jakoson7

21 May 2012

This movie is not for stupid people!

To all who say that this has a terrible, if not nonexistent, storyline,they are WRONG! This movie has a very clever storyline that exceedsmuch of the Hollywood junk we get today.Yes, the emphasis of the film is that hardcore fantasy scenes fromSnyder's own imagination, but it does relate to what's happeningoutside the character's imagination. She's in a mental asylum, so don'tbe surprised of what she imagines of.Another VERY ANNOYING thing from other reviews are that they DO NOTunderstand the story. Not to give spoilers, but I think the story issomewhat like Shutter Island combined with Inception (not the horror oraction elements, but the psychological element).The ending may be hard to grasp for viewers. You have to be intelligentto understand it. From the previous review, the reviewer questioned whyit goes from "being a prisoner to being a burlesque dancer". Heobviously did not understand the symbolic element of the storyline.I have to admit, there was not enough action to make up for the plotdevelopment. Don't listen to people who say the movie is pure eyecandy; it's actually a well designed maze of twists and turns.On the action side, IT WAS AMAZING! This movie has by far the best madeCGI action sequences I have ever seen. Well timed slow motion shots,excellent angles and perspectives, and slick moves. If you thought 300had well choreographed fighting, you have to see this.I strongly recommend this movie. But don't go and only expect hardcoreaction with a stupid plot. Open up your mind like you did when youwatch inception, because this movie is all about the story.

rogerdarlington

20 May 2012

Mindless plot but stunning visuals

Director Zack Snyder is noted for putting his visuals way ahead of anynarrative, but I enjoyed both "300" and "Watchmen". Here though, wherehe is both writer and director, the visuals totally dominate - yet whatvisuals. From the very opening to the very closing (the creditsthemselves are stylish), "Sucker Punch" is visually stunning and I sawthe film on the biggest screen in Britain (the BFI IMAX in centralLondon). The effects are fabulous and the soundtrack thumping.In a sense, all art is derivative (after 3,000 years of civilisation,how could it be otherwise?), but this movie is utterly, utterlyderivative. Set in a mental institution with one world within another,involving a group of young, attractive women being sent on variousmissions by an older man, and with four set-piece battles on variousmythical locations, this is "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" via"Inception" and "Charlie's Angels" for the pop video/computer gamergeneration.The central character - and the only one with any real back-story - isBabydoll (5' 2" Emily Browning) who is a cross between The Bride in"Kill Bill" and Trinity in "The Matrix". Her four fellow inmates andcombatants are sisters Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish - who looks like ayoung Nicole Kidman) and Rocket (Jena Malone - who looks like a youngMeg Ryan) plus Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens) and Amber (Jamie Chung). Allof them have huge false eyelashes and incredible resource, bothphysical and hardware. If they are the angels, then the Charlie figureis grizzled Scott Glenn, the only man who is less than revolting. Asfor the other 'characters', you've got samurai, dragons, cyborgs,robots, the lot - all waiting to be blasted to bits in a fast-movingvideo world.If there had been a half-decent script with some sort of plot, thiswould have been quite a movie. As it is, you need to give yourself avirtual lobotomy and just enjoy the ride.

Andrew L. Urban

20 May 2012

We get the feeling that Snyder has made all the music videos he has ever wanted to and edited them end to end to put them into this film

19 May 2012

Quite Simply the Best Movie of 2011

I wrote this review mainly in response to Sucker Punch's 22% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In my honest opinion that number is quite simply ridiculous. Sucker Punch so far has been one of the greatest films of 2011.Yes there are some scenes in this movie which some view as rip-offs of other films. Here is what I said about Hollywood in response, so what? We live in a world where remakes come out every other week and their sequels made to 30 year old films that have no business being revisited. Sucker Punch did nothing wrong here, Sucker Punch saw great movies and said to itself what can I do better? And there were plenty of things that Sucker Punch did that were better. Look at the scene that mirrors, Lord of the Rings. Now, Lord of the Rings is one of the most treasured franchises in all of cinema but its protagonists were incredibly annoying. Sucker Punch did something that J.R.R. Tolkien was afraid to do, introduced hot women the equation. Is that really so wrong?There are other parts of this movie the mirror Kill Bill. But where Kill Bill faltered, Sucker Punch succeeded. There was only one good-looking girl in Kill Bill. Sucker Punch had several. Once again, this is much better.Other critics have said this movie too closely resembles the videogame. My answer, no such thing. Videogames try and look real, movies John look real. If every review videogame said, this looks too real then no video games would sell. The double standard in Hollywood is ridiculous here.What does it say about we as a nation when we cannot appreciate the true gems that Hollywood has put forth? Director Zack Snyder has made a masterpiece here and yet only 22% of all critics can appreciate. This is absurd. I highly encourage you to check this movie out. You will not regret it. This movie does not set out forth to abolish laws set by its predecessors. It comes rather, to complete, and it does so quite well.Sucker Punch had so far been the greatest movie of 2011, bar none. Everyone should take the opportunity to own this gem on Blu-ray or DVD.

louis_lux

18 May 2012

Exactly what the trailers promised

If you thought the trailer and plot summary seemed silly then by allmeans listen to the critics and don't go see it, but if you wereexcited by the trailers and thought the story might be interesting thenI advise you to go see it.The first and third trailer and part of the second were not youraverage trailer, they had barely any dialog and you basically got thatsick action to the sound of some wicked music. That's exactly what's inthe movie, and frankly talking would just have ruined it, the actionand music are all you need.From the trailer we can tell that Scott Glenn says the cheesiest linesand it's so cheesy compared to the other characters that there's justno way it's not intentional, but he actually does it quite well, theguys in the Expendables movie wish they could say cheesy lines so well.Like I said, the other actors are nothing like Scott Glenn's character,who resides in the imaginary, they are all flesh and blood and havedeep emotions. The middle section of the movie is quite intense and Idare anyone to say anything bad about Oscar Isaac's performance, he wasgreat throughout. The girls are very good too and honestly made someaction stars look bad in comparison.Now I really have to mention again that the middle portion of themovie, that takes place in the train with the robots and what follows,is the highlight of the movie, if the rest of the movie had matchedthat part critics would be seeing the movie in a much more positivelight. It features the best action, the stakes at hand are tangible andan already intense scene gets even more intense when Blue lays down thelaw, again incredible performance by Oscar Isaac.

Chris Blake

18 May 2012

A Misunderstood Movie

There are a lot of bad reviews for this film, but it seems that thesereviewers have generally completely missed the point, mostly referringto it as a pointless, titillating, wet dream. Yet in actuality themovie is an interesting take on a particularly deep philosophicalmessage.Firstly, it does amuse me how much sexy girls get slated by reviewers.Of course this is simply jealousy. Either the reviewer is a thoroughlyunsexy female, jealous of what she wishes she could be, or a man whobelieves he has no chance with such beautiful girls and prefers tosimply dismiss them as worthless. Me, I am a mid-thirties male (whichprobably puts me in the so-called "demographic") and I like women. Alot. I especially like sexy women. If they are wearing next to nothing,even better. And if that next to nothing is latex, better still. Addsome weapons and martial arts and that suits me down to the ground. Butthen again I don't feel threatened by them, and I guess that's thedifference.In terms of special effects you get exactly what you would expect fromSnyder, and you won't be disappointed, but what I particularly likedwas the quite original take on what constituted the bad guys and howthe action scenes resembled a computer game. Certainly an originalconcept with some very nicely executed sequences. Some of the actingcould have been a bit better I suppose and the dialog was fairly basic.It's never going to be a classic, but it's a fast-paced and thoroughlyenjoyable watch.But now back to the guts of the film. If you thought this was simply anaction film then you completely missed the point. As revealed at theend, the message of this film is that life is what we make it. That allof our fears, insecurities, happiness, love, feelings and so on aresimply what we perceive them to be and that we can change all of thisif we want to, it's simply up to us. This is Baby Doll's reality; lifeas she has made it. The depth of this message cannot be underestimated.In fact it is the essence of life. Snyder summarises it with aparticularly nice quote: You have all the weapons you need, now fight.If you don't understand this movie, then you have a lot to learn.

Mr_Frost

17 May 2012

Avoid this movie unless youre a fan of vapid, empty entertainment!

Just finished watching "Sucker Punch" after the FOURTH time attemptingto finish it! :-\ Aside from being one THE most atrociously, horrendously god-awfulmesses of a piece-of-poop movie I've ever seen (and trust me, I've seena LOT of stinkers through the years!)the MAIN thing I could thinkduring the ENTIRE movie was that the main girl character ("Baby Doll")NEEDED to be lobotomized AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE! Why? To PROTECT ALL OFUS from her OBVIOUSLY homicidal, paranoid, self-destructive, utterlyVIOLENT, and obviously PSYCHOTICALLY DELUSIONAL mind and behavior! :-\(This judgment was verified as being correct at the end of the moviewhen Dr. Gorski actually told us what "Baby Doll" had actuallydone/accomplished in the real world!) The other thought I CONTINUOUSLY kept having (which is why I had tokeep turning it off and coming back to it another day …FOUR TIMES…) was"What the HELL does ANY of this have to do with being in a mentalinstitution????!". I understand that the filmmaker wanted to show that"Baby Doll" had built these alternate universes/realities to wall awaythe horrendous abuse that she had suffered at the hands of her father,but this movie would have INCREDIBLY GREATLY benefited from showing ussome ACTUAL scenes from our objective reality from time to time (hersitting in a cell, going through therapy, ANYTHING)! But we didn't getany of that… All we DID receive was CGI. o.0 All this accomplished wasto serve to highlight her INCREDIBLE insanity and TOTALLY disconnectme, as a viewer, from the tissue-paper-thin plot and characterizations!This movie marks one of THE first times I have EVER found myselfACTIVELY rooting AGAINST the main protagonist! I THINK that thefilmmakers WANTED us to (or at least hoped we would) sympathize withor, at minimum, empathize with the main character, but not only was shetotally psychotic & delusional, what little of her character that WASactually shared with us wasn't even particularly Likable! :( Similarlyher comrades weren't the most likable characters EITHER! From the time the previews began airing on TV, I SO wanted to see thismovie! And, to be honest, (contrary to how I may sound in this review)I REALLY WANTED to like this movie! However, at the end of the day, Isimply could not. I'm not even entirely sure which demographic thismovie might even begin to appeal to! (shrug) MAYBE to males who likeT&A and lots of action… But, I mean, come on, you can get that in yourtypical action movie and still get a plot and likable (at leastbearable) characters in the process!

16 May 2012

Very satisfying

This review is from: Sucker Punch (Amazon Instant Video) I don't know what genre to call this movie but I'll give it a shot. This is an action/sci-fi/horror/fantasy movie. There, that should cover some of it. This to me was a very immersing movie. It starts out at ground zero with the character Baby Doll and just takes off from there. Also, if you're into computer gaming you will find this movie quite interesting as well. The movie has a very novel twist in that all the fantasy, action, and sci-fi take place only when Baby Doll is dancing and she transports herself in her mind to these places and events and thereby taking the other four female characters with her. Very satisfying movie to watch. I felt like I got my money's worth.

cooljam2000

16 May 2012

A typical Zach Snyder film 13 slow motion, 13 pointless over-the-top action, and 13 comic book styled visuals and storytelling

This is only my second review ever but Sucker Punch ground my gears somuch that I just had to make this review. I saw this movie Wednesdaythe 23rd in St. Louis at an early screening for press and locals and Iwill be avoiding major spoilers but might mention some small scenespecific things.Basically, this movie is what you get when Zack Snyder turns all of hislittle girl fetish fantasies/daydreams into a movie. The action isunbelievably over-the-top, too long, and boring. The girls, whilebeautiful, look rather young and childish (especially the main girlBaby Doll) in what can only be seen as a pedophilia-type fetish. Thestory and visuals are similar to a comic book with there being aconstant narration and a stylized darkish tint to everything like 300or The Spirit. Since this movie does follow a comic book style of storytelling and goes in and out of reality, the plot ends up being veryjarring and confusing especially at critical story points throughoutthe movie.One of the biggest problems with this movie is length, clocking in atnearly 2 hours long. I enjoy long movies, if they are good. If a movieis good I want it to go on forever and never end, but with Sucker PunchI couldn't wait for it to finish. Probably the biggest contributingfactor to the length of this movie is the slow motion. Roughly 1/3rd ofSucker Punch is in slow motion (that is if you cut out all the scenesthat weren't in slow motion, the running time of just the slow motionscenes would be about 35-40 minutes) including the first 10 minutes ofthe film which is completely in slow motion. The next biggestcontributor were the action scenes. Not only were they too long thatyou got bored of them after a few minutes (and not to mention the factthat all the action scenes were exactly the same for every fantasysequence no matter who they were fighting) but they were soover-the-top that they just weren't entertaining. The girls were alwaysimpervious to damage (falling 1,000 feet or getting hit by 100 foottall robots didn't even phase them) and had matrix-type skills to dodgebullets. There just wasn't any suspense or excitement to the action.Another problem with this movies the the CGI. About half the movie isin CGI and poor CGI at that. While some of the CGI looks good,specifically larger shots with most things in the distance, when itgets close up to some things it looks like a cutscene from a video game(maybe that was what he was going for though). It really takes you outof the movie.The only good actor is Jon Hamm, and he has the smallest part in thefilm. The lead female cast are emotionless and Carla Gugino has alaughably bad Russian accent. Character wise, Gugino's character ispointless and could be removed from the film without anything missing,Hamm's character is basically just a cameo even though his character ismade out to be a big deal, the main female cast are static and don'tchange (Baby Doll pretty much does everything, one girl is the naiverebellious one, another is the strong-willed reluctant one, one is theAsian girl who is always dealing with technology like piloting giantmech robots, and the other is Vanessa Hudgens who does absolutelynothing except look ridiculous with her giant hair). The mainantagonist does have some good moments (especially one near the endwhen he does something you wish he would have done right from thebeginning) but other than that he and the rest of the bad guys are dullor non-existent for most of the film.The one thing that could have made this movie slightly enjoyable wasnudity. This movie is constantly teasing you by showing all of thegirls in very skimpy skin tight outfits and in their dressing room alot (where most of their conversations take place) but there is nonudity at all. It is just a big tease with a huge letdown once yourealize you won't get to see any skin. I'm not giving this movie alower rating because of the lack of nudity (I knew it was a PG-13movie), but because it is being teased so much and sex is hinted at orimplied a lot it could have included some sex scenes and nudity and notcheapened the story or the film at all and maybe could have evenstrengthened the story and what the girls were going through.This movie just proves Zack Snyder is a terrible film maker. Because hehad butchered source material so much in his previous films to try tomake things different and his own, you might think that giving him hisvery own original movie might let him really show his creativity. Butas you can tell by the crap he adds or changes to the source materialin his previous movies, he has no good ideas of his own. Sucker Punchis just a bunch of random CGI and cock-teasing with a very simple butnot very coherent story and unnecessary action.

jessie10472

15 May 2012

Loads of fun and fantasy

Sucker Punch Delivers the action with a great story line. As theaudience we don't just enjoy the action sequences we care about thecharacters and what happens to them.While some argue that the CGI over powers the film I see this movie asan animation film with human actors.The women in this film are both beautiful and strong, giving away onlyvulnerabilities when needed and delivering until the very end.If you enjoy anime and action fantasy then this story, while familiar,will be enjoyable.8 out of 10

14 May 2012

Worst film of 2010

This film is by far the worst film of the year. It has no plot, sloppy storytelling, lousy editing (they edit and alter the story too mantain a PG-13 rating even making the nazis have no blood), the soundtrack is like being raped (it's basicly Britney Spears covers of all theses beloved rock songs). This film gose nowere fast, it's just random inconsequential action sequences. Their is never any real peril since it's all make beleive, and they're extremley repetitive. This film relies on mindless explosions and hot chicks to get people to see it, which will satisfy most people but if your looking for an actual story this is not for you. This is basicaly Twilight for guys. The film feels like a 100 minute video game trailer, and it's unbearabley boring. With an ending that's beyond predictable.I can't stress enough it's mindless. The special effects are great, but as Matt Stone and Trey Parker said, (special effects are not story)You also never see what actually happend sicne 99% of the film is a make beleive pretend world. Which leaves a lot open to interpretation.Also the subplot with her evil father never gets resolved. Their is also the logical flaw, Since it requred Carla Gugino's signature to give a labotomy, how could labotomy's be going on in front of her that she did not sign for and she not catch on until numerous ones had bean performed. Think about it if you had to sign for them and one was being doen right in front of you would you not realise hey Ididn't sign for that?

siderite

13 May 2012

The visuals didnt save the movie

When you look at the poster or the trailer of the movie you get theidea of a very creative movie, with lots of stunning graphics andinteresting scenes. The reality of it (pardon my pun) is that thedragons and the orcs and the steampunk Nazis and the ninja swords arejust a few of the scenes in the movie. The rest is a story that feltpushed and artificially dramatic.Bottom line: the film has stunning visuals and a great soundtrack. Theplot, though, kind of sucks. You have insane people sacrificingthemselves for no good reason and bad people getting anything theywant, with the only consolation that an active imagination overcomesthe drama of reality. It is an intriguing idea, one that I've loved ina number of films; in this one, however, it left me unimpressed.

13 May 2012

SUCKER PUNCH = DANCER IN THE DARK

The main inspiration for SUCKER PUNCH seems to be a little cult film named Dancer in the Dark (New Line Platinum Series) starring Bjork. Indeed, a few of Bjork's songs are sprinkled into SUCKER PUNCH. Think of Zack Snyder's latest as a high fantasy, computer-generated, girl power version of DANCER IN THE DARK. Even SUCKER PUNCH'S ending scenes are similar to that movie.Like Dancer in the Dark, the main character of SUCKER PUNCH escapes into a fantasy in order to cope with her situation. The movie is highly episodic. The main character Babydoll doesn't stay in her fantasy continuously, like the trailers make you believe. Instead, she comes in and out. And when she's out, the movie is kind of a teeny, tiny, tad boring.

bramkleiweg

12 May 2012

Modern cinema has reached a new low point

A lot can be said about this film, but only when accompanied byclenched fists and a look of bewilderment. Wooden acting,one-dimensional characters, awful writing, boring and repetitive actionsequences, a plot which is predictable in it's journey to no-where, alack of meta-story, a horrible degradation of well-loved songs,evidently bad editing (which is a rare one)... All contributing to apile of misogynist filth that makes you wonder why you still bothergoing to the cinema. This film characterizes everything that is wrongwith modern cinema, emphasizing looks above content and a type of'stylised' filmmaking which is long past its sell by date above commonsense. Don't see this film, unless you enjoy developing an aversion ofmovies.

09 May 2012

I am so angry I paid to see this movie.

This movie moves forward and looks like a horror mystery video game. That pretty much sums it up. If I had to see it, I would have chosen the Extended version which answers questions created by the Theatrical version I saw. However, I still have the stink on me from sitting through the theatrical version yesterday. I agree with all the negative reviews but because of the youth and beauty in this movie and derivative styling, this movie is going to sell, no doubt. It's this awful Alice in Wonderland meets the Matrix reality or fantasy in the asylum kind of story with tatty unartistic attempts at being arty and dark gothic sensibility - not even in the irritating Tim whatshisname from Betelgeuse really does it well.Orcs, zombies, monster samurai, schoolgirl dresses on real life anime bods, yeah, that's going to sell. But I don't have to buy it. It was kind of a waste of the actresses. This is bubble gum disposable entertainment or is it? This could have turned into a franchise if they had stuck with the fanboy path but one truth is that delicate girls are NO match for the monsters of this world. I HATED this movie.

Sqmppq

09 May 2012

Blew my mind!

When I bought this movie on a DVD, I was expecting to see some sort ofcrazy video-game action movie, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Themovie was really sad right from the beginning to the last seconds ofthe film. It really got me, I couldn't stop watching until the moviewas over. Then I was just sitting on my chair and thinking... I don'tknow how do critics write their reviews but they have to be doingsomething wrong because this movie was truly great. The technical sidewas really well made and it really had the feeling of a video-game. Ithink all the actors played their roles well, and really got into theirroles. But the best thing of this movie is the soundtrack. It isamazing. I'm even listening to it right now, as I'm writing thisreview! Definitely one of the most under rated films I've seen, for along time.

dekadent

07 May 2012

Epic Fail

i saw this movie few months ago, but writing review now just because iam surprised to see IMDb rating for this disaster still sitting at 6.4mark. there must be many studio trolls' reviews here, can't explain itany other way..honestly, if i could give this movie a negative rating, i would..i liked Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead, 300 and Watchmen, he isdefinitely a good director, when it comes to directing somethingwritten by others, that is.. however he apparently has no fricken cluehow to write a decent screenplay, one that not only makes sense, but atthe very least devoid of ridiculousness..somehow Snyder managed to construct an action movie in which theaudience does not even a tiny bit care what happens to the maincharacters..more depressing thought is that Snyder perhaps thinks that this is howmuch we, as moviegoers, are worth, this is what we apparently supposedto find acceptable and enjoyable.. if so, this is insulting..not going to tell you not to see this movie - instead go see it, butremember - if you like it - you don't understand anything in movies andany hopelessly idiotic plot married to semi-pretty visuals will get youexcited..Zack, direct, but don't write... one more Sucker Punch, and you willsuckepunch yourself out of movie business..

tomdude0

06 May 2012

Most Underrated Movie of the Year

Sucker Punch is about a girl, Baby Doll who is institutionalized by herevil stepfather so that he can obtain the inheritance left to her byher late mother. At the institution, Baby Doll meets the other girls--Rocket, Sweet Pea, Amber, and Blondie, as well as the evil owner of theinstitution, Blue. Baby Doll learns that a character known as the "HighRoller" is coming for her in 5 days. She decides to escape from thefacility before then, and retreats to an alternate reality to help herand the other girls execute an escape plan.For the most part, the story was excellent. There were somemelodramatic moments, especially towards the end, but there are manymore great moments than bad ones. I'll admit, the acting of the girlswasn't great, which was a hard hit seeing as the film is centeredaround them. Oscar Isaac did a good job as Blue, but Carla Gugino'sRussian accent was...um...strange.I thought the alternate reality idea was great and really original.Basically, Baby Doll can use music to enter the alternate reality andshe envisions the other girls there with her. The girls must obtainfive items in order for them to escape. There are different levels ofthe alternate reality, and in each one the girls obtain an item thatrepresents an item they need to get in real life. As they obtain theitems in the alternate world, they obtain the items in the real world.Overall, the movie was really good, action-packed, and had amazingvisuals. The portrayal of women was questionable though. Still, a greatmovie and deserves more credit than what it's given.

David Edwards

06 May 2012

The lights are on, but nobody's home.

toastandcereal

05 May 2012

People are confusing it for a guy movie when its aimed more at girls.

I'm a 21 year old insecure girl and when I started watching this, sure,I was a bit tired of seeing hot girls with guns in a movie yet again.But this movie is much more than that. I've seen a lot of the males whohated this movie in their reviews complain that it's just a stupid CGImovie with hot chicks in it and it has no depth, well I disagree.Just like with Catwoman (Halle Berry), I honestly think that this movieis aimed at girls more than guys. It's more of a 'girl power' movie,than a 'omglookguizsnakedgirls!!' movie. There is no nudity in thisfilm, when Emily Browning's skirt comes up while she's fighting you canclearly see she's wearing tennis pants, the only thing on show arestomachs, legs, and maybe two characters show some cleavage.The movie is also not a ripoff of Inception, like someone stupidlysaid, because Inception has copied off of others. Nothing is originalnow, so what do you expect? I really enjoyed the CGI effects(especially the 'knife' mission) and I thought the acting was reallygood. Vanessa Hudgens was a little disappointing but she did have apretty small role anyway.I think people need to stop paying attention to the ratings on IMDb...because most of the time you're going to be let down. Just watch themovie, and if you like it, you like it. You can't have an opinion onsomething just because it has a low or high score for goodness.