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Sucker Punch Analysis
arrowSucker Punch Review


Sucker Punch Review
Vik Mackey (03/27/2011)
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Sucker Punch Review HeroClix WorldOne thing’s for sure, Snyder must have been a hell of a Dungeon Master back in the day; the problem is that his cinematic storytelling has the same lack of narrative cohesion and emotional depth. There’s no denying that Snyder, like Michael Bay, is a master of entire movies made from nothing but superbly rendered trailer shots, one whose tenuous command of such basics as character development and narrative flow is proportionally inverse. Judged purely on its visual aesthetics, SUCKER PUNCH is a mess even on that level. It clearly wants to be a trend setter, but come across like last week's overcooked leftovers. Like a second-rate martial arts yarn or musical extravaganza, the whole enterprise is built around Babydoll’s hyperkinetic fantasies – all of which have the free-flowing logic and emotional continuity of a particularly vivid fever dream – with all those aforementioned fetishes mashed haphazardly together and structured as various video game-like “missions”.

To his credit, Snyder does manage to outdo his “unbroken" single speed ramping shot from 300 during a fight with some I, ROBOT-looking mecha on a train, but that’s one of the film's sole visual standouts. He’s clearly aiming for a can-you-top-that approach, but all that busy, busy sturm un Drang cancels itself out in the end.


Story wise, it may be unfair to compare SUCKER to, say, 15-year old Christopher Paloni’s Inheritance Cycle, but it’s an apt one – they’re both conceived and pitched at the same sophistication and reference levels -- plus, they both have dragons in them. The story (thin as you could call it) is aptly summarized in the above synopsis; to see how it’s actually executed is a whole different matter; the most egregious blunder being the manner in which the film transitions between its internal “reality” and “fantasy.”

Continued Below...Sucker Punch Review HeroClix World


The set up: Babydoll has been incarcerated in a home for the insane (the type that can only exist in movies like these), after accidentally killing her younger sister in the process of defending her from their horny stepfather in a rather tasteless music video sequence (In comparison, “Janie’s Got A Gun” had more emotional integrity). Conceding that this is a fable, after all, and not a documentary, the asylum is a curious place, because instead of a tyrannical Nurse Ratched, there’s a pimp named Blue Jones (Isaacs), who makes the girls perform in burlesque numbers before various unsavory rich asshole types, and a dance teacher (Gugino) who coaches the girls how to dance, and “survive” Blue as an adjunct lesson.


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Your Comments:
TOTALLY agree with jwas. This was just one persons OPINION! And as we all know "opinions are like a*******, everyone's got one". I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Confusing? Yes, especially if you over analyze it. Huge message of female empowerment for victims of abuse. IMOHO.

Posted by: tonysking on 4/18/2011 6:20:07 PM
@John white: LOL. Absolutely. As a matter of fact, I pay a standard freelancer fee to accepted submissions. I'll contact you shortly.

Posted by: The Le on 4/5/2011 2:30:09 PM
Hey The Le: may I offer a counter review?

Posted by: John white on 4/4/2011 9:17:02 PM
Great visual movie but could not take top spot at box office nor scheduled against the other blockbusters. Nice eye candy though :-)

Posted by: Joe G on 4/1/2011 9:17:24 AM
I also saw it at IMAX (my first non-educational IMAX experience) and was completely entertained. It appears that most movie goers seem to think that movies should be first person shooters the entire time. If they want that, they should just stay in their bedroom and play the 95% of XBOX 360 games that come out (oh wait they already do, and stand in line to pay $65 for the next one and the next one, and...) I agree with harveytwoface, it was a good time.

Posted by: x.law22 on 3/30/2011 5:18:43 AM
Oh well. The institution was located in Brattleboro VT. About 16 miles away from where I live. That's something I suppose....mmMMmmaybe not.

Posted by: Danzig01 on 3/29/2011 6:44:09 PM
Jwas is right it is the opinion of one person.
Here's another: The movie sucks-pretty but sucks.

Posted by: Mary on 3/29/2011 8:01:35 AM
Moviegoers suffer from preview fatigue I believe. We see a great preview and think the whole movie is going to be like that or the best part was in the preview itself.
Suckerpunch is just a visual movie to watch w/kids and for what it is it is great. Plot or acting is lacking so you know what your walking into IMO.

Posted by: Larry M on 3/28/2011 2:47:22 PM
as with any review this is the opinion of one person, so if you want to go see a movie then do it, if not then don't. Don't let someone who you don't even know influence your decision about a movie. It seem that over the past few year no one has fun at the movies anymore, I think its because people over research a film before they see it, and that ruins the whole experience for them.

Posted by: jwas on 3/28/2011 1:02:10 PM
Even a good supporting actor would have made this film delightful.
Makes Avatar looks like The King's Speech.

Posted by: TommyA on 3/28/2011 12:51:32 PM
I thought the movie was very good. visually it was outstanding. The story was also very creative.

Posted by: mark on 3/27/2011 6:45:38 PM
I for one thought it was a very good movie. The visuals were awesome and my wife actually liked it too and this is not her type of movie.

Posted by: Lantern 2814.5 on 3/27/2011 6:38:59 PM
I for one disagree with this review. I saw it on imax and was blown away. the story had much more substance than I expected for a movie with "girls and guns". very dark and amazing atmospheres, brilliant concepts, and awesome ideas. I will say that the movie does lose steam towards the end, but Its definitely worth seeing, even if its a rent

Posted by: harveytwoface on 3/27/2011 6:11:12 PM
As with many things, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. I wondered if all the best scenes were right there in the trailer and they likely are. I can't stand movies that are just a con job to take your money and run. Set up to be more flash and eye candy than anything else. Thanks for the review, I've heard a lot of the same on this so far. Won't be going to it and may not even rent it.

Posted by: Thewildeman2 on 3/27/2011 12:55:45 PM
hmmm out to DVD in a week then......

Posted by: scourge101 on 3/27/2011 9:09:48 AM
Went in expecting to love it, left kinda disappointed. My girlfriend felt same way. Kinda flat, a bit pretentious, but still cool to look at.
Was worth the discounted ticket price we watched it on, but otherwise just wait for DVD or Netflix.

Posted by: Andrew on 3/27/2011 8:46:17 AM
I love how other sources of movie reviews don't ever just come out and say a movie is terrible. Don't want to hurt the economy or the studio's take. Or so PC as to not "hurt" anyones feelings. This movie should be given a trophy like kids in soccer-9th place participant.

Posted by: Bdazzle on 3/27/2011 8:31:15 AM