casualties and then the film delivers its final Sucker Punch which will leave the viewer wondering what if anything we've seen is real. The cast do a fine job; in particular Emily Browning is good as protagonist Babydoll and Oscar Isaac is delightfully creepy as the sleazy Blue. Overall I enjoyed this far more than I expected and would recommend watching it, although despite its '12' Certificate I'm not sure it is suitable for younger viewers.
I probably wouldn't have watched this if my favourite reviewer hadn't been very negative about it; I was curious to see why! Perhaps because of this it proved better than my expectations; the story is dark; much darker than I expected. The fantasy scenes feature some fairly obvious CGI and music video aesthetics but that just emphasised that what we are seeing is fantasy rather than the reality of the film. The action is stylishly, rather than realistically, choreographed and looks great. One of the main complaints about the film is the fact that the girls are sexualised, even though they don't do anything sexual; this isn't too unfair and I'm sure some, but not all, viewers will feel uncomfortable with it others will love the sight of Emily Browning dispatching foes with a katana while wearing in a skimpy sailor fuku! Those expecting a happy ending with everybody escaping will be in for quite a shock as there are casualties and then the film delivers its final Sucker Punch which will leave the viewer wondering what if anything we've seen is real. The cast do a fine job; in particular Emily Browning is good as protagonist Babydoll and Oscar Isaac is delightfully creepy as the sleazy Blue. Overall I enjoyed this far more than I expected and would recommend watching it, although despite its '12' Certificate I'm not sure it is suitable for younger viewers.
Suckerpunched into seeing this travesty
gregeichelberger27 March 2011
Warning: Spoilers
This film could not be more appropriately titled. I was a "sucker" to pay good money to see this slop, and I felt like "punching" writer/producer/director Zach Snyder for putting me (and many others) through it.
In addition to Snyder's ("Watchman," "300") "point-the-camera-and-get-away" direction, there's the horrid acting (a term I use more than loosely) of Emily Browning and others. Add to that the convoluted storyline and not-so-special effects, and you easily have one of the worst movies of the year.
What small plot this picture has features Babydoll (Browning) as a much abused stepdaughter placed in a "Shutter Island"-type 1950s mental institution. There, she meets a group of equally terrible actresses and begins her flights of fantasy. Browning seems to have one expression, a sad-sack, dopey-eyed, head-cocked look that makes Anna Faris' thespian abilities look like Katharine Hepburn's.
With this group, she delves into an "Inception"-like world of multi-layered dimensions, fighting giant killer robots, massive zeppelins, German zombies from World War I. These scenes are all one big CGI mess that - to some, I suppose - are going to appear impressive, but when all is said and done give the (intelligent) viewer one large headache.
Meanwhile, an oriental-like wise man (Scott Glenn, "The Right Stuff," "Hunt For Red October") waxes philosophical about finding a map, a key, fire, a knife and other mundane items which are supposed to make this film somewhat deep. Glenn, by the way, only was considered for this role because David Carradine had passed away.
To waste any more words on this slick piece of garbage would only serve to justify Snyder's pathetic vision of titillating teenage males by enticing them them with nearly bare-breasted, violent adolescent girls with guns and martial arts skills.
Take my advice here; unless you're a confused young women with anger and appearance issues, or a horny 14-year old boy, avoid this movie like the bubonic plague. No matter what kind of money you save by doing so, eventually, you will thank me for it.
In addition to Snyder's ("Watchman," "300") "point-the-camera-and-get-away" direction, there's the horrid acting (a term I use more than loosely) of Emily Browning and others. Add to that the convoluted storyline and not-so-special effects, and you easily have one of the worst movies of the year.
What small plot this picture has features Babydoll (Browning) as a much abused stepdaughter placed in a "Shutter Island"-type 1950s mental institution. There, she meets a group of equally terrible actresses and begins her flights of fantasy. Browning seems to have one expression, a sad-sack, dopey-eyed, head-cocked look that makes Anna Faris' thespian abilities look like Katharine Hepburn's.
With this group, she delves into an "Inception"-like world of multi-layered dimensions, fighting giant killer robots, massive zeppelins, German zombies from World War I. These scenes are all one big CGI mess that - to some, I suppose - are going to appear impressive, but when all is said and done give the (intelligent) viewer one large headache.
Meanwhile, an oriental-like wise man (Scott Glenn, "The Right Stuff," "Hunt For Red October") waxes philosophical about finding a map, a key, fire, a knife and other mundane items which are supposed to make this film somewhat deep. Glenn, by the way, only was considered for this role because David Carradine had passed away.
To waste any more words on this slick piece of garbage would only serve to justify Snyder's pathetic vision of titillating teenage males by enticing them them with nearly bare-breasted, violent adolescent girls with guns and martial arts skills.
Take my advice here; unless you're a confused young women with anger and appearance issues, or a horny 14-year old boy, avoid this movie like the bubonic plague. No matter what kind of money you save by doing so, eventually, you will thank me for it.
Just like Stanley Kubrick's ''Eyes Wide Shut''
nothimme30 August 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Don't look at the movie the way it is. You can hate it for whatever reasons you like but this movie isn't just stupid, soulless and pointless sexual fantasy. There is more thought put into it than you could ever imagine. Too bad critics panned the movie for the things that couldn't comprehend and the audience went with it.
The whole thing is a big fantasy that does not exist or happening in the real world. The movie is actually about Sweet Pea(Abbie Cornish). She is the star of the show. Snyder made that very clear from the start. Babydoll(Emily Browning) is a figment of Sweet Pea's imagination. She is the physical embodiment of Sweet Pea. She is the 5th thing. She is the guardian angel that Sweet Pea created to deal with her trash life. The entire film is a reflection of the internal struggle of Sweet Pea. That's why she is the one who's narrating the film. The stuff that we've seen with Babydoll during the first act, that's all Sweet Pea acting out her past trauma in her mind, just as she was taught to do in the mental institution. That's why the movie opens on a stage that direct parallel to how Sweet Pea is acting out that same trauma on a stage when Babydoll first arrives in the mental institution aka the theater. After that, the lobotomy comes, the key to everything that happens in the movie. Reimagined through Babydoll perspective, Sweet Pea disassociates from reality when the needle plunges into her brain, retreating into her mind in the same way she's taught to by Dr. Gorski. She's not in the real world anymore. This is also what happened in Sweet Pea's real life. And the effect of that lobotomy is the goddamned movie. Yes, this movie is the result of a lobotomy. Just one big subconscious coping mechanism for Sweet Pea to find peace. And this girl is able to interrupt the lobotomy, intruding on her own story. She's even able to repurpose the accidental killing of her sister into a deliberate and necessary sacrifice on her sister's part to save her. In this second layer of fantasy, Sweet Pea imagines herself and the rest of the girls working in a brothel, objectified and lusted after by an audience. This mirrors us tuning in to see these girls perform for us in various outfits. This connection is made clear from the opening of the film, which lets us know that we're the audience watching all this unfold on stage. By choosing to watch the movie, we are complicit in everything that's happening. Of course, this doesn't mean to condemn you for wanting to see nubile girls kicking ass. What this movie is really about is the difference between empowerment and exploitation. This is represented through three layers of fantasy, first was the mental institution, second is the brothel, third is the fantasy-action scenes, each exploring a different set of social values, each aligning with different phases of the feminist movement. First up is a grim incarnation of the '60s -the mental institution- set during the second wave of the feminist movement, when gender inequality was much more widespread. That gender inequality is amplified in the second world -the brothel- which takes us back even further, to a time when women were literally treated like property. And finally we have the pop culture world -the world of today, action scenes- which imagines Babydoll's dancing through various aspects of modern geek culture, dressing the girls up in all the typical fetishistic attire we've come to expect video games, TV, movies, etc... Sweet Pea is aware of how sick this is and rejects that Baby Doll's dancing could possibly be empowering. It's only through seeing its effect on men does she start to see how much power they really have, as the girls start taking back the control they've lost by using men's objectification of them to their advantage. By embracing their sexuality instead of fearing it, they learn that their inherent femininity can be better used as a means of holding men under their sway. Suddenly, it's the men who become helpless instead of them. Point being, men may be in a position to physically overpower women, but women have the power to psychologically overpower men, thus inverting history's long-standing power dynamic between men and women. This is then mirrored to very much the same effect in the action fantasy scenarios - a symbolic gesture on Snyder's part to show women taking back geek culture, which men have been dominating with their boy club mentality and pervasive misogyny for far too long. This is demonstrated further once we cut back to Babydoll's lobotomy after Sweet Pea has found peace. While Sweet Pea busy imagining that she's taking the magic school bus to a better world, Blue has plans of his own. But its no use, she's already escaped, even if it's only mentally. Sweet Pea sacrifices her body -Babydoll- and retreats into the comfort of her own mind, a paradise over which nobody has control of but her. Blue may have control over her body, but without her mind, he has nothing. The importance of this is also apparent during Babydoll's encounter with the High Roller, who recognizes that the choice to truly be with someone lies with you and you alone. As the scene with the High Roller reaffirms, the distinction between exploitation and empowerment all comes down to personal choice. And that is just half of the point this movie trying to make. Women deserve just as much control over their bodies as they have over their minds. You can interpret this movie so many ways, it's beyond belief. It gives you so many options to think. It's really funny that the one who made this kind of a movie and the one who is trying to defend it is a male. But it is what it is. If this movie made by someone like Stanley Kubrick, probably everyone would have tried to decipher the depth of it and wouldn't have even minded the bad reviews.
It's really sad that people turn off their brains and see everything literal, and never uses their brain to read the images that appear on the screen when they see a Snyder film.
The whole thing is a big fantasy that does not exist or happening in the real world. The movie is actually about Sweet Pea(Abbie Cornish). She is the star of the show. Snyder made that very clear from the start. Babydoll(Emily Browning) is a figment of Sweet Pea's imagination. She is the physical embodiment of Sweet Pea. She is the 5th thing. She is the guardian angel that Sweet Pea created to deal with her trash life. The entire film is a reflection of the internal struggle of Sweet Pea. That's why she is the one who's narrating the film. The stuff that we've seen with Babydoll during the first act, that's all Sweet Pea acting out her past trauma in her mind, just as she was taught to do in the mental institution. That's why the movie opens on a stage that direct parallel to how Sweet Pea is acting out that same trauma on a stage when Babydoll first arrives in the mental institution aka the theater. After that, the lobotomy comes, the key to everything that happens in the movie. Reimagined through Babydoll perspective, Sweet Pea disassociates from reality when the needle plunges into her brain, retreating into her mind in the same way she's taught to by Dr. Gorski. She's not in the real world anymore. This is also what happened in Sweet Pea's real life. And the effect of that lobotomy is the goddamned movie. Yes, this movie is the result of a lobotomy. Just one big subconscious coping mechanism for Sweet Pea to find peace. And this girl is able to interrupt the lobotomy, intruding on her own story. She's even able to repurpose the accidental killing of her sister into a deliberate and necessary sacrifice on her sister's part to save her. In this second layer of fantasy, Sweet Pea imagines herself and the rest of the girls working in a brothel, objectified and lusted after by an audience. This mirrors us tuning in to see these girls perform for us in various outfits. This connection is made clear from the opening of the film, which lets us know that we're the audience watching all this unfold on stage. By choosing to watch the movie, we are complicit in everything that's happening. Of course, this doesn't mean to condemn you for wanting to see nubile girls kicking ass. What this movie is really about is the difference between empowerment and exploitation. This is represented through three layers of fantasy, first was the mental institution, second is the brothel, third is the fantasy-action scenes, each exploring a different set of social values, each aligning with different phases of the feminist movement. First up is a grim incarnation of the '60s -the mental institution- set during the second wave of the feminist movement, when gender inequality was much more widespread. That gender inequality is amplified in the second world -the brothel- which takes us back even further, to a time when women were literally treated like property. And finally we have the pop culture world -the world of today, action scenes- which imagines Babydoll's dancing through various aspects of modern geek culture, dressing the girls up in all the typical fetishistic attire we've come to expect video games, TV, movies, etc... Sweet Pea is aware of how sick this is and rejects that Baby Doll's dancing could possibly be empowering. It's only through seeing its effect on men does she start to see how much power they really have, as the girls start taking back the control they've lost by using men's objectification of them to their advantage. By embracing their sexuality instead of fearing it, they learn that their inherent femininity can be better used as a means of holding men under their sway. Suddenly, it's the men who become helpless instead of them. Point being, men may be in a position to physically overpower women, but women have the power to psychologically overpower men, thus inverting history's long-standing power dynamic between men and women. This is then mirrored to very much the same effect in the action fantasy scenarios - a symbolic gesture on Snyder's part to show women taking back geek culture, which men have been dominating with their boy club mentality and pervasive misogyny for far too long. This is demonstrated further once we cut back to Babydoll's lobotomy after Sweet Pea has found peace. While Sweet Pea busy imagining that she's taking the magic school bus to a better world, Blue has plans of his own. But its no use, she's already escaped, even if it's only mentally. Sweet Pea sacrifices her body -Babydoll- and retreats into the comfort of her own mind, a paradise over which nobody has control of but her. Blue may have control over her body, but without her mind, he has nothing. The importance of this is also apparent during Babydoll's encounter with the High Roller, who recognizes that the choice to truly be with someone lies with you and you alone. As the scene with the High Roller reaffirms, the distinction between exploitation and empowerment all comes down to personal choice. And that is just half of the point this movie trying to make. Women deserve just as much control over their bodies as they have over their minds. You can interpret this movie so many ways, it's beyond belief. It gives you so many options to think. It's really funny that the one who made this kind of a movie and the one who is trying to defend it is a male. But it is what it is. If this movie made by someone like Stanley Kubrick, probably everyone would have tried to decipher the depth of it and wouldn't have even minded the bad reviews.
It's really sad that people turn off their brains and see everything literal, and never uses their brain to read the images that appear on the screen when they see a Snyder film.
Should have gone for the R Rating
noah-6573216 November 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Sucker Punch tells the story of a young girl who goes only by Baby Doll; whose abusive stepfather commits her to a mental institution that turns out to be a front for an abusive prostitution ring. As the girls practice their dance routines Baby Doll's leaves everyone in awe though we never actually get to see her dance. As soon as she starts dancing she's thrown off into a fantasy world in which her and other "patients" battle everything from World War 1 German zombies to ogres and dragons to super agile robots. These dances and fantasy sequences all lead an escape plan. Honestly, I think the subject matter alone should have constituted an R rating because it's basically a combination of the exploitation genre and all out fantasy fiction. The fantasy sequences are well done and the overall storyline is decent; Director Zack Snyder really did a great job at making the audience despise the villain; but again an R rating would have been more appropriate to intensify the girls' suffering and make the battle scenes more violent. Despite the drawbacks the story is very original and about as hardcore as a PG-13 film can get. Overall Sucker Punch was a fun film that could have been a lot better if it were just a little truer to the exploitation genre which is by no means PG-13.
What If You Spent $50 Million on a CGI Man Taking a Dump?
Quicksand25 March 2011
It's kind of difficult to comment on the movie, without just writing, "Terrible," and clicking the submit button. To write a good comment, one must write WHY it is terrible... but where to begin? If someone came into your home, and defecated in the middle of your living room, would you need to explain in a calm manner, three reasons why the person was wrong for doing such a deed? No. You'd toss them by their ear out onto the street, left with the unenviable task of having to clean up. Perhaps you'd even call the police.
If, on the other hand, you spent $50 million (or whatever the budget was; it was too high, in any event) to have someone take a CGI dump in your living room... is that any better? There are three actors in this movie: Scott Glenn, Jena Malone, and Carla Gugino. Four, if you count Jon Hamm, but he's not in the movie long enough to matter. There are these three, and everything else is there to talk until it's time for another special effect. Jena Malone isn't even required to do any of these things, but because she has actual experience as an actress, bothered to create a character and reflect an emotional state during the 'story.' Everyone else just showed up, put on the costumes, and talked until the director said 'cut.' Vanessa Hudgens should have been a clue.
Even if the story is awful, unmemorable, or predictable (Suckerpunch is all three), other Hollywood movies may rely on memorable action sequences or visuals. In a movie roughly 100 minutes long, these action sequences take up roughly five minutes of screen time. Then Snyder detonates an explosive in New York. Again.
It's not so much that Zack Snyder hates audiences, it's just that he's incredibly naive, like a 12-year-old suddenly given the keys to his dads liquor cabinet. He wants you to like a character, he makes them female and puts them in a low-cut top. He wants you to hate a character, he makes that character a rapist or molester of children. He does this again and again; these appear in every movie he's ever made, save for his first (and best) film, "Dawn of the Dead," which was written by someone else entirely. Someone who understands subtlety and character development. Realize, too, that I'm saying this about a movie where a smarmy rich dude accidentally chainsaws his most recent sexual partner.
Whatever fancy visuals made it to the trailer, the movie is this: Zack Snyder wrote a script with his camera-man, and it is neither funny nor exciting. It's a 100-minute demo reel, and considering this is his fifth movie, he really should have actually created something with weight, by this point.
I'm not going to call the police, but I am going to be mad for a week, because even though I've cleaned my floor, the smell lingers on. 3/10.
If, on the other hand, you spent $50 million (or whatever the budget was; it was too high, in any event) to have someone take a CGI dump in your living room... is that any better? There are three actors in this movie: Scott Glenn, Jena Malone, and Carla Gugino. Four, if you count Jon Hamm, but he's not in the movie long enough to matter. There are these three, and everything else is there to talk until it's time for another special effect. Jena Malone isn't even required to do any of these things, but because she has actual experience as an actress, bothered to create a character and reflect an emotional state during the 'story.' Everyone else just showed up, put on the costumes, and talked until the director said 'cut.' Vanessa Hudgens should have been a clue.
Even if the story is awful, unmemorable, or predictable (Suckerpunch is all three), other Hollywood movies may rely on memorable action sequences or visuals. In a movie roughly 100 minutes long, these action sequences take up roughly five minutes of screen time. Then Snyder detonates an explosive in New York. Again.
It's not so much that Zack Snyder hates audiences, it's just that he's incredibly naive, like a 12-year-old suddenly given the keys to his dads liquor cabinet. He wants you to like a character, he makes them female and puts them in a low-cut top. He wants you to hate a character, he makes that character a rapist or molester of children. He does this again and again; these appear in every movie he's ever made, save for his first (and best) film, "Dawn of the Dead," which was written by someone else entirely. Someone who understands subtlety and character development. Realize, too, that I'm saying this about a movie where a smarmy rich dude accidentally chainsaws his most recent sexual partner.
Whatever fancy visuals made it to the trailer, the movie is this: Zack Snyder wrote a script with his camera-man, and it is neither funny nor exciting. It's a 100-minute demo reel, and considering this is his fifth movie, he really should have actually created something with weight, by this point.
I'm not going to call the police, but I am going to be mad for a week, because even though I've cleaned my floor, the smell lingers on. 3/10.
Some good, some bad...
TheLittleSongbird27 August 2011
I do agree Sucker Punch is a love it, hate it type of film. Some people loved it, some despised me. As for me, I neither loved it or hated it. I have mixed feelings on Sucker Punch. I noticed some good things, but some areas of improvement too. It is not among my favourites of the year, but I think there are much worse movies released this year.
PROS: Sucker Punch's visuals are spectacular, the case with all of Zack Snyder's movies. The cinematography and editing are excellent, and the costumes, settings and effects likewise.
There is also an atmospheric soundtrack, stylish direction from Snyder and good performances from Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jenna Melone Vanessa Hudgens and Oscar Isaac.
Plus I loved Sucker Punch's idea. It was original and very interesting.
CONS: Despite this great idea, Sucker Punch doesn't quite live up to it in the execution of the storytelling. The story had this great concept and started off wonderfully, but as the film progresses it does get increasingly bewildering and convoluted.
Pacing is also uneven. The film could have been longer, so the film could have had more time to explain itself further, and some of the middle feels a little pedantic.
The script does have some stilted moments as well, and the characters while intriguing and decently acted could have done with more development.
In conclusion, Sucker Punch has its good points, but some assets could have been better. 6/10 Bethany Cox
PROS: Sucker Punch's visuals are spectacular, the case with all of Zack Snyder's movies. The cinematography and editing are excellent, and the costumes, settings and effects likewise.
There is also an atmospheric soundtrack, stylish direction from Snyder and good performances from Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jenna Melone Vanessa Hudgens and Oscar Isaac.
Plus I loved Sucker Punch's idea. It was original and very interesting.
CONS: Despite this great idea, Sucker Punch doesn't quite live up to it in the execution of the storytelling. The story had this great concept and started off wonderfully, but as the film progresses it does get increasingly bewildering and convoluted.
Pacing is also uneven. The film could have been longer, so the film could have had more time to explain itself further, and some of the middle feels a little pedantic.
The script does have some stilted moments as well, and the characters while intriguing and decently acted could have done with more development.
In conclusion, Sucker Punch has its good points, but some assets could have been better. 6/10 Bethany Cox
Adolescent stinker
neil-4767 April 2011
Warning: Spoilers
I enjoyed 300: I loved the look of it. I enjoyed Watchmen: I loved the look of it. I loved the look of The Owls of Ga'Hoole. So, on the basis of my enjoyment of Zack Snyder's back catalogue, I have been looking forward to Sucker Punch for months, although I have been getting a little worried at some of the negative comment I have been hearing. In fact, given that the only solidly positive comment I have encountered comes from someone who strikes me as having some fairly serious mental health issues, I might have been seriously concerned had I not been firmly of the opinion that I should always form my own opinions, uninfluenced by others.
So now I've seen it. Before I comment, let me try to synopsise the plot. On the death of her mother, 20-year-old Baby Doll's stepfather kills her sister (possibly after sexually assaulting her) frames Baby Doll and has her committed to an asylum, where we learn she is scheduled for a lobotomy in 5 days, courtesy of a seedy orderly forging head psychiatrist Carla Gugino's signature. Fortunately, the asylum also runs on another level of reality, where it is a brothel. And whenever Baby Doll dances in the brothel, she and some of the other girls are transported into yet other alternate realities, where they carry out video game-type tasks to collect artefacts which they will need in order to escape from the asylum.
Let me say that there is much here which is eye-catching. Let me then go on to say that this is a dreadful, rambling mess. It makes no sense, nothing which needs explaining ever gets explained, it is full of things (starting with the initial set-up) which simply defy credibility and, worst of all, it is hatefully misogynistic. I have seen that Snyder says that it actually is about empowering women. Not in the version I saw, I'm afraid. I saw women leaping about in fishnets carrying out adolescent fantasy sex-object video game activities on the third fantasy level, but on the first and second levels, they are consistently victims - in fact (and please excuse the spoiler) Baby Doll ends up lobotomised and the man responsible in the first place gets away with it.
Snyder must take the blame. It is his story and he co-wrote the screenplay, which comes across as the work of a 14-year-old with ADD who has skipped his Ritalin, and who has only ever read comic books. The script is awful, truly awful (in the first 5 minutes we are brought to an establishment, the sign for which indicates that it is an "Asylum For The Mentally Insane" - excuse me, but did I miss the other types of Insane?).
If you absolutely must see this, wait for it to come out on DVD - it will end up in the bargain bins very quickly. It stinks.
So now I've seen it. Before I comment, let me try to synopsise the plot. On the death of her mother, 20-year-old Baby Doll's stepfather kills her sister (possibly after sexually assaulting her) frames Baby Doll and has her committed to an asylum, where we learn she is scheduled for a lobotomy in 5 days, courtesy of a seedy orderly forging head psychiatrist Carla Gugino's signature. Fortunately, the asylum also runs on another level of reality, where it is a brothel. And whenever Baby Doll dances in the brothel, she and some of the other girls are transported into yet other alternate realities, where they carry out video game-type tasks to collect artefacts which they will need in order to escape from the asylum.
Let me say that there is much here which is eye-catching. Let me then go on to say that this is a dreadful, rambling mess. It makes no sense, nothing which needs explaining ever gets explained, it is full of things (starting with the initial set-up) which simply defy credibility and, worst of all, it is hatefully misogynistic. I have seen that Snyder says that it actually is about empowering women. Not in the version I saw, I'm afraid. I saw women leaping about in fishnets carrying out adolescent fantasy sex-object video game activities on the third fantasy level, but on the first and second levels, they are consistently victims - in fact (and please excuse the spoiler) Baby Doll ends up lobotomised and the man responsible in the first place gets away with it.
Snyder must take the blame. It is his story and he co-wrote the screenplay, which comes across as the work of a 14-year-old with ADD who has skipped his Ritalin, and who has only ever read comic books. The script is awful, truly awful (in the first 5 minutes we are brought to an establishment, the sign for which indicates that it is an "Asylum For The Mentally Insane" - excuse me, but did I miss the other types of Insane?).
If you absolutely must see this, wait for it to come out on DVD - it will end up in the bargain bins very quickly. It stinks.
Unique
Calicodreamin2 July 2020
An interesting way to tell a story, that's for sure. I wasn't always sure what was going on... but it works itself out in the end. Not very much dialogue, but it's not really needed. The cinematography is what steals the show, a visually stunning movie. Lovely dark vibes and kickass ladies.
Do NOT watch this movie, unless you like getting sucker punched.
used_to_like_movies27 March 2011
Warning: Spoilers
I'm not sure how this movie got such rave reviews by some people, oh wait yes I can, the ONLY people who can possibly like this film are fantasy/anime/comic book junkies!
Where do I begin... First and foremost, the biggest upset of this movie is the plot, which flip flopped back and forth, with no real point or purpose for the most part - and not in a creative/unique way. The plot starts off in some wannabe 'Inception' idea, with a fantasy inside a fantasy. Baby Girl goes from about to get a lobotomy (odd enough as it is), to going to a story inside a story, which ends with the lobotomy ending (basically the story in between the lobotomy was never explained outside the fantasy, and couldn't have happened since the lobotomy happened from the beginning of her entering the insane asylum).
Now for the second level of the story: So Baby Girl and her pose are trying to escape their slavery from the burlesque/whore house, and they must obtain 4 items and a "mystery" in order to escape, which is all fine and good. However, in the process of obtaining these items, Baby Girl and/or her pose enter the third fantasy/story aspect of the film, which is COMPLETELY NON RELATED TO ANY OTHER ASPECT OF THE FILM, and is replaced with pretty much every popular fantasy/fiction battle scene from the last 30 years of movie history. From a generic samurai sword/battle battle, to a Nazi war scene with some mech machines, to a scene literally right out of Lord of the Rings with Orcs, a castle, and dragons, to a Unstoppable(runaway train scene)/Matrix/Terminator/Defuse a bomb scene, the plot is a mess! I was waiting for some fairies, elfs, werewolves, vampires, or unicorns to come up next, but I'm sure they are saving those for sucker punch 2!
Aside from the plot, there were some other major issues. The soundtrack consisted of about 3 songs (or at least the same artist since they all sounded the same), It was so predictable that there would be nothing but hard chick rock. I think the movie tried way too hard to emphasize the hardcore, tough chick act; yet they still always have to have women look like little sex dolls when they battle, with perfect makeup, tits hanging out, and short skirts.
The volume of the audio was WAY off, in some dialog scenes the words were barely audible, yet in the battle scenes, the sound was so loud that you couldn't even think, and after the movie my ears were ringing as if I were standing right next to the speaker at a Metallica concert. I even plugged my ears at some points to attempt to save my hearing, and I could still hear the sound perfectly. I'm sorry but blasting music does NOT make a movie better.
I typically enjoy fantasy/super hero movies, but this one failed on all levels for me. I feel there was almost no effort in the writing of this movie, almost as if it were an after thought. The actors all seemed second rate, the crying was clearly fake and lacked emotion. Oscar Isaac seemed like he was trying too hard to be like Joker from Batman, yet he showed no genuine emotion in the scene where he executes the two girls (that execution scene had no place in this film, it made no sense, look around the theater after this scene and you will see most people scratching their head).
If I could rate the CG alone, it's easily an 8 or 9 out of 10, but the terrible plot, mediocre acting, and overblown-everything ruined it for me. If you honestly enjoy this movie, you have to be lying to yourself, or foolishly attempting to defend it based solely on the fact that it has fantasy/comic book aspects.
Where do I begin... First and foremost, the biggest upset of this movie is the plot, which flip flopped back and forth, with no real point or purpose for the most part - and not in a creative/unique way. The plot starts off in some wannabe 'Inception' idea, with a fantasy inside a fantasy. Baby Girl goes from about to get a lobotomy (odd enough as it is), to going to a story inside a story, which ends with the lobotomy ending (basically the story in between the lobotomy was never explained outside the fantasy, and couldn't have happened since the lobotomy happened from the beginning of her entering the insane asylum).
Now for the second level of the story: So Baby Girl and her pose are trying to escape their slavery from the burlesque/whore house, and they must obtain 4 items and a "mystery" in order to escape, which is all fine and good. However, in the process of obtaining these items, Baby Girl and/or her pose enter the third fantasy/story aspect of the film, which is COMPLETELY NON RELATED TO ANY OTHER ASPECT OF THE FILM, and is replaced with pretty much every popular fantasy/fiction battle scene from the last 30 years of movie history. From a generic samurai sword/battle battle, to a Nazi war scene with some mech machines, to a scene literally right out of Lord of the Rings with Orcs, a castle, and dragons, to a Unstoppable(runaway train scene)/Matrix/Terminator/Defuse a bomb scene, the plot is a mess! I was waiting for some fairies, elfs, werewolves, vampires, or unicorns to come up next, but I'm sure they are saving those for sucker punch 2!
Aside from the plot, there were some other major issues. The soundtrack consisted of about 3 songs (or at least the same artist since they all sounded the same), It was so predictable that there would be nothing but hard chick rock. I think the movie tried way too hard to emphasize the hardcore, tough chick act; yet they still always have to have women look like little sex dolls when they battle, with perfect makeup, tits hanging out, and short skirts.
The volume of the audio was WAY off, in some dialog scenes the words were barely audible, yet in the battle scenes, the sound was so loud that you couldn't even think, and after the movie my ears were ringing as if I were standing right next to the speaker at a Metallica concert. I even plugged my ears at some points to attempt to save my hearing, and I could still hear the sound perfectly. I'm sorry but blasting music does NOT make a movie better.
I typically enjoy fantasy/super hero movies, but this one failed on all levels for me. I feel there was almost no effort in the writing of this movie, almost as if it were an after thought. The actors all seemed second rate, the crying was clearly fake and lacked emotion. Oscar Isaac seemed like he was trying too hard to be like Joker from Batman, yet he showed no genuine emotion in the scene where he executes the two girls (that execution scene had no place in this film, it made no sense, look around the theater after this scene and you will see most people scratching their head).
If I could rate the CG alone, it's easily an 8 or 9 out of 10, but the terrible plot, mediocre acting, and overblown-everything ruined it for me. If you honestly enjoy this movie, you have to be lying to yourself, or foolishly attempting to defend it based solely on the fact that it has fantasy/comic book aspects.
Wildly Misunderstood and Underrated
chas4373 January 2022
I've loved this film since its first run in theaters. Largely panned by critics and somewhat of a box office bomb, this film has been misunderstood from day one.
At face value, its t*ts and *ss and violence. I suppose the majority of viewers either loved it or despised it at that level. No doubt, knee jerk feminists were loud and strident haters. Seeing it as exploitation. I believe there is more nuance to 'Sucker Punch'.
It's more of a comment on how girls and young women are manipulated sexually and emotionally. You have to look a bit deeper past the in-your-face sex and violence. Most viewers won't invest themselves enough to see past this which is a bit sad.
Aussie actresses' Emma Browning and Abbie Cornish are exceptional as is Jena Malone. The rest of the cast is adequate.
The dream sequences are sublime, and the soundtrack is simply outstanding. These are some of the greatest songs sever recorded. I would rate this as one of the best soundtracks of the last 20 years.
At face value, its t*ts and *ss and violence. I suppose the majority of viewers either loved it or despised it at that level. No doubt, knee jerk feminists were loud and strident haters. Seeing it as exploitation. I believe there is more nuance to 'Sucker Punch'.
It's more of a comment on how girls and young women are manipulated sexually and emotionally. You have to look a bit deeper past the in-your-face sex and violence. Most viewers won't invest themselves enough to see past this which is a bit sad.
Aussie actresses' Emma Browning and Abbie Cornish are exceptional as is Jena Malone. The rest of the cast is adequate.
The dream sequences are sublime, and the soundtrack is simply outstanding. These are some of the greatest songs sever recorded. I would rate this as one of the best soundtracks of the last 20 years.
Intersection as the Razor to the Eye
tedg31 March 2011
Warning: Spoilers
By now you will know that this is a box office flop, presumably because it caters to a demographic that gets easily confused, and the more engaged watchers can't muddle through.
I will say that I admire the overall structure. By now it is not very novel, but there are some intriguing touches in the way the layers relate. The first is that of all the parallel lines, the commenting public seems to have all been taken in by the trick of assuming that the first layer you see is the base layer, is reality. In this case, we have an evil man, two susceptible stepdaughters, sexual advance, death and imprisonment of the surviving girl as revenge. She is sent to a corrupt mental institution and lobotomized.
In the few days between admittance and cranial invasion (by eye), we learn of a (woman) doctor that uses theatrical therapy.
We fully buy that on this foundation, other layers are built as fantasy, the next layer being that the asylum is a cover for a brothel, exploiting the girls, none of which appear insane. In this layer, the girls plot an escape. Most die.
A third layer is supposedly what goes on in the mind of our-girl-of-interest while she is seducing patrons in the brothel layer by her seductive, theatrical dance. This has what is considered state of the art CGI battles in different settings. (It is a blasphemy to relate this to Alice in Wonderland, as the PR machine does.)
The layers connect at more than a few points, preventing a clean, "Inception" like solution. Unless of course, the first layer is not the base layer. I believe this was an early decision in the structure, submerged as the thing grew bulk. In fact, I believe this is the "Moulin Rouge" influence. (The same curtain device is used in the beginning, and the same stage metaphor used to cross worlds. We have the same conflation of acting, inhabiting a life and whoring/dancing.)
So it would at least have been mildly interesting to me: a well financed hack using a folded formula with an intelligent heritage. The boring battles would have been tolerable, but what had me wanting to run away was the vile sexism. The first two layers (counting conventionally) treat the girls as amusing property. There is a disturbing tenor in the approach. Okay, we see that all the time and it can be used creatively to jerk us around. But not here.
Here we are solidly, inescapably, placed as the male in the audience, drooling over the extreme sexualization of the girl. There may be layers for her, but there are none for us. We are given permission because we are placed midway between where we presumably stay in life and the extreme stance of the pimp. His two-fold extreme exploitation gives us the designed room for simple leering, which we are tricked into.
Still, if we had nothing else but that first action scene, minus one trope, I would have been thrilled. This battle is set in a vague Yimou Zhang inspired setting. The heroism, and cuts are reminiscent of old Kar Wai Wong/Chris Doyle. It is not novel but it has some sweep and you do get swept up in it (assuming you have forgotten the prior stuff).
But even this has something that offends. I do not know the name of this pose. It is when the hero has jumped an extraordinary distance to enter a fray. He/she has one knee down, the same hand on the ground. The other knee is up and that hand has a weapon. This is the moment when you can see the glower in the hero's face where the environment is about to be justly destroyed. He/she has confidence that you as the viewer will not allow her to lose. Whenever I see this, I choke, just as when I see at the other at the end of an event calmly walking away in slo-mo while some profound conflagration erupts behind, gently blowing hair.
A perceptive reader pointed out what he saw as the Henry Darger connection. Look it up. A cool insight.
Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
I will say that I admire the overall structure. By now it is not very novel, but there are some intriguing touches in the way the layers relate. The first is that of all the parallel lines, the commenting public seems to have all been taken in by the trick of assuming that the first layer you see is the base layer, is reality. In this case, we have an evil man, two susceptible stepdaughters, sexual advance, death and imprisonment of the surviving girl as revenge. She is sent to a corrupt mental institution and lobotomized.
In the few days between admittance and cranial invasion (by eye), we learn of a (woman) doctor that uses theatrical therapy.
We fully buy that on this foundation, other layers are built as fantasy, the next layer being that the asylum is a cover for a brothel, exploiting the girls, none of which appear insane. In this layer, the girls plot an escape. Most die.
A third layer is supposedly what goes on in the mind of our-girl-of-interest while she is seducing patrons in the brothel layer by her seductive, theatrical dance. This has what is considered state of the art CGI battles in different settings. (It is a blasphemy to relate this to Alice in Wonderland, as the PR machine does.)
The layers connect at more than a few points, preventing a clean, "Inception" like solution. Unless of course, the first layer is not the base layer. I believe this was an early decision in the structure, submerged as the thing grew bulk. In fact, I believe this is the "Moulin Rouge" influence. (The same curtain device is used in the beginning, and the same stage metaphor used to cross worlds. We have the same conflation of acting, inhabiting a life and whoring/dancing.)
So it would at least have been mildly interesting to me: a well financed hack using a folded formula with an intelligent heritage. The boring battles would have been tolerable, but what had me wanting to run away was the vile sexism. The first two layers (counting conventionally) treat the girls as amusing property. There is a disturbing tenor in the approach. Okay, we see that all the time and it can be used creatively to jerk us around. But not here.
Here we are solidly, inescapably, placed as the male in the audience, drooling over the extreme sexualization of the girl. There may be layers for her, but there are none for us. We are given permission because we are placed midway between where we presumably stay in life and the extreme stance of the pimp. His two-fold extreme exploitation gives us the designed room for simple leering, which we are tricked into.
Still, if we had nothing else but that first action scene, minus one trope, I would have been thrilled. This battle is set in a vague Yimou Zhang inspired setting. The heroism, and cuts are reminiscent of old Kar Wai Wong/Chris Doyle. It is not novel but it has some sweep and you do get swept up in it (assuming you have forgotten the prior stuff).
But even this has something that offends. I do not know the name of this pose. It is when the hero has jumped an extraordinary distance to enter a fray. He/she has one knee down, the same hand on the ground. The other knee is up and that hand has a weapon. This is the moment when you can see the glower in the hero's face where the environment is about to be justly destroyed. He/she has confidence that you as the viewer will not allow her to lose. Whenever I see this, I choke, just as when I see at the other at the end of an event calmly walking away in slo-mo while some profound conflagration erupts behind, gently blowing hair.
A perceptive reader pointed out what he saw as the Henry Darger connection. Look it up. A cool insight.
Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.
Another Trip To Willoughby
bkoganbing2 April 2011
Watching Sucker Punch put me in mind of a great old Twilight Zone episode A Stop At Willoughby. Young Emily Browning has been committed to an asylum where apparently all the patients are young and nubile women who are played by Vanessa Hudgens, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, and Jane Chang. There seems to be a good reason for that as these women have to dance alluring dances and perform other services for high rolling customers. A way for the asylum to make some money.
Like James Daly in the Twilight Zone episode who was a modern businessman under great job pressure looking for an escape, these women want to escape as well. He found an exit in an unscheduled stop in a town called Willoughby which looks like a set from The Music Man. The girls also want an escape into life beyond the walls of this place they're trapped in.
More I can't say lest I divulge the secret of the plot. But Browning and Daly both want out of the life they're trapped in and each finds a similar solution. Scott Glenn has a mysterious and unique role similar to the train conductor in the Twilight Zone episode.
Sucker Punch because a lot of it takes place in the imagination has a great show of special effects virtuosity. If you're not terribly concerned about story and plot as I am, this is the film for you. The girls are lovely to look at also and they have great fighting skills or their stunt doubles do.
Like James Daly in the Twilight Zone episode who was a modern businessman under great job pressure looking for an escape, these women want to escape as well. He found an exit in an unscheduled stop in a town called Willoughby which looks like a set from The Music Man. The girls also want an escape into life beyond the walls of this place they're trapped in.
More I can't say lest I divulge the secret of the plot. But Browning and Daly both want out of the life they're trapped in and each finds a similar solution. Scott Glenn has a mysterious and unique role similar to the train conductor in the Twilight Zone episode.
Sucker Punch because a lot of it takes place in the imagination has a great show of special effects virtuosity. If you're not terribly concerned about story and plot as I am, this is the film for you. The girls are lovely to look at also and they have great fighting skills or their stunt doubles do.
The critics were wrong... yet again
Meven_Stoffat26 March 2011
Warning: Spoilers
I'm starting to wonder if we're seeing the same movies as the critics nowadays. Or at least, if we're getting different cuts of movies. Because I've often found myself walking out going "Did I see a different movie than the critics?"
Of course, Snyder is no stranger to critical disdain. He may be the most misunderstood director out there. True his films aren't for everyone, but if you look close enough you may just find something there. And Sucker Punch is the biggest example of how big a visionary he is- Here he manages to bring to the table a satisfying and exciting new vision.
I was in right from the opening scene. A cover of Sweet Dreams set to a fantastic and tone setting scene depicting her abuse from her wicked stepfather. WHAT an opening scene.
We are then transported to Mount Pleasant Insane Asylum, once a performing arts venue. Baby Doll is just a drop in the ocean of how many beautiful girls who can dance. Baby Doll doesn't know this until she saves Rocket, another one of the girls. There she meets the rest of the gang, and the sexy Goski, a doctor who has a form of therapy- dance. When Baby Doll dances, she can slay dragons, fight robots, wield swords, etc. The girls love her- but as it stands, she's dancing... to escape from the asylum with the girls.
The concept may not sound dazzling- but wait till you see it. Sucker Punch is what its title states- a conceptual sucker punch. Nothing can prepare you for what you will experience. You are in the world with Baby Doll- you feel as if you are experiencing Baby Doll's therapy with her. Snyder totally does a great job with this aspect, and as a theatre nerd and dance lover, arts as therapy really hit home because it's very true, and I've experienced that euphoria from being a performer.
The acting is fantastic, and Emily Browning is great as both an action chick and a confused, disturbed girl. Cugino is sexy and adds her usual charm to her role. Hamm as Blue is easily the best, as his villain is certainly convincing.
Add to that, one of the best soundtracks ever put to film. Working with Tyler Bates, Browning covers a few songs, and quite a few others contribute too. And Bjork's "Army of Me" has never sounded cooler.
I was sceptical- Snyder has struck gold with 300, Watchmen and Guardians, but could he manage to make one of his original ideas spark? As a result he can- and he did. Do NOT be a puppet of the critics- experience Sucker Punch with an open mind. Touche, Zack Snyder... Touche.
Of course, Snyder is no stranger to critical disdain. He may be the most misunderstood director out there. True his films aren't for everyone, but if you look close enough you may just find something there. And Sucker Punch is the biggest example of how big a visionary he is- Here he manages to bring to the table a satisfying and exciting new vision.
I was in right from the opening scene. A cover of Sweet Dreams set to a fantastic and tone setting scene depicting her abuse from her wicked stepfather. WHAT an opening scene.
We are then transported to Mount Pleasant Insane Asylum, once a performing arts venue. Baby Doll is just a drop in the ocean of how many beautiful girls who can dance. Baby Doll doesn't know this until she saves Rocket, another one of the girls. There she meets the rest of the gang, and the sexy Goski, a doctor who has a form of therapy- dance. When Baby Doll dances, she can slay dragons, fight robots, wield swords, etc. The girls love her- but as it stands, she's dancing... to escape from the asylum with the girls.
The concept may not sound dazzling- but wait till you see it. Sucker Punch is what its title states- a conceptual sucker punch. Nothing can prepare you for what you will experience. You are in the world with Baby Doll- you feel as if you are experiencing Baby Doll's therapy with her. Snyder totally does a great job with this aspect, and as a theatre nerd and dance lover, arts as therapy really hit home because it's very true, and I've experienced that euphoria from being a performer.
The acting is fantastic, and Emily Browning is great as both an action chick and a confused, disturbed girl. Cugino is sexy and adds her usual charm to her role. Hamm as Blue is easily the best, as his villain is certainly convincing.
Add to that, one of the best soundtracks ever put to film. Working with Tyler Bates, Browning covers a few songs, and quite a few others contribute too. And Bjork's "Army of Me" has never sounded cooler.
I was sceptical- Snyder has struck gold with 300, Watchmen and Guardians, but could he manage to make one of his original ideas spark? As a result he can- and he did. Do NOT be a puppet of the critics- experience Sucker Punch with an open mind. Touche, Zack Snyder... Touche.
Sucker Punch — Be amazed, be struck by lightning, see this fantastical sci-fi
AvidClimber29 March 2013
Sucker Punch is totally out there, and probably the only way to combine so many different things in a single story.
The story telling is incomplete, in itself, but not the story. Most of it is told metaphorically. You get to imagine the rest. An easy thing to do is to dismiss the movie because of the beautiful women, or the intense and fantastical action. That is a grand mistake. The story is poignant and very sad, yet wrapped in a beautiful cinematographic cocoon. It's breathtaking. I kept wondering when the hammer blow of bad poorly constructed elements would descend upon me and disappointment, break my heart. It never did.
The dialogs might look simple, and the story line really quick, but their complementing information is in the magic of the metaphors. It's an incredible ride led by the excellent acting of those gorgeous creatures and genius directorial mind, as well as the superb editing and CGI.
Ride the wave, shed a tear, see it.
The story telling is incomplete, in itself, but not the story. Most of it is told metaphorically. You get to imagine the rest. An easy thing to do is to dismiss the movie because of the beautiful women, or the intense and fantastical action. That is a grand mistake. The story is poignant and very sad, yet wrapped in a beautiful cinematographic cocoon. It's breathtaking. I kept wondering when the hammer blow of bad poorly constructed elements would descend upon me and disappointment, break my heart. It never did.
The dialogs might look simple, and the story line really quick, but their complementing information is in the magic of the metaphors. It's an incredible ride led by the excellent acting of those gorgeous creatures and genius directorial mind, as well as the superb editing and CGI.
Ride the wave, shed a tear, see it.
Nowhere NEAR as bad as reviews claimed.
tpaladino24 April 2012
I avoided this film like the plague when it was in theaters, having heard nothing but the worst reviews imaginable. Hardly anyone had anything nice to say about it, and usually that is a pretty good indicator a film is bad. I mean, one or two bad reviews can usually be brushed off. Even a 50/50 split amongst critics can sometimes indicate a good, but misunderstood film. But when a movie is universally panned, it's a safe bet that you're not missing anything by skipping it.
Wow, were they wrong here. I decided to catch Sucker Punch on HBO now that it's available, and I'm very glad I did. It's definitely not a perfect movie, but it's also nowhere near as bad as we've all been led to believe.
It's got a few moments that don't really work, and I could have done entirely without the narration at the end, but other than that, it's a terrific, beautifully stylized action fantasy, filled with imaginative villains, lush graphics, pretty girls and a uniquely offbeat storyline.
I simply don't understand where all the hate came from here. Yeah, it generally portrays a male adolescent fantasy of hot girls in skimpy outfits. Big freaking deal. There are far more exploitative films out there, few of which inspired the level of vitriol hurled at Sucker Punch. It's a cool fantasy film, with heavy elements of B-movie and classic pulp noir skillfully added for good measure.
How this film can be hated but something like Grindhouse critically beloved is beyond my comprehension. Yes, Grindhouse is better. But not so much better to justify the massive disparity (83% to 23% on Rotten Tomatoes).
And I'm not even a big Zach Snyder fan to begin with. I thought Watchmen was awful, and didn't think very much of 300 either. But I have to give him credit on this one; he was truly robbed this time around.
Wow, were they wrong here. I decided to catch Sucker Punch on HBO now that it's available, and I'm very glad I did. It's definitely not a perfect movie, but it's also nowhere near as bad as we've all been led to believe.
It's got a few moments that don't really work, and I could have done entirely without the narration at the end, but other than that, it's a terrific, beautifully stylized action fantasy, filled with imaginative villains, lush graphics, pretty girls and a uniquely offbeat storyline.
I simply don't understand where all the hate came from here. Yeah, it generally portrays a male adolescent fantasy of hot girls in skimpy outfits. Big freaking deal. There are far more exploitative films out there, few of which inspired the level of vitriol hurled at Sucker Punch. It's a cool fantasy film, with heavy elements of B-movie and classic pulp noir skillfully added for good measure.
How this film can be hated but something like Grindhouse critically beloved is beyond my comprehension. Yes, Grindhouse is better. But not so much better to justify the massive disparity (83% to 23% on Rotten Tomatoes).
And I'm not even a big Zach Snyder fan to begin with. I thought Watchmen was awful, and didn't think very much of 300 either. But I have to give him credit on this one; he was truly robbed this time around.
Pulp Objectification
alexart-12 April 2011
In a day when Hollywood craves good original screenplays, Sucker Punch proves that some filmmakers should stick to adapting great source material. An exuberantly bad pastiche of genres, Sucker Punch is the anti-Quentin Tarantino film. Zack Snyder's story is mashup of several different genres, none of which prove successful in the long run. The number of believable lines in Snyder's screenplay can be counted on two hands, thus providing very little material for the potentially good cast of women to work with. Snyder clearly doesn't know how to construct a visually disinteresting shot, but it all doesn't matter because the film trips over its own feet constantly.
Sucker Punch is told from the point-of-view of Babydoll (Emily Browning), a young girl who is sent to an asylum by her father after she accidentally kills her sister in the bravado opening sequence. It isn't too long before Babydoll realizes that she is scheduled for a lobotomy. Her vivid fantasies cause her to realize escaping is her only way to survive. Babydoll enlists the help of the girls in her ward to help guide her through her intense journey out of the asylum. The supporting cast includes Abbie Cornish, Carla Gugino, Vanessa Hudgens, Jena Malone, Jamie Chung, and Scott Glenn. Look for a brief performance from Jon Hamm at the very end.
What's good about this film is, indeed, pretty good, however there are very few things I can say in this area, unfortunately. Zack Snyder is a visual extraordinaire. His slow motion shots of flying weaponry and spinning girls are a wonder to watch. Larry Fong, the cinematographer for 300 and Watchmen, does wonders with the supersaturated blacks and oranges that create a moody contrast between fantasy and reality.
The story is bizarrely fragment and surprisingly boring. Four 20-minute action sequences punctuate the storyline involving the asylum, which is unfortunate because that was the only one I was actually interested in. The beginning and end are worth seeing for their emotional intensity and surprising depth, however the war/samurai/dystopian/medieval fantasies are flat and plain, despite the action displayed on screen, which should be rich but isn't at all. Very often, the story sucker punches itself and doesn't every get back up.
Sucker Punch is meant to be an action movie and yet its action sequences are the least interesting parts. Each one attempts to allude to a previous great film in its respective category, but each one is unsuccessful. Furthermore, the choreography of each fight is exactly what one might expect; there isn't a single thing that excites or creates any sort of reaction.
Zack Snyder has clearly stated that Sucker Punch was supposed to be 18 minutes longer with an alternate ending. The question is, do I care? The answer is yes, oddly enough. Sucker Punch has the strange potential to be a classic. After all, how many films received negative reviews upon their initial release and ended up in cult fandom?
One other shortcoming of this film that should absolutely be noted is the treatment of women. Although Sucker Punch wants to be a feminist movie, it actually turns out to be demeaning more than anything. Scantily clad women are sexualized throughout the entire film, and it is our job to be thrilled by the imminent danger of rape and abuse that so often happens in the asylum. It's scary to think that somebody let this kind of plot happen in this day and age.
Sucker Punch truly hit me hard, but not in a good way. The objectified, stiletto-wearing protagonists stumble through the entire middle third, making the good beginning and ending moot. The cast is oddly bland, but Snyder makes up for it with his impressive visuals. Overall, Sucker Punch is an experience people shouldn't enjoy. It's a post-post-modern mess that will be remembered as a geekgasm, for now at least.
Sucker Punch is told from the point-of-view of Babydoll (Emily Browning), a young girl who is sent to an asylum by her father after she accidentally kills her sister in the bravado opening sequence. It isn't too long before Babydoll realizes that she is scheduled for a lobotomy. Her vivid fantasies cause her to realize escaping is her only way to survive. Babydoll enlists the help of the girls in her ward to help guide her through her intense journey out of the asylum. The supporting cast includes Abbie Cornish, Carla Gugino, Vanessa Hudgens, Jena Malone, Jamie Chung, and Scott Glenn. Look for a brief performance from Jon Hamm at the very end.
What's good about this film is, indeed, pretty good, however there are very few things I can say in this area, unfortunately. Zack Snyder is a visual extraordinaire. His slow motion shots of flying weaponry and spinning girls are a wonder to watch. Larry Fong, the cinematographer for 300 and Watchmen, does wonders with the supersaturated blacks and oranges that create a moody contrast between fantasy and reality.
The story is bizarrely fragment and surprisingly boring. Four 20-minute action sequences punctuate the storyline involving the asylum, which is unfortunate because that was the only one I was actually interested in. The beginning and end are worth seeing for their emotional intensity and surprising depth, however the war/samurai/dystopian/medieval fantasies are flat and plain, despite the action displayed on screen, which should be rich but isn't at all. Very often, the story sucker punches itself and doesn't every get back up.
Sucker Punch is meant to be an action movie and yet its action sequences are the least interesting parts. Each one attempts to allude to a previous great film in its respective category, but each one is unsuccessful. Furthermore, the choreography of each fight is exactly what one might expect; there isn't a single thing that excites or creates any sort of reaction.
Zack Snyder has clearly stated that Sucker Punch was supposed to be 18 minutes longer with an alternate ending. The question is, do I care? The answer is yes, oddly enough. Sucker Punch has the strange potential to be a classic. After all, how many films received negative reviews upon their initial release and ended up in cult fandom?
One other shortcoming of this film that should absolutely be noted is the treatment of women. Although Sucker Punch wants to be a feminist movie, it actually turns out to be demeaning more than anything. Scantily clad women are sexualized throughout the entire film, and it is our job to be thrilled by the imminent danger of rape and abuse that so often happens in the asylum. It's scary to think that somebody let this kind of plot happen in this day and age.
Sucker Punch truly hit me hard, but not in a good way. The objectified, stiletto-wearing protagonists stumble through the entire middle third, making the good beginning and ending moot. The cast is oddly bland, but Snyder makes up for it with his impressive visuals. Overall, Sucker Punch is an experience people shouldn't enjoy. It's a post-post-modern mess that will be remembered as a geekgasm, for now at least.
See also
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