Sucker Punch - Not as Bad as They Say, but........ by SHINYGOODGUY

CINEMA

Sucker Punch - Not as Bad as They Say, but........

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POSTED BY: SHINYGOODGUY
UPDATED: Saturday, July 23, 2011 17:43
SHORT URL: http://bit.ly/fWedYg
VIEWED: 11075
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Friday, March 25, 2011 9:37 PM

SHINYGOODGUY

Ok, I heard it sucked (from a radio announcer) and that it was "beyond awful." I have yet to read one of those articles all the way through, but here goes my 2 cents.

I thought, when I first saw the trailer from Comic-Con, that this would be an event. A stunning and revolutionary film, the trailer was that awesome. I waited with great anticipation, my little "geek" heart going boom, boom, boom at the thought of what concotions Zack Snyder had in store for us Sci-fi Fantasy geeks drooling at the thought that anime and live-action would be married in a film version of Sailor Moon meets "300."

But Zack forgot to bring his directing chops. Sure the visuals were stunning. The story, in theory, was a good idea that was abandoned and left for dead. It desperately needed a script doctor. Back to Zack's lack of direction in this film. What was he thinking? Was he so focused on getting the visuals right that he thought that to be enough. The actors: Well, if I were to characterize their performances in a word it would be - uneven. Scene after scene I watched as the actors read, acted and played at being their individual characters. There were few moments of true, normal storytelling. A visionary director produces a visionary film, in breath and depth. It seemed to me that he was telling us what was happening to our heroes rather than showing us. That sounds redundant, but you know what I mean. The script was somewhat pedestrian - like a first draft. "Tell mom, I love her," says a wounded one - which sounded about as convincing as a phone commercial. What followed was perhaps the best moment of acting in the film up until then. That's what I mean by uneven, which surprised me for a Zack Snyder film. Both '300' and Watchmen, albeit quirky, were well acted if nothing else. That's one of the reasons why I was excited. You see, Zack's track record, two well-received films that created buzz, and rightfully so, as much for the performances as the stunning visuals and well developed storylines.

And then it occurred to me. This story, Sucker Punch, was written and directed by Snyder. Both '300' and Watchmen were stories written, or at least conceived by others. Sucker Punch was his first venture into the realm of "written and directed by." Is that an excuse? No, a reality. Despite how much I love Serenity, it was Joss' first try and proved to be an overwhelming task that damn-near devoured him. In this case it proved to be more than daunting for Snyder. It was more because of the execution rather than the concept, and the dialogue. But too, the acting. Emily Browning, as beautiful as she is was, at times, flat and uninspired in a role that could have defined her as an action star. Yep, she was good in the action sequences (Snyder is fantastic as an action director), actually she was better than good - she was fantastic. But a sci-fi fantasy movie geek does not live on action alone. He needs an epic tale to transport him to another realm, convincingly. I didn't feel emotionally involved with her character because Snyder didn't challenge her to do more with her emotion. This is the lead character Zack, you need that above all else. Here co-star, Abbie Cornish (Sweet Pea) carried that weight and nearly stole the movie. Hell, even Jon Hamm (and Carla Gugino), who was in approximately 5 mintues of the film showed more emotion than half the ladies in this film. To use a baseball term, this was a high fly ball that sounded good when it left the bat, but bounced off the wall when everyone thought it was gone for a homerun. Disappointing that the home team finished the game tied.

What was good about it? The actions sequences were inspired, I kept waiting for the next transition into the dreamworld in Baby Doll's mind. They used some rather clever devices to kick-start those transitions that led to the better part of the movie - the action. Fanboys will be pleased about that, but that was it. Was I expecting Shakespeare? No, but the visuals presented at Comic-con held out promise for a much-needed vehicle in the world of cinema - the next Star Wars type phenomenon. Before tonight, I really thought Sucker Punch would set box office records rivaling the astronomical income of Avatar, but I was sorely disappointed. Sucker Punch gets a good, but no WOW!

SGG

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Friday, March 25, 2011 9:58 PM

PHOENIXROSE

You think you know--what's to come, what you are. You haven't even begun.

(There are some spoilers here. Though the movie isn't really that story-heavy, I thought I should give some warning about that.)

This movie was clearly Action Porn for Geeks. Beautiful women in fantastical fight sequences involving 1) Mecha-samurai 2) Steampunk Nazi soldiers 3) Dragons and 4) Robots with no faces on a train. Dude. This was a guy trying to cram all the coolest things he could think of into the same movie.
I would actually argue that the story was almost entirely shown, with not much told; the first ten or so minutes didn't even have dialogue, it was strictly visual. This had the unfortunate effect of losing the thread of the story quite a lot, since it went from venue to venue without a lot of exposition about why the whorehouse scenario existed and that sort of thing. It was a little jarring in that way, but the action sequences were well worth sitting through.
You mention that you found Baby flat and that Sweet Pea kinda stole the movie. Well, Baby was a little flat, but I thought the first bit, the one without any dialogue, was quite high-impact, mostly because of her eyes. Bear in mind also, that by the end this was declared to be Sweet Pea's story; she may have been meant to be a dual focus.
When I saw the previews, I thought that it was going to be mostly elaborate fantasy battles taking place within the protagonist's mind, either to work through whatever drove her mad and put her in the asylum, or to represent breaking out of the asylum itself. I would have preferred that it go that way, without the extra layer that ended up being where most of the film took place. I was looking for a gorgeous metaphor in which girls kicked ass. Yeah, that was there, but it should really have been the focus of the film rather than an occasional sequence, in my opinion.

I do not need the written code of a spiritual belief to act like a decent human being.

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Saturday, March 26, 2011 7:17 PM

GWEK

I just got back from seeing it. It kinda reminds me of the comic book world in the 1990s, when the artists became so popular that they were like "Phhht, we can draw pretty pictures? What do we need writers for? We'll write our own stuff."

It's true that the visuals tell the story, and carry the story--and they are quite cool. But part of my problem with it is the visuals themselves. Unless I'm mis-reading it, the majority of the action sequences take place allegorically within Baby's mind... so why would Baby be dreaming up dragons and samurai and steampunk Germans (NOT Nazis... this was WWI) and robot dudes on a space train (shades of TRAIN JOB, anyone? Anyone?). These things are all outside the experience and mindset of a 20-year-old girl in... when was it supposed to be set? The 1950s? I know it's silly to look for "reality" in a movie like this, but that factor sort of bounced me out of it early.

www.stillflying.net: "Here's how it might have been..."

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Sunday, March 27, 2011 5:24 AM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.

I think the main problem was that Snyder came up with the visuals first then tried to construct a story around them rather than from the other direction. Then he failed to construct a coherent story.

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Monday, March 28, 2011 6:42 AM

SHINYGOODGUY

Quote:
Originally posted by PhoenixRose:
(There are some spoilers here. Though the movie isn't really that story-heavy, I thought I should give some warning about that.)

This movie was clearly Action Porn for Geeks. Beautiful women in fantastical fight sequences involving 1) Mecha-samurai 2) Steampunk Nazi soldiers 3) Dragons and 4) Robots with no faces on a train. Dude. This was a guy trying to cram all the coolest things he could think of into the same movie.
I would actually argue that the story was almost entirely shown, with not much told; the first ten or so minutes didn't even have dialogue, it was strictly visual. This had the unfortunate effect of losing the thread of the story quite a lot, since it went from venue to venue without a lot of exposition about why the whorehouse scenario existed and that sort of thing. It was a little jarring in that way, but the action sequences were well worth sitting through.
You mention that you found Baby flat and that Sweet Pea kinda stole the movie. Well, Baby was a little flat, but I thought the first bit, the one without any dialogue, was quite high-impact, mostly because of her eyes. Bear in mind also, that by the end this was declared to be Sweet Pea's story; she may have been meant to be a dual focus.
When I saw the previews, I thought that it was going to be mostly elaborate fantasy battles taking place within the protagonist's mind, either to work through whatever drove her mad and put her in the asylum, or to represent breaking out of the asylum itself. I would have preferred that it go that way, without the extra layer that ended up being where most of the film took place. I was looking for a gorgeous metaphor in which girls kicked ass. Yeah, that was there, but it should really have been the focus of the film rather than an occasional sequence, in my opinion.

I do not need the written code of a spiritual belief to act like a decent human being.

Hey Phoenix, we're on the same wavelength here. Although I think that most that have criticized the movie for being "geek porn" may have missed some strongpoints within the movie. Granted it was very Sailor Moon-ish, manga, anime with scantily-glad nubile females running about, but there was so much more. I actually loved the opening sequence with just music and the actors using their facial expressions - and, in particular Emily Browning's eyes, which were extremely expressive and filled with emotion - (to me it effectively set the tone of the piece), but the dialogue and direction were lacking throughout the movie especially during the Bordello/Burlesque sequences. I too would have preferred that Snyder take our heroes through the fantasy realm of the girls kicking ass or actions sequences interspersed with scenes from the real world, and more bubble-gum philosophy from Scott Glenn's character the wise man.

BTW I didn't want to go into too much detail for fear of unvailing too many spoilers for those who have yet to see it.

When you talk about Sweet Pea being one of the dual focus, you are right. There was a very interesting moment when we first meet her, as Madam Gorski begins her session, when Sweet Pea is dressed as Baby Doll. She makes a statement as to the whole scenario of dressing her as Baby Doll. And in the dressing room just as they begin to plot their escape, Snyder tries to make his statement through the character. It was at that moment that he was stating his case about the Sucker Punch. It almost went unnoticed. Unfortunately some of the narrating was a bit heavyhanded, but that's the chance you take when making a movie. I remember T2's narrating being borderline cheesy. I too wanted to see more of Baby Doll's fantasy world (I especially liked the Dragon sequence, but not when they slit the throat of the baby dragon. That, to me, was pointless - within the context of the story).

What I was hoping to convey was that it was not the total disaster that critics were making it out to be. That distinction remains with The Last Airbender. Now thats' a horrible movie - bar none.

BTW I love your signature.

SGG

"Osgood, I'm a man"
"Nobody's perfect"
Some Like It Hot (1959)

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Monday, March 28, 2011 7:02 AM

SHINYGOODGUY

Quote:
Originally posted by GWEK:
I just got back from seeing it. It kinda reminds me of the comic book world in the 1990s, when the artists became so popular that they were like "Phhht, we can draw pretty pictures? What do we need writers for? We'll write our own stuff."

It's true that the visuals tell the story, and carry the story--and they are quite cool. But part of my problem with it is the visuals themselves. Unless I'm mis-reading it, the majority of the action sequences take place allegorically within Baby's mind... so why would Baby be dreaming up dragons and samurai and steampunk Germans (NOT Nazis... this was WWI) and robot dudes on a space train (shades of TRAIN JOB, anyone? Anyone?). These things are all outside the experience and mindset of a 20-year-old girl in... when was it supposed to be set? The 1950s? I know it's silly to look for "reality" in a movie like this, but that factor sort of bounced me out of it early.

www.stillflying.net: "Here's how it might have been..."

Yes, it supposedly set in the 60s, when lobotomies were all the rage. Train Job? Absolutely.

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Monday, March 28, 2011 7:04 AM

SHINYGOODGUY

Quote:
Originally posted by ecgordon:
I think the main problem was that Snyder came up with the visuals first then tried to construct a story around them rather than from the other direction. Then he failed to construct a coherent story.

You make a good point. But what he needed was a good script. Some people can draw, while others are good at writing.

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Monday, March 28, 2011 2:22 PM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.

I've decided I want to see it again, because in thinking about it since Saturday I've come to the conclusion it may be better than I first thought. It has to do with the "sucker punch" itself, which is that it is Sweet Pea's story instead of Babydoll's, and that it is possible all of the fantasy sequences are things she has thought of afterwards as she is telling the story to someone else.

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Monday, March 28, 2011 3:00 PM

SINGATE

Quote:
Originally posted by ecgordon:
I've decided I want to see it again, because in thinking about it since Saturday I've come to the conclusion it may be better than I first thought. It has to do with the "sucker punch" itself, which is that it is Sweet Pea's story instead of Babydoll's, and that it is possible all of the fantasy sequences are things she has thought of afterwards as she is telling the story to someone else.

I agree with you about the actual Sucker Punch. Clearly everyone is supposed to think its Baby Doll's story until the last few minutes. Some people may make the mistake of thinking what happens to Baby Doll at the end is the real Sucker Punch.

I have to disagree with you about the fantasy elements coming from Sweet Pea. All of that took place within Baby Doll's mind. The bulk of the movie is her creating this fantasy about how they were able to help Sweet Pea escape. None of her cohorts know anything about this. She is only in the chair for a few moments but her mind creates this winding tale of heroics that ends in self sacifice. Along the line of "your whole life flashing in front of your eyes".

I am a bit surprised this movie did not do better at the box office, at least in it's opening weekend. Apparently everyone listened to the critics. Surely sci-fi geeks and guys who like action, hot girls, and explosions should be in for this kind of film. Heck, just on reputation alone Snyder should have drawn in a bigger crowd.

_________________________________________________

We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.

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Monday, March 28, 2011 3:55 PM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

The clips I've seen look visually stunning, but what I've heard makes me pretty sure I *won't* be blowing a wad of cash to go see this at the theatre. I'll likely rent it on Blu-Ray when it comes out, though.

Talked to one of my friends yesterday who went to see it. He said he walked out, turned to his buddy who was with him, and said, "So did the top stop spinning or not?"

One thing I have learned, though: Any movie with blurbs that claim it will "blow your mind" is almost guaranteed to leave my mind thoroughly un-blown.

But it does look beautiful.

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

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Wednesday, March 30, 2011 11:14 AM

LILI

Doing it backwards. Walking up the downslide.

Yeah, it was fun to watch, but I had to not think too much about it.
I agree with others on the whorehouse bit; what exactly was that representing? For example, I think we can safely assume that no inmate sat in an orderly's lap and stole his lighter while he watched another inmate dancing. Also can probably assume that Blue did not threaten Dr. Gorski or shoot anyone in the head. The battle sequences had the obvious symbolism of taking what was needed from the "enemy," but the dancing and all that lost me and made the actual story and actual sequence of events difficult to follow. If the aim of that was scantily clad women, the battle sequences had plenty of them. I would have liked to see some of what was actually happening in the asylum.

Facts are stubborn things.

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Wednesday, March 30, 2011 12:02 PM

STORYMARK

Well, the film was shot as a musical, with big numbers and all - that the studio had cut from the flick. that may explain the disconnect between the burlesque house and the other scenes.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

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Wednesday, March 30, 2011 1:46 PM

SINGATE

Quote:
Originally posted by LiLi:
Yeah, it was fun to watch, but I had to not think too much about it.
I agree with others on the whorehouse bit; what exactly was that representing? For example, I think we can safely assume that no inmate sat in an orderly's lap and stole his lighter while he watched another inmate dancing. Also can probably assume that Blue did not threaten Dr. Gorski or shoot anyone in the head. The battle sequences had the obvious symbolism of taking what was needed from the "enemy," but the dancing and all that lost me and made the actual story and actual sequence of events difficult to follow. If the aim of that was scantily clad women, the battle sequences had plenty of them. I would have liked to see some of what was actually happening in the asylum.

I think everything that happens be it in the brothel or the action sequences is a defense mechanism. It was Baby Doll's mind turning a horrific situation into something fantastic and grandiose. You're right about a couple of the scenarios not making sense, specificly Blue popping off 2 head shots. I don't care how corrupt that place was there is no way anyone was getting away with that.

As to the business of their costumes. I'm pretty sure the entire movie is meant as kick in the groin towards male oppression. Everyone knows how stupid men can get in the presence of attractive women in sexy clothing. It is plausible that in the real world one of the girls was distracting the target while one of her cohorts was stealing the map, lighter, or key. Whether that distraction was in the form of dancing or sex will have to be left to our imaginations.

_________________________________________________

We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.

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Friday, April 1, 2011 9:24 PM

DREAMTROVE

Ignoring the moronic ending, as I usually do in movies, the story is about Babydoll, per the rules of writing. The ending is essentially fascism, which is par for the course for hollywood:

Select to view spoiler:

The actually sane person gets to go live a normal life, despite how intolerable she is, and it's acceptable that all the inferiors die to assist her.

The bordello fantasy world is sitting in the middle interfering with what might be trying to be a story, but seems to be stolen from many other books and films. There's no emotional pull, and the three levels are not connected with one another. The unintented message is "killing is right" I might add, if you track the story flow back to the beginning.

The action scenes were fun, the schoolgirls battling videogame monsters was entertaining, thought the first scene was better than the ones after. The story itself is moronic.

I enjoyed the film, but my expectations were very low. I was expecting steam punk schoolgirls, and was a little disappointed on the steampunk end. Also, I find the standard issue contradictory message programmed to endorse self loathing incredibly mainstream, masquerading as counterculture, like Frank Miller's Sin City.

It's trash, and like The Cell, thinks it has something to say, which hurts it, because it doesn't. If it embraced being trash a little more, it would do better.

I've actually had the experience, being institutionalized and slated for lobotomy, and having to escape. I think that the Map, Fire, Knife, Key was actually not the working plan.

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Tuesday, April 5, 2011 2:55 AM

SHINYGOODGUY

You got it too Singate, exactly!

Along the line of "your whole life flashing in front of your eyes".

It was exactly that. Her life, her fantasy and how she coped with being lobotomized. As she is brought in by her step-father she sees the map, key, lighter (fire), and knife. It was well-disguised by Snyder. Upon second viewing I caught that and the statement that Sweet Pea made about making a play about scantily glad women. Snyder is a mad genius and, like Firefly, presented a glimpse into his warped sense of style and storytelling that may not be appreciated until some time has passed. I still say though that his direction was somewhat lacking and the dialogue was, at times, cheesy and melo-dramatic; but, all in all, I'm really beginning to appreciate this film more.

I agree that people most likely stayed away due to the overwhelmingly negative comments by critics pretty much across the board. I found a handful that actually critiqued this film with the skill of a surgeon, while most went with the "bludgeon-it-to-death" route. Check Rotten Tomatoes and you'll see what I mean. I read through a bunch and found most lacking any skill reaching for the blunt object, instead of a scalpel. It seemed to me that those critics didn't even see the film, judging from some of their comments. Several commented that the opening was horrid, while three (that I read), found the opening sequence to be inventive and well done. I held out hope during the opening of the film because I found it to be quite good.

"Heck, just on reputation alone Snyder should have drawn in a bigger crowd."

Agreed. The trailer at ComicCon and Snyder's name attached to this project had my sci-fi heart pounding with anticipation. I expected a lot more. Like Scott Pilgrim, it's a game-changer and ahead of it's time. If anyone could understand that, it would be a Browncoat.

SGG

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Tuesday, April 5, 2011 3:05 AM

SHINYGOODGUY

"One thing I have learned, though: Any movie with blurbs that claim it will "blow your mind" is almost guaranteed to leave my mind thoroughly un-blown."

Yeah, the marketing people did a lousy job in promoting this film. It was redundant to say it will blow your mind. "You will be unprepared" was a bit closer to the film's theme, but silence would have been best. Sucker Punch was definitely a love letter to the fanboys out there, a video game come to life.

SGG

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Tuesday, April 5, 2011 3:34 AM

SHINYGOODGUY

"I would have liked to see some of what was actually happening in the asylum."

The brothel fantasy was all in Baby Doll's head. Hell everything was in her head. She played the hero in her mind and saw herself in a valiant battle to escape and take her homies with her. It was her coping mechanism. Much like a little leaguer dreams of hitting the game-winning homerun, or scoring the winning touchdown (the crowd goes wild!). Perhaps there was sexual abuse in the asylum, mistreatment and just general bad-guy stuff.

Now, having said that, I found the whole fantasy-within-a-fantasy angle quite brilliant. She went deeper into her mind to overcome whatever obstacles were laid before her, to reach each goal. The moves she made in her action-fantasy world were her "dance" moves in her brothel fantasy world. That "look" she gave the "High Roller" at the end was satisfaction. She sacrificed herself to save Sweet Pea, who so-loved her sister Rocket and, in turn, went peacefully into "Paradise" having redeemed herself for the accidental killing of her little sister at the beginning of the film(remember Rocket's sacrifice during the Train Job). It just came to me.

With better execution and direction this film could have been the next Matrix.

I must see it again. Maybe in a couple of weeks or when it comes out on Blu-Ray.

SGG

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Tuesday, April 5, 2011 3:55 AM

SHINYGOODGUY

Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:
Well, the film was shot as a musical, with big numbers and all - that the studio had cut from the flick. that may explain the disconnect between the burlesque house and the other scenes.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

Yes, I remember seeing a type of Broadway number in one of the trailers promoting the movie. I hope that its included in the Blu-Ray in a director's cut. Methinks Warner Brothers fucked up, in an effort to bring it under 3 hours. Hence the choppiness.

SGG

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Tuesday, April 5, 2011 4:37 AM

LILI

Doing it backwards. Walking up the downslide.

Quote:
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
"I would have liked to see some of what was actually happening in the asylum."

The brothel fantasy was all in Baby Doll's head. Hell everything was in her head.

Yeeeah, I got that the fantasy was in her head, but she did actually help Sweetpea escape in her time there, according to the doctor. I also got that her moves were a dance. Those had a very clear metaphor to them, even if it had gone from the asylum to the battles. The brothel did not have such clear metaphors, and dropped the thread of the story a little bit. Interesting to find out there was supposed to be musical numbers. They probably should have kept those; most musicals do a lot of exposition in song, it seems.

Facts are stubborn things.

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Tuesday, April 5, 2011 2:53 PM

SHINYGOODGUY

Quote:
Originally posted by LiLi:
Quote:
Originally posted by SHINYGOODGUY:
"I would have liked to see some of what was actually happening in the asylum."

The brothel fantasy was all in Baby Doll's head. Hell everything was in her head.

Yeeeah, I got that the fantasy was in her head, but she did actually help Sweetpea escape in her time there, according to the doctor. I also got that her moves were a dance. Those had a very clear metaphor to them, even if it had gone from the asylum to the battles. The brothel did not have such clear metaphors, and dropped the thread of the story a little bit. Interesting to find out there was supposed to be musical numbers. They probably should have kept those; most musicals do a lot of exposition in song, it seems.

Facts are stubborn things.

Yep, from the moment she saw Sweet Pea up on the stage when she was first brought to the "Theatre" Baby Doll went into her fantasy, but everything was actually happening; the map, the fire, the knife and the key really took place but we were in Baby Doll's mind viewing her fantasy (her coping mechanism). Ok, I know, that's been established. But why the brothel? I am guessing here, but I think it was her way of coping with the treatment the girls were getting throughout. If they were being abused, then that is how she saw it. Blue was no longer the sadistic control lunatic with power issues; he was a wanna-be pimp sadistic control lunatic with power issues. He was making money peddling flesh to the perverts in town, she just found a way to make it fit into her dreamworld. And, of course, to keep in theme with the metaphor motif and keep it PG-13 so as to draw in the most cashy-money.

It's like Prince's song Lil' Red Corvette. There are those that think it's a song about a car.

Two things: 1- I agree they should have kept the dance numbers in, it would have made for a better film; better transitions from one sequence to another.

and 2- TPTB at WB wanted Snyder to have a happy ending. In other words, to have Baby Doll escape along with Sweet Pea.
So maybe that was their decision to cut the musical numbers and make it about the action. Snyder had an ambitious visionary film in his mind and it could very well be that Warner Brothers totally chopped it up beyond recognition. Remember how Fox screwed up Joss' story sequence. Same thing.

SGG

"Swim?!, the fall alone will kill ya'"

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Wednesday, April 6, 2011 1:23 AM

DREAMTROVE

I thought it was a relatively well executed weak story.

If I were to take it serious, rather than as geekporn, I would hit a very large number of problems.

First, nothing can be counterculture whilst having a mainstream cultural value set. That's pretty much a fail.

Second, nothing can fight the power while not being counter culture.

Third, probably more significantly, there's absolutely no point to having a story in an insane asylum without having the characters be insane.

The movie was decent up until the first transfer into the brothel world, which I thought was pretty dumb. It seemed like an excuse to put the girls in underwear, but lacked a strong reason for being there, but not as much as the asylum lacked.

I have no objection to schoolgirl hookers fighting videogame monsters. I enjoyed it overall, but I didn't think it was high art. It was sort of like the Cell.

That's what a ship is, you know - it's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs.

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Sunday, July 3, 2011 7:18 AM

STEGASAURUS

Overall, I enjoyed the movie. Just saw it on demand and thought it was a pretty decent waste of my time.

My only complaint that probably no one else would encounter here, was that my 12 year old step-son came in and started watching from the steam punk nazis part. I had to ask him to stop asking questions until the end of the movie. What's worse is that he's a high functioning autistic, so I skipped explaining the dream within a dream bit.

-Steg

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Sunday, July 3, 2011 10:44 AM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.

Quote:
Originally posted by Stegasaurus:
...a pretty decent waste of my time.

Yep, that about sums it up.

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Saturday, July 16, 2011 10:24 AM

SHINYGOODGUY

I have to confess, after getting the Blu-ray of Sucker Punch, that I keep finding new ways to appreciate this film. And now I have to eat my words from my inital response regarding the theatrical release. As I suspected, the director's cut kicks ass (to put it bluntly).

Overall there are still some flaws, but now I see where the fail was when Warner's decided to "chop up" the film. There are 17 minutes added to the film and it makes a big difference in the storytelling process. It's much like watching Serenity and not any the the Firefly TV series - it's incomplete. So much was made of the incoherent mess that was Sucker Punch, that I too saw it that way. Now the Blu-ray extended version fills in what was sorely lacking in the theatre. I don't want to spoil it for anyone. But buy it, rent it (the extended director's cut)and you will see what I mean.

Why Warner's cut those scenes is beyond me. There was nothing truly R-rated about it at all. Baby Doll and the High Roller together in the final chapter was quite tame, if you ask me. I've seen worse in the American Pie movies or Superbad. Baby Doll is not a teen (she's 20 in the movie) and the only reason I could see them taking that scene out is because of the puritanical sensibilities of some uptight adults in the censors department. It is a symbolic gesture on Baby Doll's part and in keeping with the theme of the film - girl power.

Anyway, I recommend buying the Blu-ray with the extended director's cut.

SGG

"If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything" The Wise man

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Sunday, July 17, 2011 2:26 PM

ANOTHERSKY

disclaimer: haven't seen it. But from the trailer, I'd say they've finally figured out the commercial formula I've been convinced of for years.

300 was a slight miss because it was half-naked-guys-and-violence.

Change that out for half-naked-girls-and-violence, plus le effects special and it's a shoo-in.

All I'm gonna say. :)

--
Going for a ride.

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Sunday, July 17, 2011 3:02 PM

PHOENIXROSE

You think you know--what's to come, what you are. You haven't even begun.

Quote:
Originally posted by AnotherSky:
300 was a slight miss because it was half-naked-guys-and-violence.

Hey now, 300 was the best thing to happen to geeky con-goers who want some men to ogle, don't be dissing it.

What reason had proved best ceased to look absurd to the eye, which shows how idle it is to think anything ridiculous except what is wrong.

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Wednesday, July 20, 2011 2:40 AM

SHINYGOODGUY

Hey PhoenixRose, been a while................

It's nice to know women ogle too.

BTW, on the surface Sucker Punch appears to be a story about a bunch of half-naked girls and violence. Look closely, it is much more, ok so there's some ogling - it is SF, or speculative fiction as EC Gordon states in another thread.

It is commentary on the journey women take in the day-to-day slugfest that we commonly refer to as life. Anywho, the extended cut makes much more sense than it did in the movies with the added scenes. Just so you know, it was co-written by Snyder's wife.

SGG

Tawabawho?

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Wednesday, July 20, 2011 6:21 AM

PHOENIXROSE

You think you know--what's to come, what you are. You haven't even begun.

Quote:
Originally posted by Shinygoodguy:
It's nice to know women ogle too.

'Course we do.
...I have so many photos of the Spartans from DragonCon, man. There was even one who invited me to confirm the reality of his six-pack.

DragonCon is kind of a babe-fest, no matter your preference. I asked for a photo with one of the CruxShadow girls, just for an excuse to get close to her

Quote:
the extended cut makes much more sense than it did in the movies with the added scenes.

Good to know. I would have liked to see the coherent version on the big screen, but I'll check it out.

What reason had proved best ceased to look absurd to the eye, which shows how idle it is to think anything ridiculous except what is wrong.

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Wednesday, July 20, 2011 8:49 AM

STORYMARK

Quote:
Originally posted by AnotherSky:
disclaimer: haven't seen it. But from the trailer, I'd say they've finally figured out the commercial formula I've been convinced of for years.

300 was a slight miss because it was half-naked-guys-and-violence.

Change that out for half-naked-girls-and-violence, plus le effects special and it's a shoo-in.

Well, since you don't seem to be paying attention to how things played out - what you are convinced of has pretty much been proven wrong as 300 was a big hit and this was one of the biggest flops in a decade.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

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Saturday, July 23, 2011 5:43 PM

SHINYGOODGUY

Just so you know.....300 was considered a hit back in 2007. It's total worldwide gross was a bit over $456M (that's M as in million). They managed to pull that in in a little over 4 months (18 weeks). It did better overseas where it raked in $245.6M (domestic gross was $210M). 300 was made for $65M, by Hollywood standards, thats a hit.

Sucker Punch was made for $82M and scraped together $89.8M worldwide ($36M domestic). Again, by Hollywood standards, a flop. Breaking even is never a good sign (same fate as Serenity: $39 to make; grossed $38.9M). Who knows what Warner Bros. spent on the ad campaign. Maybe they will think twice before chopping up a decent film and making it more confusing for it's audience and for critics who, I believe, killed this film beofre it opened. The Blu-ray will do better, as it was with Serenity, after the fact. It is currently No. 2 behind the LOTR trilogy in blu-ray sales.

There is a rather interesting review of the DVD by Cindy White (IGN Entertainment)which, IMHO, is better than most reviews pre-DVD release. There are 2 points with which I slightly disagree: 1) the added scenes do enhance the movie, in particular the added scenes with the High Roller, and 2) there is character development throughout the film, but it was poorly set up and poorly directed (points I made in my initial take on the film). The subtitle of the review pretty much sums up the reviewer's take on the Blu-Ray release - A flawless HD presentation of a deeply flawed film.

Below is the link to the article:

http://bluray.ign.com/articles/117/1179291p1.html

SGG

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