Just Got Sucker Punched

I'm not a big fan of Zack Snyder's works except for Dawn of the Dead since it's a horror movie but I'm attracted to his latest and first original and PG-13 film entitled Sucker Punch.

Sucker Punch deals with Baby Doll (Emily Browning), a 20 year old woman sent to an institution and is about to be lobotomized after accidentally killing her sister for defending them from her stepfather's evil motives. Now she befriended four fellow inmates: sisters Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish) and Rocket (Jena Malone), Amber (Jamie Chung), and Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens) and they plan on escaping the asylum. As they acquire the essential items for their escape, they also undergo in these dreams where they also have to get the items for their journey to freedom while battling zombie Nazis, dragons, orcs, robots and giant samurai warriors.

It is designed as an action-fantasy in an epic scale in terms of special effects and action sequences. You will really be unprepared for the dazzling dream worlds, the breathtaking fight scenes, and the girls themselves as they kick ass. These five young women are sort of new to the fighting and violence so it's cool to see them punch, kick, and shoot. The gloomy color of the film helps sets the atmosphere and the mood for the 1950s and the story. The music and especially the soundtrack is also one of the film's advantages. I heard the whole soundtrack and I definitely love it. The film does not forget to have slow motion sequences and stylish shots which are Zack Snyder's trademarks in his films.

Here's what's disappointing with Sucker Punch. The film is bombarded with a lot of CGI flair and because of this, the movie seems to forget about the plot and the characters' growth. We have five girls to root on and sympathize but we don't have enough information why we should feel for them. We don't know enough about how they ended up in the institution. We don't even see that they grew close because of their goal. I think we can blame the film's fast pace. We can only root for them because of the celebrities who portray the girls. Rocket is actually my favorite among them because I've been a fan of Jena Malone since Saved! and lately, I just saw her in Donnie Darko and I know that she's new to the whole fighting scenes and she really looks good and bad ass.

Sucker Punch has become one of my guilty pleasures because I enjoyed it despite having little depth. It's a fun popcorn flick actually. I'll be waiting for its release on home video especially with the fact that Zack Snyder has a Director's Cut to be released on DVD. I hope the Director's Cut will be better than the theatrical version since the MPAA wants him to cut some scenes and maybe those scenes are essential in plot and character development.

If you want a fun, action-filled experience, Sucker Punch promises to give you a hell of a blow but you have to apply the suspension of disbelief to truly enjoy this movie.

RATING: 3/5

Trailer:


(Trailer courtesy of YouTube)