“SUCKER PUNCH” (2011)

Starring: Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, Carla Gugino, Oscar Isaac, Jon Hamm, Scott Glenn, Richard Cetrone, Gerard Plunkett & Malcolm Scott
Written by Zack Snyder (story / screenplay) & Steve Shibuya (screenplay)
Directed by Zack Snyder

Polly Staffing Rating: ****

I liked Dawn of the Dead. It was a great remake (better than the original) and a superb debut for Zack Snyder. I was blown away by the film’s opening scene and credits. I also thought the soundtrack was on par with a Quentin Tarantino film.

300 was a revolutionary masterpiece. It was one of those landmark films that changed the world of cinema, just the same as Pulp Fiction, The Blair Witch Project, Blood Feast and Star Wars had. After seeing 300, I knew Snyder was the real deal. I dubbed him The Wizard of filmmaking.

Watchmen followed and was great, but I thought Snyder sacrificed the most sympathetic character of the film for thematic reasons. I understand the death is the same in the graphic novel and it was handled the way it was to hammer home the subtext of our perverted government’s thinking of sacrificing many to save the masses, but I wished it was done differently. Aside from that, I had no complaints with the beautifully done film.

Now comes the highly anticipated mind-bender Sucker Punch, a film I expected would disappoint me after I learned it was going to be PG-13. Luckily it didn’t. In fact, it went well beyond what I had hoped for. From the opening frame to the film’s finale, I was glued to my seat, covered in goose bumps as I watched the most badass PG-13 film that has ever been made.

Wow! Amazing! Awesome! Those were the only words I could muster after the IMAX Zack Attack was over.

Like all of his films, Sucker Punch is beautiful to look at and listen to. The action is breath taking and the soundtrack is top notch. Also, like most of his films, the visuals are actually secondary to the themes of the project. Without giving too much away, Sucker Punch is essentially fantasies within a fantasy within a fantasy think back. It’s almost as if you are getting six movies for the price of one and since the IMAX cost of admission is close to $20, be happy you’re getting all that crammed into one epic work of art.

Nothing is necessarily what it seems in Snyder’s film. Instead of scenes of sexual exploitation and abuse, Snyder uses a fantasy to hide them as burlesque dances, and the dances are hidden with ultimate scenes of violence a la Kill Bill. Genius! Confused? Well, too bad, see the film.

Baby Doll (Emily Browning) is sent to an insane asylum after a tragic opening scene. She joins Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish), Rocket (Jena Malone), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens) and Amber (Jamie Chung) at the institution and concocts a plan for them all to escape before Baby Doll’s scheduled lobotomy. Dr. Vera Gorski (Carla Gugino) is there to help the girls work through their problems via therapy. Blue Jones (Oscar Isaac) is the corrupt scumbag in charge of the place.

Instead of the film playing out in the asylum, most of the action takes place in an alternate universe. The institution is a brothel and Baby Doll’s looming deadline is a High Roller coming to be her first customer. In preparing her girls for possible customers, Madam Gorski teaches them to dance like strippers, while the pimp Blue oversees it.

Each time Baby Doll dances, she transforms into an expert killing machine in another universe. The rest of the girls are there by her side as the greatest girl gang caught on film. The fabulous five carry out missions, collecting items that will help their character’s real life selves escape from the mental institution. During these scenes, Scott Glenn pops up to help guide the crew, playing David Carradine… I mean Lance Henriksen… I mean the Wise Man. Genius! Confused again? Well, too bad, see the film.

The end result is a brilliant look at the power of the human mind. It’s about the power of creativity. It’s about the power of imagination. It’s about the ability to suffer horrible things and sacrifice one’s self for the betterment of others. It’s about escaping physical tyrants and emotional demons. Prison the body, scar the soul, but you can’t break the spirit of a person as long as they cling to hope. It’s about fighting back, but not just fighting back in the here and now; it’s about the bigger picture. If suffering sexual abuse meant you could stop the same abuse from happening to others, would you suffer to do so? Could you lie in wait to deliver the needed sucker punch? Additionally, Snyder’s toying of violence in the place of erotic dancing in the place of sexual abuse does a crazy number on me. It's very exploitative, while also being anti-exploitative.

From one perspective, Baby Doll takes charge of and owns her sexuality. Even though she is being abused, she mentally becomes empowered by what happens, manipulates the situation and uses it to get the last laugh. Sucker Punch can also be seen as a surprise punch to the gut of the ratings system, the Hollywood machine and our culture that sees violence on screen as fine, while sex is treated as something bad, shameful and hidden. There are just so many layers to this film that I am sure I’ll have to see it quite a few more times to really grasp everything.

Sucker Punch is a freight train going warp speed on a roller coaster track. It’s 300 meets Showgirls, Spy Kids, Hellboy, Watchmen, The Wizard of Oz, Casshern, Kill Bill, Romeo + Juliet, and Tank Girl on steroids. It’s part comic book, part music video, part genre film, and part video game. But it’s got heart and a conscience, unlike the fluff Robert Rodriguez has been putting out for years now.

Every time I see a Zack Snyder film I feel like I am a kid again. A kid that is still trying to decide if he wants to be a garbage man, a time traveler, The Incredible Hulk, The Six Million Dollar Man, Harry Houdini, a Jedi or Superman when he grows up. A kid that feels he can take on the world and accomplish anything he sets his mind to. Zack Snyder’s films inspire me. They make me high. They are my crystal meth, my crack rock, my perfect drug. Wizard is too small of a title for this filmmaker. After seeing Sucker Punch, I dare to say that he is my absolute favorite filmmaker and probably one of the greatest directors of all time.

- CCF, March 2011