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Sucker Punch is - huh. This is the weirdest review I've ever written. Basically: if you like Zack Snyder movies, or wanted to see it, you should give it a shot. Otherwise, you should read this first. (That's not a knock; it's just...forewarned is forearmed and all that.)
"Each of us has our own angel. They are always around us, even if we never see them. Sometimes they speak to us as an old man, or a little girl, but they will come to us as whoever they must to make sure we hear them. They will shout to us through demons if they have to."
Sucker Punch is, essentially, a really great general theme - the only person in charge of your story is you, good or bad - wrapped in a really exploitative outer shell. It's like a delicious caramel center to a burnt popcorn ball. The thing is, you have to get through the burnt popcorn ball to get to the caramel. And the burnt popcorn ball makes you hate men.
It's essentially three movies: A) features a young woman (Emily Browning) who, after the deaths of her mother and little sister, ends up in a home for the criminally insane thanks to the machinations of her stepfather and a crooked hospital chief of staff; B) features Babydoll, the newest dancer in a burlesque troupe fronted by a gunrunner/drug dealer/all-around criminal asshole who's pimping the dancers out; and C) features a band of five kickass female warrior who fight dragons, demon samurai and steampunk Nazi zombies.
I will say that again: STEAMPUNK NAZI ZOMBIES.
(If nothing else, it's worth it to see the movie - on someone else's dime, if necessary - for the visual effects, which are fucking incredible. I'm still torn about whether or not Browning's initial introduction to Scott Glenn, who's sort of like her Obi-Wan, and the ensuing demonic 15-foot samurai fight, or the whole steampunk WWII zombie battle are my favorite parts. Or the thing with the dragon. Seriously, if this doesn't at least get nominated for an Oscar for visual effects, I will write a letter, because HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS DRAGON FIGHT.)
And yeah, C) bleeds pretty clearly into B), but you'll be a tiny bit surprised about A) and B) in relation to each other. I'm deliberately trying not to say too much so as not to spoil it, but I also...want to warn for the skeevy bits? Of which there are many? And I do not mean the kickass fighter costumes, because--I mean. Come on. It's Emily Browning in a Japanese schoolgirl uniform, armed with a katana and a gun decorated with cellphone charms. HOW IS THAT NOT GREAT?
But there are skeevy bits. About the only guy in this who's not a total rapey asshole - and yeah, I mean that literally, I'm not using "rapey" for anything but literal effect - is Scott Glenn, who gets to drop sage advice stolen from film and literature, and look fucking amazing in a leather Captain Jack greatcoat during the WWII briefing. Okay, and Jon Hamm, who's set up to be terrifying - but that's more of a Macguffin, since it turns out he's just a guy doing his job and he frankly expresses disbelief and unsettlement to Carla Guigino during his last scene. (Also, he is really hot. Dear internet hivemind who's cast him as Batman: RIGHT THERE WITH YOU.) Literally every other man is a mook or just - the kind of guy you want to see with a knee on his throat, you know? This is not a movie with shades of gray in terms of character.
(Browning: "I had a very tame and mild love scene with Jon Hamm. It was like heavy breathing and making out. It was hardly a sex scene… I think that it’s great for this young girl to actually take control of her own sexuality. Well, the MPAA doesn’t like that. They don’t think a girl should ever be in control of her own sexuality because they’re from the Stone Age. I don’t know what the fuck is going on and I will openly criticize it, happily. So essentially, they got Zack to edit the scene and make it look less like she’s into it. And Zack said he edited it down to the point where it looked like he was taking advantage of her. That’s the only way he could get a PG-13 (rating) and he said, ‘I don’t want to send that message.’ So they cut the scene! I’m torn. I want an ‘R’ (rating) because we can get a lot of cool scenes into it, but then I like the idea of younger girls being able to see it.")
I really did like the movie, though. I actually like Snyder movies - yeah, even 300 and Watchmen, SHUT UP - though I freely admit there are effed-up parts in both films. (My favorite of his films is still the Dawn of the Dead remake, but James Gunn wrote the script on that one; Snyder just contributed to the story. And now I'm wondering how that animated movie with the warrior owls went.) Visually, it's amazing, and I actually agree with the central theme of the movie:
We're the ones telling our own stories. We choose to be imprisoned, and we choose to be free. No one tells your story but you. Sometimes we forget we're the storyteller, and we get caught. Things go bad. But when you remember, you have all the weapons you need. So FIGHT.
Fighting is important, in Sucker Punch. Babydoll ends up in the institution because she tries to kill her stepfather to save herself and her younger sister; she holds a knife to the cook's throat her first day at the theater, when he's attacking Rocket. It's her idea to get out, and she's the one who uses her dance to distract the men so the other girls can get what they need. And it's Babydoll, in the end, who realizes what she has to do: that she's had the fifth thing all along.
("You must gather five things: a map, fire, a knife, and a key." "What's the fifth thing?" "The fifth is a mystery. Only you can find it at the end of your journey, And you will reach it through deep sacrifice, leading to a perfect victory.")
(Cassidy, in the last volume of Preacher: "Isn't it funny when you think your story's going one way, but it turns out it's been going another way all along?")
I cannot say enough good things about Emily Browning, btw. You guys! Why didn't anyone tell me? She is fucking AWESOME. She is hot as hell, and manages to be innocent and dangerous all at the same time. I am now really cranky I didn't see The Uninvited in theaters, because it featured her and Arielle Kebbel (Lexi on TVD, for those of you who think she's great, WHICH SHOULD BE EVERYONE). I left with an enormous crush on her - not to mention Jena Malone, who plays Rocket, with a butch short haircut and a lot of eyeliner and a BFG. Vanessa Hudgens does not have a hell of a lot to do as Blondie, but she's great with a gatling gun. Amber Valetta does an amazing job of making you want to sock Sweet Pea for the first half, then switching it up and making you see where she's coming from in regards to defending her sister and trying not to hope too hard for fear they're not gonna make it out. And Jamie Cheung! You guys, Jamie from Real World: San Diego! I know she's been acting for a while, but let's spend a few seconds talking about her dressed as a WWII nurse in hot pants, sucking on a lolly and KILLING STEAMPUNK NAZI ZOMBIES WITH HER GIANT FUCKING MECHA.
(If fandom doesn't spontaneously start putting these five in all-new adventures of their own, I will be disappointed.)
This movie's a lot of things. It's a quest game. It's women in prison. It's trashy 1960s movies with women as objects. It's a 2011 movie where women look sexy and handle their own shit despite all the men in their way. It's also Snyder's way to make about ten movies at once, including science fiction (robots with handguns!), fantasy (HOLY SHIT THAT DRAGON), a samurai movie (the aforementioned Babydoll-vs-demonic-samurai fight), and war movie (steampunk. Nazi. zombies). One review calls it "'Kill Bill' meets 'Inception'", which is not the worst description I've ever heard.
Also, this movie has the best soundtrack I've heard since Jennifer's Body. Soundtracks are like anthologies, whether they're short stories or TV shows: you get good ones, you get bad ones. There aren't actually any bad ones here. There are ones I don't like as much as the others, but even those? ARE STILL GOOD. Seriously, it's worth it for the remix of Bjork and Skunk Anansie's "Army of Me", and Emily Browning's "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)". No one told me Emily Browning could sing! As can Guigino!
Like I said: really delicious caramel of a center theme, skanky exploitation issues as burnt popcorn outer shell. If you wanted to see it from the trailers, you should go with that; if you're okay with Zack Snyder movies in general, you should be fine. But if you don't think you want to deal with any of that, I don't think it'll be skin off anyone's nose if you don't go. I meant what I said about forewarned being forearmed.
"Each of us has our own angel. They are always around us, even if we never see them. Sometimes they speak to us as an old man, or a little girl, but they will come to us as whoever they must to make sure we hear them. They will shout to us through demons if they have to."
Sucker Punch is, essentially, a really great general theme - the only person in charge of your story is you, good or bad - wrapped in a really exploitative outer shell. It's like a delicious caramel center to a burnt popcorn ball. The thing is, you have to get through the burnt popcorn ball to get to the caramel. And the burnt popcorn ball makes you hate men.
It's essentially three movies: A) features a young woman (Emily Browning) who, after the deaths of her mother and little sister, ends up in a home for the criminally insane thanks to the machinations of her stepfather and a crooked hospital chief of staff; B) features Babydoll, the newest dancer in a burlesque troupe fronted by a gunrunner/drug dealer/all-around criminal asshole who's pimping the dancers out; and C) features a band of five kickass female warrior who fight dragons, demon samurai and steampunk Nazi zombies.
I will say that again: STEAMPUNK NAZI ZOMBIES.
(If nothing else, it's worth it to see the movie - on someone else's dime, if necessary - for the visual effects, which are fucking incredible. I'm still torn about whether or not Browning's initial introduction to Scott Glenn, who's sort of like her Obi-Wan, and the ensuing demonic 15-foot samurai fight, or the whole steampunk WWII zombie battle are my favorite parts. Or the thing with the dragon. Seriously, if this doesn't at least get nominated for an Oscar for visual effects, I will write a letter, because HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS DRAGON FIGHT.)
And yeah, C) bleeds pretty clearly into B), but you'll be a tiny bit surprised about A) and B) in relation to each other. I'm deliberately trying not to say too much so as not to spoil it, but I also...want to warn for the skeevy bits? Of which there are many? And I do not mean the kickass fighter costumes, because--I mean. Come on. It's Emily Browning in a Japanese schoolgirl uniform, armed with a katana and a gun decorated with cellphone charms. HOW IS THAT NOT GREAT?
But there are skeevy bits. About the only guy in this who's not a total rapey asshole - and yeah, I mean that literally, I'm not using "rapey" for anything but literal effect - is Scott Glenn, who gets to drop sage advice stolen from film and literature, and look fucking amazing in a leather Captain Jack greatcoat during the WWII briefing. Okay, and Jon Hamm, who's set up to be terrifying - but that's more of a Macguffin, since it turns out he's just a guy doing his job and he frankly expresses disbelief and unsettlement to Carla Guigino during his last scene. (Also, he is really hot. Dear internet hivemind who's cast him as Batman: RIGHT THERE WITH YOU.) Literally every other man is a mook or just - the kind of guy you want to see with a knee on his throat, you know? This is not a movie with shades of gray in terms of character.
(Browning: "I had a very tame and mild love scene with Jon Hamm. It was like heavy breathing and making out. It was hardly a sex scene… I think that it’s great for this young girl to actually take control of her own sexuality. Well, the MPAA doesn’t like that. They don’t think a girl should ever be in control of her own sexuality because they’re from the Stone Age. I don’t know what the fuck is going on and I will openly criticize it, happily. So essentially, they got Zack to edit the scene and make it look less like she’s into it. And Zack said he edited it down to the point where it looked like he was taking advantage of her. That’s the only way he could get a PG-13 (rating) and he said, ‘I don’t want to send that message.’ So they cut the scene! I’m torn. I want an ‘R’ (rating) because we can get a lot of cool scenes into it, but then I like the idea of younger girls being able to see it.")
I really did like the movie, though. I actually like Snyder movies - yeah, even 300 and Watchmen, SHUT UP - though I freely admit there are effed-up parts in both films. (My favorite of his films is still the Dawn of the Dead remake, but James Gunn wrote the script on that one; Snyder just contributed to the story. And now I'm wondering how that animated movie with the warrior owls went.) Visually, it's amazing, and I actually agree with the central theme of the movie:
We're the ones telling our own stories. We choose to be imprisoned, and we choose to be free. No one tells your story but you. Sometimes we forget we're the storyteller, and we get caught. Things go bad. But when you remember, you have all the weapons you need. So FIGHT.
Fighting is important, in Sucker Punch. Babydoll ends up in the institution because she tries to kill her stepfather to save herself and her younger sister; she holds a knife to the cook's throat her first day at the theater, when he's attacking Rocket. It's her idea to get out, and she's the one who uses her dance to distract the men so the other girls can get what they need. And it's Babydoll, in the end, who realizes what she has to do: that she's had the fifth thing all along.
("You must gather five things: a map, fire, a knife, and a key." "What's the fifth thing?" "The fifth is a mystery. Only you can find it at the end of your journey, And you will reach it through deep sacrifice, leading to a perfect victory.")
(Cassidy, in the last volume of Preacher: "Isn't it funny when you think your story's going one way, but it turns out it's been going another way all along?")
I cannot say enough good things about Emily Browning, btw. You guys! Why didn't anyone tell me? She is fucking AWESOME. She is hot as hell, and manages to be innocent and dangerous all at the same time. I am now really cranky I didn't see The Uninvited in theaters, because it featured her and Arielle Kebbel (Lexi on TVD, for those of you who think she's great, WHICH SHOULD BE EVERYONE). I left with an enormous crush on her - not to mention Jena Malone, who plays Rocket, with a butch short haircut and a lot of eyeliner and a BFG. Vanessa Hudgens does not have a hell of a lot to do as Blondie, but she's great with a gatling gun. Amber Valetta does an amazing job of making you want to sock Sweet Pea for the first half, then switching it up and making you see where she's coming from in regards to defending her sister and trying not to hope too hard for fear they're not gonna make it out. And Jamie Cheung! You guys, Jamie from Real World: San Diego! I know she's been acting for a while, but let's spend a few seconds talking about her dressed as a WWII nurse in hot pants, sucking on a lolly and KILLING STEAMPUNK NAZI ZOMBIES WITH HER GIANT FUCKING MECHA.
(If fandom doesn't spontaneously start putting these five in all-new adventures of their own, I will be disappointed.)
This movie's a lot of things. It's a quest game. It's women in prison. It's trashy 1960s movies with women as objects. It's a 2011 movie where women look sexy and handle their own shit despite all the men in their way. It's also Snyder's way to make about ten movies at once, including science fiction (robots with handguns!), fantasy (HOLY SHIT THAT DRAGON), a samurai movie (the aforementioned Babydoll-vs-demonic-samurai fight), and war movie (steampunk. Nazi. zombies). One review calls it "'Kill Bill' meets 'Inception'", which is not the worst description I've ever heard.
Also, this movie has the best soundtrack I've heard since Jennifer's Body. Soundtracks are like anthologies, whether they're short stories or TV shows: you get good ones, you get bad ones. There aren't actually any bad ones here. There are ones I don't like as much as the others, but even those? ARE STILL GOOD. Seriously, it's worth it for the remix of Bjork and Skunk Anansie's "Army of Me", and Emily Browning's "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)". No one told me Emily Browning could sing! As can Guigino!
Like I said: really delicious caramel of a center theme, skanky exploitation issues as burnt popcorn outer shell. If you wanted to see it from the trailers, you should go with that; if you're okay with Zack Snyder movies in general, you should be fine. But if you don't think you want to deal with any of that, I don't think it'll be skin off anyone's nose if you don't go. I meant what I said about forewarned being forearmed.
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(THE OWL MOVIE is ridiculous and awesome at the same time! And very, very pretty, as Snyder does.)
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