I went and watch Sucker Punch because I wanted to see what Zack Snyder would bring for the new Superman movie, this would be my appetizer for the Man of Steel film. So, what is my verdict? Well I have to say that I am now a bit worried for that new Superman movie.
Sucker Punch by no means is a bad movie. It just tries hard to be great and relevant. There are times that I forget that it is a feature film, because with the loud soundtrack I thought I was watching a music video. Snyder does know how to shoot an action sequence, and Nolan can get some few pointers from him (Yes, Mr. Nolan I sometimes want to see how Batman is kicking ass, I want to see his style and some flairs, not just a few fast flurry of punches and commotion). But Mr. Snyder not every action sequence should be in slow motion, it feels that the director has fallen in love with slo-mo that if he was not prevented he would have shoot the whole movie in slow motion. Slow Motion does look cool, but too much is just ridiculous. If that is the trend of his directing style(300, Watchmen & Owls of Ga’hoole), we could presume that we will see a lot of slo-mo in Superman, I just hope by then he has strike a good balance in using it.
Another thing I hope that he does not bring to the Superman movie, is the obviously CG feel of the movie. Cloudy skies with streaks of light passing through it, again looks cool but it also looks fake. Superman is already a fantastic character, do not make everything around him too fantastic as well that we lose all connection to him. It would be nice to have a real world feel to a Superman movie, with Superman and his villain to be the few that are extraordinary.
Back to Sucker Punch. The acting is ok it matches the tone of what they are going for with the movie. The story, how would I say this, was a bit boring it was somehow controversial that it leaves some bad taste in your mouth. Marketing for the film was good, the trailer gives us something to awe about, but I am bit scared for the younger viewers who goes and watch this and tries to understand the undertones of the movie. The theme behind the movie is pretty mature, and exploitive, something I am uncomfortable to let younger viewers see. So, again it is in bad taste that a depraved topic like this is coated with mixed genre elements that is obviously targeted for 13-year-old boys. It was hard for me to enjoy the guilty pleasures (Gatling gun-toting Samurais, Steam-punk zombies, dragons vs. bombers, etc…) because all of those are just the imagination of a young girl, and her real world events are much horrible. Another thing that takes me out of the movie is, that these “imaginations” are from a male psyche, though to be fair there are girls, even hot girls (you can include yourself here blackwidow) that have these thoughts. However, I would presume most girls who are “abused” would not go fantasizing elaborate worlds to get back at their abusers (but then again I am no expert in psychology, so you could disregard my previous statements).
Sucker Punch is a strange animal of a film. It is cool for cool sake and if you remove all the eye-candies you have a story that is usually a topic for low budget indie films. If the filmmakers had that conscious desire to give their movie viewers a gut-wrenching sensation, something like a sucker punch, then I give this movie a borderline passing grade. I just hope Zack Snyder ups his game for the Superman movie and try to reinvent some of his style, and let go some of his tired antics.
-this has been PollMaster inviting you to the geek side.