Is that a video game or a movie?
I can't really tell.
I can't really tell.
I suspect one of the problems may be the running time of nearly two hours. If you're going to make a movie that's just dumb, flashy eye candy, that's fine, but you've got to pace it so it's lean and mean. I'd be willing to bet that a lot of those negative user reviews come from people who were just bored by the end.
Yeah, but there's still a big difference between good mindless popcorn flicks and really shitty mindless popcorn flicks. The good ones (like the first Transformers or Charlie's Angels) worked because they had fun characters, didn't take themselves too seriously, and had simple, easy to follow storylines.
From everything I've read, Sucker Punch doesn't manage to do ANY of those things.
Checkmate
Commodore
From what I've read, most of the reviewers were expecting Oscar material or the like. From what I've seen of the movie (from which I just got back), it is a good, mindless, popcorn flick with a big heaping spoonful of Alice in Wonderland style creepiness thrown in for good measure.
^ This is what is confusing me about the reviews. It seems those who panned it were expecting it to be another "Inception" which to these critics it clearly isn't and I suspect Zack never intended it to be.
Saw it today and you know what? I like it. It's popcorn entertainment, but it's not entirely brainless. It's a comic book with a simple but nice moral to the story at the end. The message the film - that even if life does shitty things to you, you can still experience those things on your own terms rather than buying in to the horrible worldview of your oppressors.
Some reviewers I've seen evidently went into the film with a pre-built sneer on their face, and even seemed to entirely miss clearly stated lines of dialog that made the story crystal clear.
If I have to critique the film, I believe I know what is wrong with it: it's the casting of our lead, Baby Doll.
The problem is that all the other girls, particularly Jena Malone as Rocket, are far more natural, genuine, and relatable than Baby Doll - no offense to Emily Browning, but she was not the right face and emotive character for the lead role. And it didn't help that she is made up like a literal Baby Doll, and not in a way that correctly invokes any sense of irony.
Because we can't believe in Baby Doll and the horror and pain she has endured, her moment of personal redemption doesn't ring true. The right actress in the role would have given the film that single anchor of emotional connection admid the stylized anime-slash-steampunk-slash-comic book indulgence.
Still, I can't say it's a terrible film; it's good.
In a sense, it is this year's Speed Racer in terms of how MANY people will take it entirely wrong and fail to see the thread running through it - but I'm not saying it is as good as Speed Racer. (SR, for me, is one of the best films of the last decade. Suckerpunch is an admirable experiment with a nice story concept, that falls short of clean success.)
Some reviewers I've seen evidently went into the film with a pre-built sneer on their face, and even seemed to entirely miss clearly stated lines of dialog that made the story crystal clear.
If I have to critique the film, I believe I know what is wrong with it: it's the casting of our lead, Baby Doll.
The problem is that all the other girls, particularly Jena Malone as Rocket, are far more natural, genuine, and relatable than Baby Doll - no offense to Emily Browning, but she was not the right face and emotive character for the lead role. And it didn't help that she is made up like a literal Baby Doll, and not in a way that correctly invokes any sense of irony.
Because we can't believe in Baby Doll and the horror and pain she has endured, her moment of personal redemption doesn't ring true. The right actress in the role would have given the film that single anchor of emotional connection admid the stylized anime-slash-steampunk-slash-comic book indulgence.
Still, I can't say it's a terrible film; it's good.
In a sense, it is this year's Speed Racer in terms of how MANY people will take it entirely wrong and fail to see the thread running through it - but I'm not saying it is as good as Speed Racer. (SR, for me, is one of the best films of the last decade. Suckerpunch is an admirable experiment with a nice story concept, that falls short of clean success.)
J
Jetfire
Guest
I won't see this movie for a while...but this is what worries me.
The writer and director are one and the same person...
So I went into this with high hopes... I was a little disappointed. It was good, but it wasn't great.
I just didn't care about the brothel half of the story. I just wanted to get back to the fantasy story. And I wish that the fantasy was more coherent and had an actual story to it rather than just military missions. I'd like to have seen her fantasizing she was this other person in a single story, establishing their character and setting, rather than just these random fights.
I also couldn't help wondering about the internal logic of this poor girl fantasizing she and her fellow inmates are hookers and wearing all these skimpy sexy outfits
Did you know how little Baby Doll actually spoke in the movie? How many actual lines did she really have?
The ending threw me a bit as well.
I just didn't care about the brothel half of the story. I just wanted to get back to the fantasy story. And I wish that the fantasy was more coherent and had an actual story to it rather than just military missions. I'd like to have seen her fantasizing she was this other person in a single story, establishing their character and setting, rather than just these random fights.
I also couldn't help wondering about the internal logic of this poor girl fantasizing she and her fellow inmates are hookers and wearing all these skimpy sexy outfits
Did you know how little Baby Doll actually spoke in the movie? How many actual lines did she really have?
The ending threw me a bit as well.
At that point there was a perfectly clear delineation between fantasy and reality, then Scott Glenn shows up as the bus driver. So he was supposed to be a literal guardian angel who appeared to Baby Doll in her dreams to guide her actions?
Warning, hella spoilers present in my post:
I dug the brothel half of the story. I gotta admit though when that part of the story started I was a little thrown, I saw nothing of this in the previews. I just thought it'd be her story in the asylum and the fantasy world. Once I was able to adjust to the fact that the movie was playing with three realities I was able to enjoy it more.
The movie makes several allusions to a stage, setting us up (I think) to the idea that in order to cope we put on a play. The brothel reality, while still a pretty crummy existence, is much more glamorous than what Baby Doll was actually going through. I mean would you rather live in a crummy institution or at least be able to live in a brothel? Aside from the fact that they were there against their will, they seemed to be treated well (I'm not justifying how they were treated, just suggesting that perhaps that fantasy was more preferable to the reality).
As for the ending (and for this I shall use spoiler code):
I dug the brothel half of the story. I gotta admit though when that part of the story started I was a little thrown, I saw nothing of this in the previews. I just thought it'd be her story in the asylum and the fantasy world. Once I was able to adjust to the fact that the movie was playing with three realities I was able to enjoy it more.
The movie makes several allusions to a stage, setting us up (I think) to the idea that in order to cope we put on a play. The brothel reality, while still a pretty crummy existence, is much more glamorous than what Baby Doll was actually going through. I mean would you rather live in a crummy institution or at least be able to live in a brothel? Aside from the fact that they were there against their will, they seemed to be treated well (I'm not justifying how they were treated, just suggesting that perhaps that fantasy was more preferable to the reality).
As for the ending (and for this I shall use spoiler code):
Scott Glen was never Baby Doll's gaurdian angel, Baby Doll was Sweet Pea's guardian angel. If you recall about two thirds of the way through the film Baby Doll comes to the revelation that she is the last item needed for freedom. She is the sacrifice. Therefore it was Sweet Pea's story the whole time, it was Sweet Pea who gave the film's opening (and ending) monologues. Also, a neat touch I thought was the way Snyder foreshadowed this, just as Baby Doll is about to recieve the lobotomy the first time we cut to the brothel reality where they are putting on a play where a girl is getting a lobotomy...and who's playing the girl in the play? Sweet Pea.
Sucker Punch
Not a film for everyone, but it's definitely for people like me. It's a fun popcorn movie. The action is a visual spectacle. B+.
Story summary: Evil stepfather commits the main character, Babydoll, to a mental institution. He paid a corrupt, sadistic employee, Blue, to get her lobotomized in a few days. Babydoll and her new friends, Rocket, Sweet Pea, Amber, and Blondie, plan to escape before it was too late.
There are 3 layers in the film.
- First, the real world, the mental institution. It is a dark and depressing place. The girls are pretty much prisoners. Some of what happens in the imaginary worlds mirrors what is happening in this world.
- Second, in Babydoll's imagination, the institution is a brothel. This is where the majority of the movie takes place. Most characters/roles are altered. The female patients are showgirls, Blue is the owner, etc.
- Third, the imagination within the imagination. In the brothel, Babydoll's "dance" becomes an action sequence, fighting samurais, dragons, and robots.
The story is centers around the 3 blonde girls, Babydoll and the sisters, Sweet Pea and Rocket. Blondie and Amber had much smaller roles in the story. The girls did develop a sort of sisterhood. But this being a Zach Snyder movie, we don't much of that.
Zach is a visual director and this is very visual film. The first minutes have few words and no dialog, but it was able to convey much of the back story. The film takes place in the 1950s after World War II, and is shown through visuals. The technology as well as Babydoll's imagination conveys this. In the third layer, some enemies are Nazis and samurais (Japan), the dragon and castle are in Europe, and bomb that took out the city represent the Nuke. The sci-fi stuff are from adventure serials during that time.
Babydoll's imagination shows her desires. She wants to be beautiful, powerful, talented, and heroic. In the 2nd level, they are still in a rather powerless position, but they are beautiful and desirable. Also, she is a natural dancer. It is more realistic fantasy than the third. She's still a prisoner, but the brothel is not as bad as an asylum.
In the 3rd level, the girls are strong, heroic, and kick all kinds of ass, while dressed as stripperific military soldiers and warriors. They are powerful and heroic. Their mission and enemies became important and dangerous. The gathered items became more fantastic. The map of the asylum is the map of Europe, the lighter turns to a dragon, and the knife becomes a powerful weapon, a bomb of epic proportions. The wise old mentor is manifestation of her planning the escape.
In the real world, the girls are normal looking and dressed in plain, dirty clothes. In the fantasy world they are beautiful and dress more outrageous. This is similar to 300. In 300, the surviving Spartan tells a heroic tale of his men, with barely any armor, going against a monstrous Persian army. In real life, the Spartans are heavily armored in metal, with metal swords and shields, while the Persians are hungry and tired Spartan fodder with leather armor and wooden shields.
Babydoll's dance is never shown. The camera just zooms into her face as she closes her eyes, and then she's in another world, fighting orcs. After this is over, it fades back to the club, and everyone claps and cheers at her "dance". We never see the dance because there was no dance. Babydoll is really in the asylum, and the dance is probably her doing something, maybe acting out those action sequences in her head, probably kicking and screaming, and getting a lot of attention; I don't know.
Moral of the story: sometimes helping a friend, even small acts are just as big as slaying a dragon or an army of cyborgs. You don't have to save the world, just making a small difference, even for one person in need, is all it takes to be a hero.
Spoiler
Not a film for everyone, but it's definitely for people like me. It's a fun popcorn movie. The action is a visual spectacle. B+.
Story summary: Evil stepfather commits the main character, Babydoll, to a mental institution. He paid a corrupt, sadistic employee, Blue, to get her lobotomized in a few days. Babydoll and her new friends, Rocket, Sweet Pea, Amber, and Blondie, plan to escape before it was too late.
There are 3 layers in the film.
- First, the real world, the mental institution. It is a dark and depressing place. The girls are pretty much prisoners. Some of what happens in the imaginary worlds mirrors what is happening in this world.
- Second, in Babydoll's imagination, the institution is a brothel. This is where the majority of the movie takes place. Most characters/roles are altered. The female patients are showgirls, Blue is the owner, etc.
- Third, the imagination within the imagination. In the brothel, Babydoll's "dance" becomes an action sequence, fighting samurais, dragons, and robots.
The story is centers around the 3 blonde girls, Babydoll and the sisters, Sweet Pea and Rocket. Blondie and Amber had much smaller roles in the story. The girls did develop a sort of sisterhood. But this being a Zach Snyder movie, we don't much of that.
Zach is a visual director and this is very visual film. The first minutes have few words and no dialog, but it was able to convey much of the back story. The film takes place in the 1950s after World War II, and is shown through visuals. The technology as well as Babydoll's imagination conveys this. In the third layer, some enemies are Nazis and samurais (Japan), the dragon and castle are in Europe, and bomb that took out the city represent the Nuke. The sci-fi stuff are from adventure serials during that time.
Babydoll's imagination shows her desires. She wants to be beautiful, powerful, talented, and heroic. In the 2nd level, they are still in a rather powerless position, but they are beautiful and desirable. Also, she is a natural dancer. It is more realistic fantasy than the third. She's still a prisoner, but the brothel is not as bad as an asylum.
In the 3rd level, the girls are strong, heroic, and kick all kinds of ass, while dressed as stripperific military soldiers and warriors. They are powerful and heroic. Their mission and enemies became important and dangerous. The gathered items became more fantastic. The map of the asylum is the map of Europe, the lighter turns to a dragon, and the knife becomes a powerful weapon, a bomb of epic proportions. The wise old mentor is manifestation of her planning the escape.
In the real world, the girls are normal looking and dressed in plain, dirty clothes. In the fantasy world they are beautiful and dress more outrageous. This is similar to 300. In 300, the surviving Spartan tells a heroic tale of his men, with barely any armor, going against a monstrous Persian army. In real life, the Spartans are heavily armored in metal, with metal swords and shields, while the Persians are hungry and tired Spartan fodder with leather armor and wooden shields.
Babydoll's dance is never shown. The camera just zooms into her face as she closes her eyes, and then she's in another world, fighting orcs. After this is over, it fades back to the club, and everyone claps and cheers at her "dance". We never see the dance because there was no dance. Babydoll is really in the asylum, and the dance is probably her doing something, maybe acting out those action sequences in her head, probably kicking and screaming, and getting a lot of attention; I don't know.
Moral of the story: sometimes helping a friend, even small acts are just as big as slaying a dragon or an army of cyborgs. You don't have to save the world, just making a small difference, even for one person in need, is all it takes to be a hero.
Spoiler
The villain, Blue, is not stupid. He caught the girls' plans on early on, and his threats are real. The fate of the evil stepfather is not shown, but I think after the investigations, he'll get what he deserves.
Ironically, Sweet Pea was the reluctant one and the one that escapes. And the ending sequence, at the bus station, is probably in Babydoll's head. She imagined her mentor as the bus driver taking Sweat Pea home.
Ironically, Sweet Pea was the reluctant one and the one that escapes. And the ending sequence, at the bus station, is probably in Babydoll's head. She imagined her mentor as the bus driver taking Sweat Pea home.
You pretty much had to pay me to see this movie, I fully expected it to be shite. So when my brother badgered me into going and said he'd pay for my ticket, I made the sacrifice. Going into something with low expectations there's a chance you'll be pleasantly surprised, but this was far worse than I expected. I don't know what studios are thinking still hiring this guy. The thin plot is an excuse for chicks in skimpy outfits to super through several majestic action set-pieces, without any sense of relevance to the plot or even suspense. How is it this guy doesn't realize action is meant to have an emotional impact? There's a reason fireworks last only 5 minutes, they get boring after. 300 is slowly turning into the exception that proves the rule. Bottom line is, there are ways to merge orcs, nazis, robots and samurai into a coherent plot structure. Samurai Jack, Hellboy, House of Mystery, come to mind. I felt like I was forced to sit through a glorified pitch for the next 6 movies this hack wants to make, and I was unconviced each step of the way. F this.
Oh yeah I thought it was hilarious that Baby Doll has this amazing "dance" that mesmerizes all men, yet all we ever see her do is slowly sway back and forth briefly. I kept imagining that they were watching her go through this elaborate invisible mime of sword fights and gun fights wandering what the **** is this girl doing???
Watching one of the trailers for this film again, there is a brief glimpse of a dance routine. Something that never was in the theatrical film. I'm guessing it was cut because it was too sexually suggested and therefore was one of the things that originally earned the film an R rating.
Now I don't know if this is Babydoll dancing or not, but if it is, perhaps we'll get to see her dances in the unrated cut that will inevitably come out on DVD.
Now I don't know if this is Babydoll dancing or not, but if it is, perhaps we'll get to see her dances in the unrated cut that will inevitably come out on DVD.
Based on some of the reviews. Not sure if I want to see it when it opens here next week. Or wait until it's released on DVD.
lol - Diary of a Wimpy Kid took in more cash than this movie this weekend. Whoops! I think Zach Snyder may be done...
Edit: also, I wish people would stop comparing this to video games. From what I've heard of this movie, most video games have more characterization and story.
Edit: also, I wish people would stop comparing this to video games. From what I've heard of this movie, most video games have more characterization and story.