When I first saw the trailer for Sucker Punch, I was really excited for it. It looked like a really fun, action-fantasy sort of movie. The main character is a girl named Babydoll (Emily Browning). The movie starts off with her mother dying. Her and her younger sister are left with their stepfather, who appears to be sexually abusive and really pissed off that their mother left them everything in her will. When the stepfather comes after Babydoll, she claws him in the face and he locks her in her room. She watches through the keyhole as he then proceeds to her sister's room to molest her. Babydoll climbs out of her window, gets back into the house, finds a gun and instead of shooting her stepfather, she accidentally kills her sister. Her stepfather then takes her to the Lennox House for the Mentally Insane, where she is to be lobotomized so she won't remember anything when the cops come asking questions. Here is where the film can get confusing because Babydoll imagines that she is in a brothel. Instead of trying to escape from a lobotomy, she is a virgin, trying to escape before the "High Roller" comes to pay big money to have sex with her. She meets four other "dancers", Amber (Jamie Chung), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), Rocket (Jena Malone) and Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish). Whenever Babydoll is forced to dance, the scene changes to a war in Japan that the girls are fighting in. She needs to retrieve 5 things to escape: a map, fire, a knife, a key and the last one is a mystery. Every time the girls go to get one of these items, it becomes a battle in Japan.
I wasn't really sure what to think of this movie when I walked out of it. I was so excited to see it and I guess you could say that I was pretty disappointed. The storyline was just terrible. I definitely did not like the ending. I haven't seen Emily Browning in any other movie but this one and I have to say that she has only one facial expression, which is this timid/worried look. So whenever she would do something bold, it would take me by surprise. The action scenes were good, but highly unrealistic. These girls would land on the ground and the ground would crack beneath them, as if they weighed 5 tons. And who prances into war so scantily clad? I mean, I guess whoever made this movie was going for the sexy-girls-kicking-ass thing and maybe it would have worked if the movie had a better storyline, but not this time around.
This is an interesting review. I was also looking forward to seeing Sucker Punch and also walked out somewhat disappointed. Overall I would says the visual effects were cool, but I agree the storyline and action were somewhat lacking.
ReplyDeleteI'll also agree the story gets a bit convoluted once she arrives at the institution and retreats into her fantasy world. I will say however, given that she's already in a fantasy world, going into another fantasy world, I never expected the action to be realistic.
I think this movie had quite a bit of potential, and given that I love Zack Snyder's other movies (300, Watchmen, Dawn of the Dead), it was a shame to see this movie fall flat.
I had the chance to check this movie out. My excitement seemed to get the best of me on this one. I had no idea that the storyline would lead to her imagination taking control of the movie's action and fighting sequences.
ReplyDeleteI expected Babydoll to be the leader of a lethal set of pretty women. I didn't realize that I would be walking into a movie based on imagination and a girl's fantasy world. All in all, I really enjoyed the special effects, CGI, and screenplay!
This movie had attracted me due to the sex appeal. Beautiful women, guns, and explosions, what more can a man ask for? :) I give this movie a 6/10. All of the points going to the screenplay and special effects. The storyline didn't seem original, and the movie was very predictable. I liked your synopsis on the movie. Your review analyzed the movie well, and I would go to see the movie based on your remarks. Thank you again for another one!
I had no idea that Zack Snyder created those other movies. I did enjoy 300 and Watchmen, but I have yet to see Dawn of the Dead. It is a shame when you expect great things from a movie because it is tied to a certain director. Let's hope he does a good job on this next Superman movie!
ReplyDeleteYes, I knew from the start that this would be a good "guy's movie." (: Before I went to watch it, I was like "So, since she's in the mental institution, everything that's happening is in her head and she's probably still going to wake up and get her lobotomy anyways, right?" Very predictable, indeed!