GUILTY PLEASURES PRESENTS: SUCKER PUNCH

SUCKER PUNCH (2011)

Director: Zack Snyder

Rating: 6.5

Welcome to the latest entry in Geek for Hire. Today we kick off the third month of the year with a new section called Guilty Pleasures, where I pull up films from my vault that aren't necessarily good but there's some redeeming charm to it. Today's turn is for Sucker Punch, the only Zack Snyder flick based on an original idea and for many "purists" is his worst one. This film does have some redeeming points to it and that's what I'll write in this review, so let's celebrate Zaddy's 52nd birthday with this film.

Basically the plot is about a young girl named Babydoll (Emily Browning) who is locked in an mental asylum thanks to her stepfather. Our hero will enter into several fantasy dreamworlds where she has to team up with other four girls in order to get their freedom before Babydoll is lobotomized.

I remember when the first teaser came up on the summer of 2010, I was doing some homework, when I noticed on YouTube the thumbnail of a falling zeppelin, after seeing those glorious moments of that teaser I said to myself: This looks amazing. Sucker Punch was one of my most anticipated movies of 2011, which was a great year in movies, TV and my personal life as well, March came, only 15 people went to the theater that night and when I left the movie theater, I had a good time but something was lacking.

Months later, I bought the DVD and on several viewings I began to appreciate this film a bit more, kinda like my experience with most of Snyder´s films. Sucker Punch has lots of flaws, but it's very enjoyable.

Let's talk about flaws, the script could´ve been better, especially on the third act. The movie's concept is pretty artsy and sexy in a way but the execution is not very good, and that is very noticeable on the third act which could have been epic but it feels like the writers did not know how to end it properly. The cast is good but their acting is not that good, except for Abbie Cornish, Oscar Isaac and Scott Glenn.

However this movie has some positives notes as well, Zack Snyder is a master of visual style and action sequences, the four fantasy scenarios, apart from the fact that they look astonishing, they have masterful battles that pay homage to anime and video games. Larry Fong's cinematography and camerawork is impressive and the editing is so delicious when the movie goes to its fantasy worlds. But if there is a standout, is has to be the soundtrack, Tyler Bates and Marius de Vries craft a beautiful mixture of music where we can also notice the singing talents of Emily Browning and Oscar Isaac. 

Sucker Punch is perhaps the kind of movie that you can't watch in a literal sense, maybe you just have to let yourself go like when you're listening to a great Pink Floyd album. Over the years, this movie has reached cult status and I hope that people talk about it in the future like they do with other cult films like The Rocky Horror Picture Show. 

This was my first Guilty Pleasure and it would be cool that Zack Snyder directs an anime hehehe. Happy Birthday Zack and I hope that you enjoy this day with your family, friends and fans. I recommend you to check this movie, for its direction, music and action sequences that will make up your time.

On March we'll be reviewing Sci Fi movies and International Geek films as well, if you liked this you can comment below and share it, this blog isn't just mine, it's yours.