Sucker Punch (2011)

A young girl is institutionalized by her abusive stepfather. Retreating to an alternative reality as a coping strategy, she envisions a plan which will help her escape from the mental facility.

Director:

Zack Snyder

Writers:

Zack Snyder (screenplay), Steve Shibuya (screenplay),

Stars:

Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Emily Browning	...	Babydoll
Abbie Cornish	...	Sweet Pea
Jena Malone	...	Rocket
Vanessa Hudgens	...	Blondie
Jamie Chung	...	Amber
Carla Gugino	...	Dr. Vera Gorski
Oscar Isaac	...	Blue Jones
Jon Hamm	...	High Roller / Doctor
Scott Glenn	...	Wise Man
Richard Cetrone	...	CJ
Gerard Plunkett	...	Stepfather
Malcolm Scott	...	The Cook
Ron Selmour	...	Danforth
Alan C. Peterson	...	Mayor / Lighter Orderly (as AC Peterson)
Revard Dufresne	...	Big Boss Thug / Orderly #3

Storyline

A young girl (Baby Doll) is locked away in a mental asylum by her abusive stepfather where she will undergo a lobotomy in five days' time. Faced with unimaginable odds, she retreats to a fantastical world in her imagination where she and four other female inmates at the asylum, plot to escape the facility. The lines between reality and fantasy blur as Baby Doll and her four companions, as well as a mysterious guide, fight to retrieve the five items they need that will allow them to break free from their captors before it's too late...

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Plot Keywords:

escape | stepfather | imagination | dream | samurai | 

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Taglines:

A mind bending vision of reality from the director of Watchmen & 300.

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Genres:

Action | Fantasy | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content, some violence and brief language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Warner Bros. [fr]

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English German

Release Date:

25 March 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sucker Punch: The IMAX Experience

Filming Locations:

British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$82,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£814,976 (UK) (1 April 2011)

Gross:

$36,381,716 (USA) (20 May 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, Legendary Pictures, Cruel & Unusual Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min 127 min (extended cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Despite playing the lead character, Emily Browning does not have a line of dialogue until about 18 minutes into the film.

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Goofs

Before BabyDoll saves Rocket from the cook, she is scrubbing the floor with a brush and bucket. When they run from the kitchen back out to the hallway, you can see the brush and bucket but the floor is dry.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Sweet Pea: Everyone has an Angel. A Guardian who watches over us. We can't know what form they'll take. One day, old man. Next day, little girl. But don't let appearances fool you, they can be as fierce as any dragon. Yet they're not here to fight our battles, but to whisper from our heart. Reminding that it's us. Its everyone of us who holds power over the world we create.

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Crazy Credits

The Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures logos appear on a stage curtain, with the curtain rising to reveal each logo. A brief narrative precedes the Warner Bros logo appearing.

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Connections

Referenced in Bad Movie Beatdown: Review of 2011 (2012)

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Soundtracks

"ASLEEP"
Written by Johnny Marr and Morrissey (as Steven Morrissey)
Produced by Marius De Vries and Tyler Bates
Performed by Emily Browning

User Reviews

A fistful of mediocrity.

With 300, Zack Snyder has made it abundantly clear that his movies dazzle they eyes, indeed they do, but his characters never engage the audience in a personal and emotional level. And Sucker Punch is just that. A visually dazzling collage of mental insanity taken to the extreme with a fairly interesting premise that looks promising on the surface, but never truly lets you sink your teeth into the inner workings of the main character.

Emily Browning plays Babydoll, a blond bombshell who is placed in a mental institution by her cold stepfather, and is then seen trying to persuade the orderlies into lobotomizing her to keep her from giving details surrounding a tragedy in her life. However, Babydoll begins to create a dreamworld in which not only to pass the time, but to figure a way out of the asylum.

As if that makes any sense whatsoever, here are the main problems with Sucker Punch that's been plaguing modern cinema; no plot and character development. Barely any of the characters that the protagonist meets are developed. They're just static talking heads spouting out lines that are trying to hammer into the audience that they are more than just cliché's and cardboard cutouts. The acting feels stiff and artificial with no sense of tension or suspense. You never feel that the characters are in real danger of any kind. It just goes thru the motions and despite having a nice premise to go on, the film feels like a half-ass-ed attempt to be something new and fresh.

Sucker Punch has some merits. The special effects and action scenes are impressive. I did get a kick out of some of the battle scenes which are nicely choreographed and executed with lots of explosions. Watching it is sort of like looking at a silent film on steroids but minus the heart and soul of that bygone era.

The incredible aesthetic beauty and action choreography are a lot impressive than Snyder's 300. But the problem with Sucker Punch is that even in a fantasy film, or any action film for that matter, you have to put effort into making the audience care for your characters no matter how good looking the action and special effects are. You simply won't care who lives or dies in this film. At some point, you have to try to make the audience care. This film simply never does.

I think that I got my point across perfectly clear regarding this film. If it entertained you, fine, then it did it's job. The problem is is that there's nothing remotely remarkable about this film aside from the visual aspect of this film. If more time was spent fleshing out the story, characters, with a more coherent script, then this could've been a really good film. But since so much potential was utterly wasted, I have no choice but to give my grade and it's a D.