Viewed Once in Theaters, March 27, 2011
As the poster so gleefully proclaims, "You will be unprepared," I was definitely unprepared for the disturbing, dark, problematic, violent, and utterly fun Sucker Punch.
Allow me to explain by using the comments of other people:
" best movie ever !"
"JUST GOT BACK FROM THE MOVIE, SMASHING SHOW."
"Wahhhh!! Movie was PHENOMENAL! I was mad at the ending!"
" Ehh, the trouble with critics is they hate it when they really have to think. There are a few parts where, yeah it does make you go, 'huh' but then everything fits together, and it's a good movie! I liked it. The ending made me tear up a little."
"I actually really liked the movie don't think it's for everyone though."
The comment of the hour: "It really was an awesome movie not just cuz of the sexy girls,the acting,or the big budget explosions but because it makes you wanna walk out not in a stupid inception kind of way but in a way that makes you ask yourself if reality is really what its made out to be and everything happens for a reason or if we make reality to be what we want it to be and shape it the way we it to be. But the girls,the explosions and the plot was bananas."
As you can see, there are many different viewpoints and opinions on this film (these comments all came from Sucker Punch's Facebook page). Most people love this film because of the scantily clad, gun-totin' girls, massively blinding explosions, dreamscapes and unrealistic gamer-fighting, and the several layers of blurry storyline. The audience (according to Rotten Tomatoes) give this film a hearty 61% positive rating. On the other hand, the critics actually hate this movie--publications like USA Today and Rolling Stone give it scores of 50 and 38, respectively (out of 100). Rotten Tomatoes gave it an average rating of 4.1 out of 10. Ouch. The director (Zack Snyder) is known for such action-heavy films as 300 and Watchmen--basically, movies with ALOT of CGI-action-punch and almost zero story or character development.
I actually like this movie, but for strange reasons. Overall, it has a story about as substantial as a Cheeto--a girl's mother and sister are murdered by her stepfather, she can't kill him, so he sends her to a corrupt insane asylum and schedules her for a frontal lobotomy in order to stop her from talking to police about his crimes. Once there, she engages in extreme escapism and creates a multi-layered world that is designed to help her find a way out of the asylum. Along the way, she meets and recruits several other unjustly-committed girls who are being abused and want out. The first level of the story is reality--the 1950's asylum, with a corrupt head orderly who forges signatures and takes bribes. The second level is the collective escapism of the girls--a burlesque-style brothel with characters from the reality level occupying different roles--for example, the orderly in reality becomes the pimp in the house. And the third level is the dream world of the girls--a music-induced world where they are independent, all-powerful commandos who battle against robotic zombie-Nazis, kill dragons, and trigger massive city-destroying explosions. Pretty much, they're invincible and they're in control. They have a four-part mission that risks all of their lives and involves all three layers of the story. It's complicated, but not complicated, really. (The music is a HUGE part of the dreamscape--interesting, once you think about it.)
Once I got past the utter unrealism and unbelievability of the action, I realized this was not like any movie I'd ever seen. EVER. The questionable morals of most of the characters comes into play when considering their motivations: for example, the girls are all part of this "brothel," and they talk about their "business" in no uncertain terms, but their actual business is never portrayed on-screen. "Baby Doll" (the main character) apparently has some sort of dance-induced power over any man who watches her 'perform,' and she uses this power to distract the men and to immerse herself into her dream world (we never actually see her dance, only hear the other characters talk about her performances). They apparently only dress in risque outfits because that's all they know. Riiiiight.
NEGATIVES:
>>Profanity: This being a Zack Snyder film, and originally intended for an R-rating, it's surprising how little profanity is in it. Plugged In counts 5 uses of "s--t," a few abuses of God's name, and scattered uses of "h-ll," "a--," "d--n," and "b---ch." There's also a conspicuously-covered-up usage of "mother f-----," but the last half is blown out (literally) by the timely use of a comically huge grenade launcher. Not bad, but still not good.
>>Violence: Here's where it gets sticky (in much the same way that Inception was problematic). Is violence done to imaginary "people" in a dream world really "violence?" If so, then it's easy to see that this film was meant to be R-rated. (It also helps that the majority of characters are semi-invincible.) Characters fly off helicopters and trains; they slit a baby dragon's throat to get some mystic crystals out of it and then they stab the mother in the head; people are shot at point-blank range (although the actual death is not shown onscreen); epic fights break out with supernatural ninjas, zombie Nazis, and robotic minions. Women are slammed into walls and through buildings; they're nearly raped and strangled; they shoot huge guns and wield scary-long swords; and yet their hair stays perfect. Half of this film is in slow-motion, which allows us to savor the violence even longer. ***SPOILER ALERT!!!***A lobotomy is performed, but we don't see the actual procedure. ***SPOILER OVER!!!*** (For a more complete list of violent acts in Sucker Punch, please visit Plugged In's review.)
>>Spiritual content: Song lyrics are spiritually ambiguous, although they call to mind the importance of the soul and "letting go of anger and rage." One character says that the girls need to let go of themselves and allow themselves to be immersed in the music. In one fight, Baby Doll "summons" help from some supernatural force to help her jump higher and fight faster.
>>Alcohol and drugs: One "client" to the brothel smokes a cigar. Every so often, alcohol makes a passing appearance. Song lyrics mention hallucinogenic drugs briefly.
>>Sexual content: This is where it really gets difficult. As if the violence wasn't overwhelming enough, the heroines are intentionally clad in scanty, sexy, lengerie-type "clothing," complete with attractive guns and assorted weapons. Plugged In reports: "Revealing corsets, camisoles, teddies, garters and stockings are the women's permanent costumes. The camera captures occasional close-ups of their cleavage, bare thighs and backs, or fishnet-covered rears. Men, who are called "clients," do very little besides ogle the girls. Amber kisses a client's neck and sits on his lap. Blue kisses several women as he threatens them. Baby Doll's dancing is said to include moaning and gyrating [although it is not shown]." It's plain to see that this film was made for a male audience. The sexuality of the independent young women is over-exaggerated and annoying after a while, although they don't use their (ahem) assets for sexual activities (in the brothel it's only alluded to, never shown). Two women are assaulted but the would-be rapists are stopped by other people. As young as these girls are, it also gets really, really weird when I start thinking about how many older men are in the audience, watching.
As I stated before, I like this movie in a weird, strange way. As dark, depressing, unrealistic, violent, and oversexed as it is, I really enjoyed it. For the dark/depressing/confusing/unrealistic accusation: I really didn't care for the story itself. It's pretty disturbing to see how flippant the characters are about their "jobs." The violence is overwhelming sometimes. And the end is surprising in a sad way. The motives/morals/messages all get completely lost in a whirlwind of crazy oversexed violence.
However, once I got past the problem of hyper-unrealistic action scenes, I decided, "Well, I'm just going to enjoy this movie for what it is--a crazy, trippy graphic-novel-type experience." When I did that, I found out the real strength of Sucker Punch: the sensory, engaging properties of the film. It's weird, but I've never seen a movie quite like it before. Again, I don't care for the story or morals, but I got to where I enjoyed the episodic, wild, crazy, action-packed feel of the film. Snyder said this film was "Alice in Wonderland with big guns," and I think that he accomplished his purpose well. It's ALL style with not much substance behind it, but gosh it's fun to watch. I almost felt the explosions, the intense fighting, running to find what the girls were looking for. I was caught up in the outlandish dreamscape of it all, and I enjoyed the impressive CGI.
I would not recommend this film to families with kids under age 17 (basically, treat it as an R-rated film). Even then, I would highly recommend a censored version, where the parents have the power of mute or fast-forward. As a result of the terrible morals and violence/sexual content, I can't even recommend this film to anyone in good conscience, unless you're looking for a completely empty entertainment to just fill an afternoon with. Plugged In brings up the question of misogyny--women are used, abused, exploited, and thrown around. But, if you want to be immersed in a film and feel like a purposeless superhero for a while, then prepare to be Sucker Punched.
4 out of 6 stars
So that everyone (including myself) may benefit from it, please feel free to leave your own personal opinion of this film.
Plugged In Movie Reviews
The Internet Movie Database
Irony: The girls must literally go insane to escape an insane asylum.
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