What would you get if you made a film that combined “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Lord of the Rings” and “Moulin Rouge”? You’d get Zack Snyder’s “Sucker Punch.”
The movie is about a girl named Baby Doll, who is sent to an insane asylum, which turns out to be a front for a brothel. Baby retreats into an elaborate fantasy world in her mind to escape the darkness of her reality. In five days, the man who runs the place, Blue, will sell her virginity to the High Roller. That’s when, along with her friends, Baby makes a daring plan to escape her prison and her fate.
Emily Browning, who plays the protagonist, Baby Doll, is incredible. She manages to effortlessly switch back and forth from doe-eyed innocent to steely-eyed warrior. The visuals of “Sucker Punch” are beyond amazing. The fight scenes alone are elaborate and well-done. But if you’re expecting action like the kind you’ve seen in “300” or “Watchmen,” don’t count on it. “Sucker Punch” is a movie all of its own. The action carries a feel that resembles a video game more than anything else.
Once Baby Doll slips into her impressive dream land, she and her buddies become Charlie’s “bad-a**” angels. The girls run around kicking butt in half-finished outfits. They are just as hardcore in the fantasy world as they are helpless in reality. It’s disjointing at first to see Baby Doll and her crew suddenly fighting better than the legions of Alices in “Resident Evil 4,” but one has to see where the girl is coming from.
Baby is escaping the horrors of her life into a fantasy world in her mind. She’s helpless to stop her tormentors in the real world. But in her head, she is invincible. Nothing can hurt her or her friends. In Baby Doll’s mind, they don’t need to be trained to fight. They are already doing it because they are willing to chance escape.
As much as “Sucker Punch” is an action-packed fantasy film, it also carries with it a very dark undertone. The threat of rape, both subtle and not-so-subtle, is ever-present, as is the exploitation of these young women. They are forced to dance in order to seduce various men into sleeping with them.
The monsters of the film look familiar. Snyder has apparently found a way to save money on the budget by recycling old movie props. It looks as though he stumbled onto an old box of Orc costumes from the “Lord of the Rings.” Well, hey, “The Hobbit” is being delayed another year. Might as well use them. And who knew the scrap metal robot parts from “I, Robot” hadn’t been recycled, renewed and reused yet?
The only complaint I have is with the very last few minutes of the film. Snyder puts in an extra twist and he over-reaches in the creativity department. “Sucker Punch” has a great almost-ending. But it seemed like Snyder wanted to be more cerebral. He ended up adding an abrupt twist with very little explanation before the credits start rolling. Suddenly, I’m stuck in my seat completely confused, quickly getting irritated, and discussing with my friends as we attemp to figure out what the heck just happened.
“Sucker Punch” is a great movie. Its visuals will stun you and the music is great. The storyline is dark and twisted, with surprises along the way. I’d like to advise you to leave about two minutes before the end of the film to save yourself some frustration. But, it’s Zack Snyder. After “300” and “Watchmen,” we owe it to him to tough it out — just this once.
