Review: Sucker Punch

Sucker Punch (2011)

Genre: Action

Format: Theatrical Release

Director: Zack Snyder

I love Zack Snyder for one and only one reason - the fantastic remake of Dawn of the Dead - until now. Most people probably give him accolades for 300 and Watchmen but I found those two movies to be too visually-excessive while leaving me with a huge void when it comes to the emotional pay-off. With Sucker Punch, Snyder have found the right balance between stunning his audience with over-the-top, stylish visuals and giving them enough story content.

Sucker Punch is a movie about a young woman who was admitted into a mental asylum by her evil stepfather. While there, she began to frequent a fantasy world where she must complete a quest to collect a number of important items that will assist her in escaping the mental institution. There is a gimmick of a story within a story within a story in the film though the real impact of the reality of the situation is reserved until the unpredictable finale. The thing about the storyline is that it makes little to no sense sometimes, as if things just happen for the reason to entertain the audience with wild and varied action set pieces. Then again, there is a deep and thoughtful message applied to the whole scenario, making the movie meaningful in a sort of crazy way. It is hard to explain the movie than it is to feel it. For all of the superhuman feats shown by the lovely ladies of the asylum during the action sequences, their frailties outside of those scenes become more and more apparent as the film progresses. To release the energy of high fantasy and then turn it around into a thought-provoking drama is something that takes some degree of genius and for that, I really appreciate the maturity applied to the overall tale.

The movie is filled with a lot of CG and though they don't look all that convincing, they fit the film's aesthetics perfectly. Even outside of the fantasy situations, the movie maintains a moody, artificial look to it. The action scenes are a lot of fun to watch and the fact that there are a wide variety of enemies and situations encountered throughout the movie, you will at least enjoy some of them if not all if you are into the genre. The movie doesn't waste any time moving you along to the next grandiose battle when one is over and done with so there is hardly any dull moment. Then, there is this really odd transition mechanics that transports you between the multiple layers of storytelling - it is so perplexing and mesmerizing at the same time because it doesn't even try to explain itself. This is probably one of the main reasons why the movie is so intriguing to begin with.

I really wanted to watch Insidious tonight but my significant other insisted on Sucker Punch. When you are in love, you have to make sacrifices but I am just glad that this movie ended up being quite entertaining. It is  pretty as well as pretty weird and it is brilliant by trying to appear dumbed down. It uses a lot of established conventions found in other action movies but it is unlike anything you have ever seen before because of its clever story framing device. Sucker Punch is very unique and I am definitely very impressed by it.

RATING: 4 out of 5