Sucker Punch (2011)

Very disappointing...

Such a frustrating disappointment

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

This movie got pretty crappy reviews. I mean I only watched because my friend forced me to watch it with her because she loved it. But, I surprisingly loved it too.I found the story line hauntingly beautiful. Yes, it was out there, but I actually think the film married all the differing elements extremely well. I was completely immersed in the story from start to finish and felt deeply about the characters. I thought the action was great, the CGI wasn't incredible but whatever. I think this film gets a bad wrap because it is overwhelming in nature. The fantasy action sequences which seemingly happen within our protagonist's mind are kind of random. However, i think instead it was an incredible showing of how strong she was as a character in spirit. Instead of watching her dance (presumingly sexually) on front of paying men, we watched her defeat fantastical enemies in her mind. Metaphorically I think she was defeating the inner demons of her mind. Completely underrated film, would highly recommend. Your motto when watching this film should be "just go with it". Don't overthink it or scrutinise it. Watch it, then review it.

After accidentally killing her sister, Babydoll is sent to a mental institution where her life is about to get as worse as it can. In order to detach from her state of depression, she comes up with a dance which almost hypnotizes everyone and brings her hope of evading that awful place.It's an interesting premise with a great idea of evading reality presented in a spectacular way and accompanied by thrilling and heart pumping music. While the fictional part was top notch, I can't say the same about the real one. It had its flaws with the beginning and its rather unconvincing and unsatisfying finale (although it was unexpected). I recommend it especially for the awesome combat and explosions rather that for its story.

There has never been a better example of the need to have as little prior knowledge before watching a film as an indispensable requirement to enjoy said film. Firstly, try for a moment to imagine having heard none of Zack Snyder's ridiculous notion that Sucker Punch is an empowering feminist work; it increased the scrutiny regarding the plot devices he used, which led to all those who rightly deemed that revenge rape story lines are completely unrelated to female empowerment. When just viewed as a story on its own, then I feel most fail to see the balance (or at least as close as you can get to that concept given Snyder's aesthetic) Sucker Punch achieves in addressing topics of abuse in all kinds without shying away from the consequences and without exploiting the acts themselves to generate interest. In short, I had no problems with the story or in the way it was portrayed.In addition, a lot of viewers have complained about the covers of some of their favourite songs, ranging from the Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams, Björk's Army of Me, Queen's We Will Rock You the Pixies' Where is my mind and the The Beatles' Tomorrow never knows. I for one hold no strong feelings for the original versions of these songs (would even go as far as to say those last two are better than their original versions, mainly because I dislike the Pixies and Beatles) and was pleasantly surprised by the apt selection of accompanying tracks to the varied action sequences.Lastly, I saw the director's cut, which is mandatory for an ambitious and indulgent film such as Sucker Punch; if you go hard, than go all the way (the closest comparison I have in this regard is the overly absurd 功夫 (Kung Fu Hustle)). Maybe this version is more clear and understandable than the theatric version as I had no problem discerning the plot and all the thematic subtexts in one sitting.I do have the feeling at times I was watching an extended in-game cut scene, but I did not mind it at all, because this lend itself to exploring a range of video game staples, namely Nazi Zombies (thanks Call of Duty: World at War) and a variety of Japanese anime tropes (especially the excessive panty flashing in the first action sequence).If I had to summarise, I immediately accepted Snyder's intend with Sucker Punch and he had me intrigued from start to finish. Blame my soft spot for convoluted and pretentious story lines that thrive solely on minimal information delivery, because I quite liked the ending as well

SPOILER ALERTSUCKER PUNCH - aptly named when you realize writer/director Zak Snyder suckered you into paying $15 based on an epic trailer made entirely of THINGS A CHARACTER DREAMS IN THE MOVIE. This is an incredible innovation scamming movie goers. Why doesn't everyone who doesn't have a compelling screenplay have their main character dream 2 minutes of unconnected, cool looking action that doesn't actually happen in the story line, then make a trailer out of it? Batman v. Superman had the same crap trick (Batman desert fight scene) but to a lesser extent. At least Michael Bay makes an attempt at cramming the incoherent action from the trailer into the story.Can't wait for Notebook 2, wherein the main character has an epic 2 minute dream styled after BladeRunner vs. Citizen Kane vs. The Color Purple that ends of being 100% of the trailer, having nothing to do with the 98% of the movie about a stationary store.