Summary and Review of Sucker Punch

Zach Snyder has once again shown us the beautiful ways of making a film. He is the director noted for also making great films such as: Watchmen (2009) and 300 (2006). It is clear this man definitely knows how to make a movie. However, this review thinks that Sucker Punch is not quite up to par with his other great hits.

The Trailer-
When watching the trailer I found myself at the edge of my seat, seeing the stylized form that Snyder has become famous for. I certainly was excited to see the movie, and would certainly enjoy the “nerd-gasm” that would certainly follow. Beautiful women, action, blades, guns, dragons, it all looked very epic.

Summary-
Baby Doll, played by Emily Browning, is sent to a mental institution after her mother dies and, presumably her uncle, kills her younger sister. Here at the institution she must create her own fantasy world to escape the harsh realities that she faces. Dealing with her problems in ways unseen, literally, before on screen. She and three other girls make a plan of escape, and try to execute this daring plan in order to win their freedom.

The movie itself feels as though it runs out of steam half way through. Sure the scenes are quite epic on their own, however, it drags around the halfway marker. It is also slow to get into the scenes which means it has quite a bit of exposition that the audience member must sit and shift through. However, it is not a hard movie to understand. Snyder clearly illustrates the ability to show an audience what it needs to see.

Not to say I was only in the theater for the action, no, the story of survival was most definitely there and intriguing. Sucker Punch definitely left me feeling inspired by what we can do with technology and the unending supply of imagination locked within each of us. However, the story in general felt unfinished, or rather, unfilled. Like some detail was missing half way through the movie that I may have simply missed or wanted to see myself. The ending felt like a rug had been pulled from under me, and it felt cliche. Yet, I want to stress that the main idea of this movie is clearly unique.

Surprisingly Baby Doll (Browning) does not say very much in the movie. A few words here and there which make me wonder both about the script and Browning’s abilities. In fact it feels as though the dialogue is set to a minimum, which can be a good and bad thing. On the one hand, you set the movie to be full of action and a sense of “no filler” is accomplished. On the other hand, it has the audience wondering why the main character does not say more. All in all, the acting was fine. Nothing bad to note on any of the actors.

Visually, Snyder is one of the greatest visual directors, film makers, story tellers, of our time. It is tremendously powerful and amazing to watch what he can do and what he can create with a film. I certainly cannot wait to see what he comes up with next, and I am positive it will blow my mind.

Sucker Punch has some good acting, nothing phenomenal, but the movie wasn’t focused on the acting per se. The action scenes were terrific and have once again set the bar high for the next film and future directors. The story, although unique, felt a little empty as far as substance.

Final score: 3.5 out of 5

I think this is a movie worth seeing. I do not quite know whether one should look toward buying this film when it comes out to DVD. I do know that film makers from all over should definitely watch this film and learn from it. Although not Snyder’s best film, we all know what he is capable of and certainly hope his next one is as visually stimulating as his past creations.