MOVIE REVIEWS: SUCKER PUNCH

IN THEATERS

SUCKER PUNCH



The story of Alice in Wonderland receives a hyper-violent makeover in Watchmen and 300 director Zack Snyder's fantastical tale of a young psychiatric patient who escapes into a vivid world of fantasy after being committed to a mental hospital by her abusive stepfather. Set in the 1950s, Sucker Punch takes viewers on an incredible journey into the mind of Babydoll (Emily Browning), who finds herself at the mercy of her malevolent stepfather after her mother passes away. With no remaining family and no friends to turn to, her stepfather has her committed to a bleak mental hospital, where she is scheduled to receive a lobotomy in five days. As the procedure draws near, Babydoll creates a phantasmagorical alternate reality in which she must seek out five items in order to secure her freedom. Should she fail, her mind isn't the only thing she stands to lose. Abbie Cornish, Vanessa Hudgens, Carla Gugino, and Jon Hamm co-star in a film co-written by Snyder and Steve Shibuya. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director : Zack Snyder

Cast: Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung

Release Date: Mar 25, 2011

Rated PG-13 for Thematic material involving sexuality, violence and combat sequences, and for language

Genres: Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Review:

I have a serious confession to make. I’m a nerd. It’s something I’ve come to accept over the years and ultimately embrace. Using that old adage that it takes one to know one, it’s not a stretch to say that Zach Snyder is also a nerd. Sucker Punch is his masturbatory love letter to his 13 year old self. Barely coherent with just the slimmest shred of a plot he moves the show forward by showing us what has been knocking around in his head for years. By strapping the storyline with a faux female empowerment theme he forgives himself for the cosplay fetish videogame he puts on screen. At the very least, the action is well executed and fun to look at. In fact it’s so well done that you could skip the “real world” segments and not miss much. The ensemble cast is uniformly stiff probably because Snyder didn’t demand much out of them and mostly just wanted them to look sexy and cool during the endless “money shots” and upskirts he had planned. Personally, I’ve always been a fan of Snyder and thought his cinematic version of Watchmen was an underrated gem. The aptly named Sucker Punch is nothing more than Chicago meets Cosplay, nerd porn that will send launch leagues of teenage boys into puberty. For the rest of us, well there are better ways to spend 2 hours.

D