Sucker Punch

Frankly, after the credits rolled, I had to just kind of sit back and wonder why critics seem to have such vindictive hate for this movie. Sucker Punch is by no means good. The plot is incoherent, the acting is sub-par, the dialogue is laughably bad, and it's an all around mess of a movie. Even the giant action sequences which should be Zack Snyder's (300, Watchmen) forte were fairly repetitive and boring despite being filled with giant samurais, zombie nazis, dragons and mechs (all in slow-motion). But a lot of the criticism seems to go beyond those flaws and focuses on what seemed to make a lot of people angry: its treatment of women. And that's what I don't get.

It seems the biggest complaint is that the entire movie is a bunch of scantily clad women going around kicking ass and being sexy, and yet tries to disguise itself as female empowerment when those women are faced with several rape-like encounters and get revenge. While I certainly can't disagree that the main point of seeing this film (not the main point of the movie) is to watch a bunch of hot girls fight samurais, nazis and mechs, I think those saying this film has anything to do with female empowerment or the guise of such are completely wrong. But perhaps I should explain the movie first.

Sucker Punch follows the story of Babydoll, a childish looking woman who, trying to protect her sister from being raped by her evil stepdad, accidentally shoots her sister instead of the dad. She is then sent to an insane asylum, where the stepdad bribes Blue, one of the orderlies, to have Babydoll lobotomized in 5 days time. Fast forward and Babydoll is sitting in the chair, about to be lobotomized, and then retreats into a fantasy world where she is a newly arrived girl at a Moulin Rouge-esque establishment run by Blue (now a mobster). Forced to dance, she retreats yet again into another reality where she is given a samurai sword and a gun by a wise man, who tells her that her fight is just beginning, and in order to win she must find 5 items: a map, fire, a knife, a key, and a 5th mysterious item only she can find that will be a "deep sacrifice and a perfect victory". He then pushes her outside and tells her to defend herself from 3 gigantic samurai. After the battle, she blinks and returns to the brothel where everyone is extremely impressed by her performance. Realizing that a "high roller" is coming in 5 days to buy her virginity, she engages the help of 4 other dancers to grab the items she needs so that they can all escape. For each item, Babydoll dances for the man carrying the item, entrancing them while the other girls steal what they need. And during each dance we are once again transported into another reality where Babydoll and the girls fight something ridiculous and try to complete a mission that mirrors what they're doing in the brothel.

Understand? Probably not, but that's okay because it doesn't really make much sense in the whole context of the movie either. Basically, think of it like a bad Inception rip off where there's reality, the brothel one level deeper, and the action sequences one level below that. Oh, and all the while they're dressed in semi-revealing clothing. I am honestly surprised anyone in this day and age can point to the costumes in Sucker Punch and say "Oh THAT is degrading to women." Really? Tops that show a little cleavage and bottoms that show off some thigh? By today's standards they're relatively modest.

And as for the whole female empowerment issue, Sucker Punch is very obviously aware of itself throughout the entire movie. It is very obviously a narrative not meant to be taken seriously or literally. It's so filled with empty metaphor and symbology that nothing in it really represents anything at all. The near rapes and subsequent revenges are not meant to be about women being strong and fighting back. I'm sure there are better examples, but do you look at Kill Bill and think "female empowerment"? NO. The rapes are simply illustrative of the whole "this place is hell" theme, while the fighting back follows the "I need to escape" line. As a perfect example, right at the beginning when Babydoll first retreats into the brothel reality as she's about to be lobotomized, we suddenly see her place taken by Sweet Pea, who berates the director because her performance is supposed to titillate and she gets the whole innocent sweet schoolgirl thing but lobotomized vegetable isn't sexy. I just feel that in a movie so completely aware of what it is, that pokes fun at itself for being so ridiculous, you can't help but laugh at all those critics who didn't look past the surface layer and see that the movie was poking fun at them too.

So is Sucker Punch good? No. Even the over the top action sequences which could excuse a bad script, plot, and acting are simply not as fun as they should be. But is it that bad either? No. Despite all the misguided hate against it, it's just another muddled action flick that has a possibly interesting story/message to tell but is too bogged down in its own symbolism to tell it.

Sucker Punch gets a 4/10.