Sucker Punch should have been a hit you didn’t see coming. Instead, it came at you, screaming, “I’m gonna try to hit you now,” and it was knocked down. It’s hard to believe a decade has passed since the film’s release. The marketing for it looked like a studio capitalizing on recent successes of movies that were benefiting from an uptick of fantasy and sci-fi content. The aughts were loaded with slick cinematography and dramatic and moody CGI sets. Sucker Punch seemed to be an attempt to bankroll a mixed bowl of eye candy, and most people saw right through it. If it wasn’t being panned, it was being ignored altogether. Still, there were the few who loved it.
The warranted criticism kept many away. I was one of them. I don’t typically let the voice of the masses or narrow-headed critics tell me what to watch. These days, however, we are inundated in entertainment. If it’s not good, it gets lost. Ten years ago, the waters were running with big budget sequels from franchises like Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, The Fast and the Furious, Transformers (*Somebody must be liking them), and Kung Fu Panda. There was also the beginning of the Twilight saga. Somehow, these movies don’t seem like the same target demographic that Sucker Punch was looking for. Was the target audience secretly waiting to watch it at home, alone in the dark? That’s how we usually watch movies, but I think you know what I’m talking about.
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Clearly, this nano-costumed, pig-tailed, thigh-high stocking, and fake eyelash bonanza was designed to draw our attention in ways that were completely unnecessary. It’s a very simple story, embellished with gratuitous sexual imagery that reads like a businessman’s secret soft-core Manga collection. But it’s cool, because it’s really just a 110-minute action-packed music video interrupted by mild plot points and over-the-top acting.
What’s missing from any critique are the peppered points of art direction that are clearly inspired by films like Sin City and and 300. The hard-boiled storyboarding is out-of-this-world good. From the title pan at the end of the cold open, you realize you’re not watching a movie, but experiencing an animated painting. The unfolding story described on IMDB as “A young girl institutionalized by her abusive stepfather retreats to an alternative reality as a coping strategy and envisions a plan to help her escape” doesn’t give enough credit to the style of how the story is told. It’s got a Dick Tracy quality that screams, “Don’t take this seriously!” and a The Cell feel that says “Look at me!” Just flip through the pages. Sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. Look at the pictures, but don’t think about the words too much.
The storyboarding and exaggerated acting project all you need to know about plot. Did anyone really care about Princess Daphne or Dirk the Daring in the video game, Dragon’s Lair? No. Not a bit. That game was all images. It was junk food for people tired of Asteroids and Galaxian. Kids dropped 50¢ to 75¢ a pop to see Dirk the Daring move without the controls. Their appetite for visuals was quenched despite squandering an opportunity to play Space Invaders 2-3 more times, and spend more time doing it. The justification for playing was nothing more than being the one at the controls when all that glorious imagery went down.
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When you set aside your inclination to avoid CW-style teen bop movies, you might find some visual gems eventually turn into cult classics. Dragon’s Lair was never good. It was never fun, but damned if it wasn’t gorgeous to look at. It was never in the “so bad it’s good” category, but it fell smack in the middle of “This would look good playing on a monitor at a loud club.” It’s sort of where Sucker Punch lies.
The underrated performances of Carla Gugino and Oscar Isaac are a fine wine that goes with cheap chocolate. Malcolm Scott’s character (The Cook) alone is well-worth a viewing. If you are not at all interested in a pretentious fetch-quest, stay away, but sometimes it’s exactly what you’re looking for. It’s had a chance to age ten years, and I can name a dozen “better” movies that aren’t really better.
Your next rainy day movie should be Sucker Punch if you’ve never seen it, and for some reason you won’t regret it.
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They should make Sucker Punch 2 if Babydoll and Sweet Pea ever see each other again without letting the evil win on purpose like the Cook and the Priest they killed a mother of babydoll’s even her younger sister she tried to protect her from her the priest who killed her mother and tried to kill her sister but she killed her by accident. The cook tried to killed sweet pea when he caught her steeling the knife and gonna kill her but her sister rocket save her life and sacrafice her life for Sweet Pea too bad she shouldn’t have fail because of the radio damage when it got wet by a water and didn’t pay attention what she’s doing. good thing Blue Jones got arrested for killing Amber and Blondie why not the Cook and the Priest they killed women who are in danger from any men who are evil? They can’t let them get way with it ever. So Sweet Pea and Babydoll should be together again so they could live peace fully that’s a happy ending and high Rollor/the Doctor, Madam Vega Gorski,and the Wise man bus driver since Zack directed three dc movies he should a a seqeal of sucker punch with the return of Abbie Cornish & Babydoll.
Can you image if they make a new comic book of sucker punch movie features The Shadow, or The Rocketeer?
Except Spice World movie back in 1997/98 who are like the opposites of Sucker Punch characters 5 Spice Girls are the opposites of Geri Halliwell as Sweet Pea, Emma Bunton as Babydoll, Mel C as Rocket, Mel B as Blondie, Victoria as Amber, Clifford (richard e grant) as Blue Jones, Debra (Clarie Rushbrook) as Madam Vera Gorski, Piers Cuthberston-Smith (Alan Cumming) as The Doctor/ The Higher Roller, Kevin McMaxford (Barry Humphries) as Stepfather/ The Priest, and The Chief (Roger Moore) as The Wise man/ The General/ The Bus Driver.