We all had our worries. And down it went, Sucker Punch nose-dived from a weak 19 million opening down to 6 million the next weekend. I have to admit, as much as I questioned Snyder’s ability to direct his actors (Scott Glenn, Malin Ackerman, Patrick Wilson) I was rooting for our super man director on its second weekend in the box office.
Yes, I was left with that terrible empty feeling at the end of Sucker Punch, like I had followed every moment of plot and dialogue but nevertheless I had missed something, that the ending and film could not simply be what had been presented to me but there must be more or something else—but, there was nothing more, the movie told too much and eluded at too little. On the other hand, I enjoyed the experience, I enjoyed rooting for the movie, and I will say, Sucker Punch is a lot better then the reviews, and it will still go on to make a fair amount of money in the upcoming weeks.
The first fifteen minutes of the film show off the best of Snyder. There is hardly any dialogue so Snyder’s vision is seen un-muddled and at it’s finest. The opening runs so smoothly and clearly, in a more minimal fashion than the rest of film, proving Snyder’s worthiness as a director and a great potential to make some wonderful films. Sucker Punch was set up to be this tightly wound story, which is perfect, unfortunately the delivery was loose, slow, and heavy-handed. I would say, I don’t know, if Snyder had a script or a re-edit or a revision by, I don’t know, Christopher Nolan, we would probably have had a close to perfect film.
That being said there is no fair reason to pull Snyder from the film—if there is reason to pull him off, they should never had hired him. And Nolan, unless he wanted another director in the first place and Snyder was more of a studio call, then I doubt Nolan will pull him from the film. Anyhow it is the Warner Brothers who are upset with low numbers and it is the Warner Brothers who will pull Snyder off the film. Therefore, Snyder getting the boot is a pretty good possibility—it fits with the disgusting trend of Movie Studios this week making wacky arrogant decisions. Nolan is not the type of person to let someone get walked on like this, but say, he wanted Darren Aronofsky in the first place, and at the time, Black Swan hadn’t blown up, and the comic book fans were anticipating all of Snyder’s moves. Well say Nolan wanted Aronofsky all along and now the Studio says he can have him, I think he will let Snyder go.
But how could this happen? How could a director who was so certainly going to make a film suddenly back out at a moment when it seemed practically impossible for this to happen? Hmm, uh hem, Darren Aronofsky leaves the Wolverine.
Originally Aronofsky and Snyder were on the top of the shortlist of directors for Nolan’s Superman. Aronofsky leaves the Wolverine perhaps in anticipation that Snyder’s role as director of Superman depends upon the ratings of Sucker Punch (sounds like the tonight show with Conan O’Brien). So Sucker Punch has felled, next comes the announcement from Snyder that he is leaving Superman or becoming producer, then Nolan says he has an idea for a director, and then the Warner Brothers announce Aronofsky as director.
It seems hard to believe with Snyder dropping so much news about the Man of Steel that he wouldn’t direct. Maybe he has been dropping so much news because he knows the studio could drop him depending on the Sucker Punch reception. By putting himself out there, breaking so much Man of Steel news, Snyder makes it harder for the studio to fire him and adds to the outcry/support of his fans. Then again, the fans might even be supportive of a new director with their disappointment over Sucker Punch. Without fan support and without money the studio will surely replace Snyder as the director of the Man of Steel—and Darren Aronofsky is the only director that could replace him.