Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch was released Friday March 25, 2011. The reviews are in, and they seem pretty low scoring. talks of how Zack Snyder’s message of women empowerment lost in the story, or the story being too confusing hurt the film’s box office reviews and ratings. Was it all that it was cracked up to be? or was the film just too overhyped? Here’s my take on the film.
I don’t agree with thelow ratings these high-end hollywood critics have given the film at all. Who cares about the whole story of women empowerment getting lost in the story line. To me it was a film about badass women kicking ass!! How’s that not women empowerment? It’s like the Spice Girls on crack! I loved it.
The film is an action fantasy set in the vivid imagination of a young girl whose dream world provides the ultimate escape from her darker reality. Unrestrained by the boundaries of time and place, she is free to go where her mind takes her, and her incredible adventures blur the lines between what’s real and what is imaginary. After the death of her mother, Baby Doll (her real name is never given) and her sister are nearly killed by their Stepfather in his attempt to claim their inheritance for himself. Baby Doll gets her Stepfather’s gun and tries to kill him — but kills her sister instead. This gives her Stepfather the perfect reason to claim that Baby Doll is insane, and he has her committed to an Institution. She has been locked away against her will, but Babydoll (Emily Browning) has not lost her will to survive. Determined to fight for her freedom, she urges four other young girls — the outspoken Rocket (Jena Malone), the street-smart Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), the fiercely loyal Amber (Jamie Chung) and the reluctant Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish) — to band together and try to escape their terrible fate at the hands of their captors, Blue (Oscar Isaac), Madam Gorski (Carla Gugino) and the High Roller (Jon Hamm). Led by Babydoll, the girls engage in fantastical warfare against everything from samurais to serpents, with a virtual arsenal at their disposal. Together, they must decide what they are willing to sacrifice in order to stay alive. But with the help of a Wise Man (Scott Glenn), their unbelievable journey — if they succeed — will set them free. (synopsis from Warner Bros.)
That wasn’t too hard to follow was it? In fact the story was fairly easy to follow as you move back and forth through her different worlds. The film sets you up very well in the beginning, and just does not stop or step away from it’s story. The beginning of the film starts off as a long music video, which to me very much got me into the movie. Followed by another music video, but never straying away from the story. To be honest, it’s the heavy soundtrack that really got me going for this film. What else can you expect from Zack Snyder, his past projects had similar styles, maybe not as long as this film, but I think it added a bit more to it rather than take away from the film. Of course, there are those who may disagree, saying that it pulls the audience away from a narrative plot and is more of a turn-off for a movie-going audience, but I disagree and loved it.
The visuals that Zack Snyder gives us, was stunning. The action-packed scenes could have been a bit overdone at times, but who really cares? A geek’s biggest fantasy is happening right in front of their eyes. Hot girls dressed in a not too skimpy outfit, you may even say with an added bit of class, wielding katanas, swords, guns, and other heavy machinery just kicking ass. It’s a live-action anime done very well, thank you Mr. Snyder. You stick true to your style of film making and it’s very commendable.
I loved the soundtrack, and the music choice for certain scenes. Though it may have been a bit too heavy at some points, and may have just been too in your face, but there’s nothing wrong with that when the movie brings so much excitement to the screen.
The ladies were beautiful, and carried their parts very well. The characters could have been a little more rounded as a whole, but looking at the whole story it may have taken away from what was happening. It was mainly fanfare and played to the nerds and geeks out there who wanted to see hot girls kicking ass on the big screen.
That brings me back to woman’s empowerment, isn’t the idea of empowering women to show strong figures standing up and fighting for what they believe in? Standing up to the people the bring them down, and finding strength in who they are? To me this movie does exactly that. Shows these young girls, who are trapped in this prison where they have been oppressed, used, and abused by the people who control it, finding a way to overcome their fear of the system and standing up for what they believe will set them free.
But that’s just my opinion.
Overall, I think this movie was exciting and tons of fun. The visuals were stunning, and nothing less than what I would expect from Zack Snyder. The soundtrack was heavy but as I’ve already mentioned, I loved it right from the beginning. I could say it’s one of the best spent 2-hours in an IMAX theater in a while.
Was the movie great? I wouldn’t say it’s an Oscar winner (maybe for it’s visuals), but definitely better than just “good” and definitely does not deserve such low ratings. I give it 4 1/2 reels out of 5.
