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MOVIE REVIEW: Sucker Punch
Posted by: Necci – Apr 12, 2011
I must admit that I thought the trailers for Sucker Punch looked really cool. I could understand the majority of the criticism directed towards the film--it seemed utterly ridiculous, and I was fine with that. However, after sitting through the entire thing, I'm feeling something else entirely. Sucker Punch may be one of the most brilliant fuck-ups I have ever witnessed. It tries so hard to create an amalgam of past motion pictures like Pan’s Labyrinth and Inception that it never really develops its own voice.
The premise is based around a young woman who is wrongly institutionalized and awaiting a lobotomy procedure. As a means of coping with her environment, she develops alternate realities in her mind. The initial reality she sets into motion places her in the midst of a prostitution ring that incorporates characters from the institution that we have barely been introduced to. Through this world, she begins to go on adventures in a sub-reality of this initial fantasy, and that’s when things get even more ridiculous.
I can only imagine at this point that we have several of the same questions. For starters, I’m not quite certain how or why a dream world set in a brothel would be considered a comfortable place. It’s a bizarre thing to justify, outside of obvious juvenile fantasies. I think that had a lot to do with my ultimate reaction to Sucker Punch. The film plays out like an unchallenging video game that demands little to no mature attention, filled with scantily-clad, ridiculously attractive female protagonists that fight demon samurais, robot Nazis, and even baby dragons. If I was fourteen and saw this film, I would probably think it was the greatest thing ever made.
The one thing that Sucker Punch has going for it is the visual aspect. It looks gorgeous, which is to be expected of director Zack Snyder. If you’re a fan of what Snyder accomplished in 300 and Watchmen, you will be pleased with what he delivers here. Snyder is obviously a gifted and talented director with a precise, passionate vision in his approach to filmmaking. Sucker Punch doesn’t do this any justice, and reflects poorly on his past efforts. Of course, Snyder’s past work adapted pre-existing source material. That this is his first cinematic effort working from original material doesn’t look good for him. Sucker Punch never really puts anything at stake or attempts to do anything beyond grazing over the surface. It’s almost too appropriate that the main character (Baby Doll) is being threatened with the possibility of a lobotomy.
Every time I think about Sucker Punch, all I can think of is Richard Kelly’s Southland Tales. Kelly accomplished a great deal with his debut film, Donnie Darko. I truly believe he had the best of intentions with his second effort, but what an unruly, nonsensical motion picture it turned out to be. Thankfully, Kelly put out The Box afterwards and achieved a bit of redemption. There is still that lingering aftertaste from Southland Tales, though, and I wonder how Snyder will approach his next project after how unbelievably absurd Sucker Punch turned out. Also, considering the film's difficulties accomplishing basic storytelling mechanics, I find it impossible to believe that all creative forces involved had been working on Sucker Punch since 2007. I wonder why there was never a point where anyone suggested that working on the script wouldn’t be such a shabby idea.
As I mentioned earlier, the film plays out like a video game. Perhaps one reason that this didn't work for me is that Edgar Wright, in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, executed this concept and style with excellent results. In that film, Wright worked with the graphic novel collection the film was based on, and was able to give the adaptation a heart and soul. He embraced the video game culture in such a way that it felt fresh. I truly felt like I had never seen anything quite like it on the silver screen. Snyder’s action sequences in Sucker Punch play out more like a video game that I’d end up returning soon after purchase.
Despite how harsh my review has been, I do urge all interested parties to check Sucker Punch out. It is really incredible to see a film of this caliber completely self-destruct in front of your own eyes. At the same time, if there were a shred of the fourteen-year-old version of myself left, he loved every second of Sucker Punch. I really wanted to enjoy Sucker Punch and give it the benefit of the doubt, and I found a film that could have been something phenomenal. Instead, though, I'm left with decent performances from Carla Gugino and Jon Hamm, a lackluster cover of The Pixies “Where is My Mind,” a visually stimulating aesthetic, and little else from a film that rarely achieved what it set out to accomplish.
By Shannon Cleary
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