Director: Zack Snyder (2011)
Starring: Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Oscar Isaac
Mild spoilers, but you know you want them (or you wouldn’t be reading this).
It is not often that a work of cinema manages to combine different elements, all fundamental to the art, in such a clever way.
Sucker Punch, released in 2011, is a much unexpected surprise. Following Snyder’s epic formula of creating very visual films combined with heavy soundtracks and scantily clad people running about, this one is clearly one step above his previous releases.
The film follows the story of Baby Doll, a twenty year old girl put in an asylum by her step-father, and her mental and physical journey towards escape. A frequently-explored drama themed motion picture, one would think. Hardly.
Sucker Punch is a film about escapism, presented in a seldom seen manner, by combining elements of drama with those of a typical action blockbuster release. The story progresses through constant shifts of reality, as Baby Doll relies on her imagination to find a way out of all that binds her.
Simple a plot as it may seem, this film delivers it flawlessly, with brilliant transitions between realities, and a highly allegorical imagery that, from the very start, gives you some sense of what’s going on, while keeping you confused, yet hooked, on what is to come.
Though quite different in style and approach, this film reminds me of a more accessible, less arcane Mulholland Dr. Why?, you ask. Because, I answer, it has all the basic elements upon which Mulholland Dr. was based upon: a dual dream-reality atmosphere, and a main character that shapes her real world, which she can’t handle, into an idealised dream, by combining what she wishes was into what is. To this we add the eye candy (no girl on girl action on this one, but girls in skimpy clothing nonetheless) and an overall mindfucking feeling as you’re still not sure about what’s happening until about half way through.
Coincidences, I believe, are intentional: the allegory of the “key” is just too obvious, and one could argue that many other things (the gun, the knife, the abuse, the guilt) were also highly influenced by Mul’ Dr. That said, Snyder is no Lynch. But the outcome is still surprising, and much more humanistic than I even thought a Snyder release to be.
300 was, by all means, an epic film – but the storyline came close to unrealistic ridicule. Sucker Punch plays in a different arena. It skilfully combines reality with exaggeration, but is always careful enough to place these two in their due place. The result is the audience being rewarded with a film that has just about everything to satisfy their cinematographic needs.
For me, the film’s main fault is the unseasoned acting. Whereas we get very good performances from most of the cast (Abbie Cornish being the clear driving force, decently backed up by Emily Browning), we also get very formulaic approaches from Vanessa Hudgens and Oscar Isaac, which are, in a way, necessary to build the film’s atmosphere, but also make it veer into the predictable.
In short, Sucker Punch has it all to please just about everyone – and yet, it won’t. Being a hybrid clash of underground with mainstream, it will probably get caught up in the criticism of purists offended by the film’s faults, and the ignorants’ inability to see past the eye-candy.
Watch it and form your own opinion.
My rating: 4.4/5
Epic. Visually stunning. Intelligent. Slightly cliché. Not for everyone.
