Sucker Punch - Review

Sucker Punch is one of those odd movies that make me feel half entertained and half let down. Its neither great nor awful, but I can't exactly call it average either. There's something about it that is harder to pinpoint and difficult to explain... but I'll give it a try. The movie takes place during the mid 1950s, and follows a teenage girl known as Baby Doll (Emily Browning). She is admitted into a mental institution by her abusive stepfather and scheduled for a lobotomy in five days time. Faced with such intimidating odds, she retreats into a fantasy world in her imagination, blurring the lines between what is real and what is not. Now, her and four fellow inmates, Rocket, Blondie, Amber, and Sweet Pea, formulate an elaborate plan to escape in five days.

The film is directed and co-written by Zack Snyder, the talented filmmaker behind the awesome adaptation of Watchmen along with the enjoyable 300 adaptation and surprisingly decent remake of Dawn of the Dead. While only one of Snyder's films is truly great (Watchmen), he's shown extensive promise as a filmmaker with a knack for creating movies with imaginative eye candy, great cinematography, clever editing, and a unique talent to create compelling visions of very difficult subject matter. Have you ever read Frank Miller's 300 graphic novel? Aside from some pretty images, there really isn't much to it. Yet, Snyder was able to turn it into an admittedly decent, though flawed, comic book adaptation. Then you have the legendary graphic novel, Watchmen, a comic deemed "unfilmable" by its author and numerous others. Not only did he make a serviceable film out of the material, but he turned it into an excellent movie on its own right. So yeah, Snyder is one talented guy.

What ultimately intrigued me about Sucker Punch was not just that it was written and directed by Snyder, but that it was his first movie not based on previous source material. Unfortunately, Snyder falls victim to a trap many filmmakers have fallen victim before, trying to accomplish way too much. In an effort to seemingly appease the entire nerd demographic of moviegoers, the imagined worlds presented include elements of pretty much any pop-culture or geek-fetish motif you can think of. There are references to fantasy, sci-fi, steam-punk, ninjas, kung fu, video games and manga present in the depicted worlds. Plus, the plot ultimately is based around the characters searching for four specific items that are deemed necessary to carry out their escape plans... something right out of a video game.

Sucker Punch is actually a really difficult movie to review. I actually saw it last Friday, but I've avoided writing this review because I needed a few days to let the movie sink in. On one hand, the plot is a mesh of all things geek. In theory, that sounds like a good idea, but the actual result is quite messy. The plot is inconsistent, the characters are never fully developed, and the in-your-face presentation of all these concepts becomes so convoluted that it ended with too many unresolved plot-threads and unanswered questions. The ideas are all great, and the main motif concerning youth rebellion has interesting merits, but the overly-ambitious execution comes off so sloppy that I just found the story more disappointing than anything. Maybe if I saw this movie again, my opinion would change.

In spite of all the movie's negative traits, there is still quite a bit to enjoy. If nothing else, Sucker Punch works well as a straightforward action movie. After all, there are worse things than some enjoyable over-the-top action in fantastic settings. The camerawork and editing definitely lives up to Snyder's impressive standards. Great composition, good use of slow-motion, interesting color correcting, and impressive cgi are all present here. Its eye candy at its finest. And while the characters don't exactly embody dynamic personalities, the acting is overall good. No fantastic performances, but it usually works.

So that's Sucker Punch... if nothing else, its one of the most interesting movies I've seen in a while. I have a feeling this will be one of those movies that if I were to see it again, my opinion would dramatically change. Maybe I would I love it upon a second viewing or maybe I would despise it. Either way, this movie is definitely worth watching in spite of all my gripes about it. This is by far one of the most unique and creative Hollywood movies to come around recently... and you don't see them often. Maybe you'll love it, maybe you'll hate it, but still check it out.

My Score: 3 out of 5!