Sucker Punch - Movie Review by theJo

MOVIE REVIEW | Sucker Punch is a movie that splits between being a film-noir type of thriller, and an action-packed superhero movie, but ultimately fails at both.

The main character, who appears though she's in her early teenage years, gets locked away at an insane asylum early in the movie, where the film makers indulge in letting her surrounding abuse and exploit her in all ways they could think of, as the movie progresses. She goes through her struggles in some kind of parallel fantasy world, however, (Alice in Wonderland, anyone?) where she and her fellow inmates (all teenage, to early 20's girls) get to wear skimpy costumes, shoot massive guns and deal out kicks and punches to nazi zombies and other generic villains of modern day action flicks. Without completely spoiling the ending too much, it's not much of a pleasant nor rewarding one either, unlike what you normally could expect from a Hollywood blockbuster movie.

Alice?

I’m sure Sucker Punch probably has an appeal to 14 year old boys (as well as creepy old guys, assumingly), but to me everything about this movie just feels all dead wrong. – For starters: odd choice of character for an action movie - or if you will, unsuitable character design for its actress. Watching the first (dark and gloomy) part of the movie, I assumed it was only meant as a prologue to the “real”, action driven movie, that would take place at a later time, and thus have a more mature heroine. Needless to say I was wrong, and instead I kept on thinking “is this the actual movie?!” Kind of like putting a slim fitted catsuit on a ten year old and have her play Catwoman - which would just seem misplaced and really, really odd.

T.A.T.U. - a similar oddity

And the whole action world itself just appears completely random and clichéd, and at the same time, the dark, “reality” portions of the movie fails at portraying a place intended to be shocking, intimidating and discouraging. Instead the most prominent effect being an indulgent tease for the same nasty ol’ paedo’s who found T.A.T.U.’s… uhmm…“music” appealing back in the late 90’s.

The poor fella who had to edit this whole thing together, quite expectedly, left one hell of a sloppy mess of a movie behind him.

Instead of Sucker Punch, watch:

• Alice in Wonderland (for the original thing – or better yet; play the American McGee’s “Alice” PC games)
• X-Men: First Class (for a smoother transition between Nazis and superheroes)
• Azumi (for a straight up slash fest with young girls that really kick ass)
• The Machinist (for a straight up dark, mind bending thriller, that also creeps into the brain of a mentally "challenged" – quite superb movie, imo)

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