Sucker Punch Is an Identity Crisis on Screen

I'll keep this as brief as I can – Sucker Punch is a terrible film! Zach Snyder's latest is an action-packed identity crisis, marketing itself with the eye candy and CGI battle sequences (to draw the guys to the theater) and then, not so subtly, trying to pass it off a something more substantial - a movie with a message. Well, it didn't work. At all. (PS - I went with a group of guys.... the target demographic, and we didn't expect fine art)

It's hard to know where to start. My first reaction is that Snyder has moved on from scantily clad men (300) to scantily clad women with Sucker Punch. I'm not going to lie – eye candy is eye candy and being a guy I appreciated that for what it is. But then to try and sell these insane action sequences as being a metaphor these young womens' struggle to liberate themselves from sex slavery? I'm not buying it. And neither did anyone who was in the theater with me.

The characters in Sucker Punch are paper thin as far as development. They come across as little more than the vehicles to drive the action, and yet, they are supposed to be driving the bigger, important message. Didn't work. The story of these girls banding together to escape their situation is cliché and really does little more than serve as a pause to catch your breath from the action.

And what of the action? I'm confused. I thought this movie was supposed to be about ass-kicking and violence at the hands of hot chicks? So why then, did this movie even try for the PG-13 rating it received? And the way they did it is even more dumbfounding. So here our heroines are, in the midst of an epic World War I-esque battlefield, and in order to make the killing “ok” for the rating, we establish that the German soldiers are already dead and are nothing more than clockwork, steam-punk zombies. What?! It's ok though, we have a “mech” for the asian girl to pilot. Oh man.... what has happened here?

Then for the next epic encounter they take our girls to Isengard! (for your enjoyment) Yes, flying around in a hybrid B-17, the girls somehow end up in Middle Earth where they fight orcs and dragons with samurai swords, assualt rifles and a .50 cal. Oh yeah, and for the sake of that rating thing - “You're one ugly mother....” blam blam blam blam Again, just take the “R” rating and save some shred of dignity.

However, what made this movie truly awful in my opinion is the end, wherein Snyder's story gets sappy and preachy – the message. Seeing as this adventure has already lifted from 95% of animes, The Matrix' wardrobe, Lord of the Rings' locales, Kill Bill's Pei Me sequence and Sky Captain's aesthetic, why not try to shove a message in there too? “You have the tools. Use them.” Cue the eye roll.

If this was supposed to be a movie about female empowerment, which I've read thing that hint that it partially is, it failed. Why? Because this film probably only served to make every teenaged boy (target demographic) in the audience drool. Believe me, they didn't appreciate the “social message” nearly as much as the hot chicks in skimpy outfits kicking ass. If this was supposed to be just a action-packed romp through pop culture, it failed. Drop the pretense! Lose the message, take the “R” rating and just embrace what it is – mindless entertainment, good or bad.

One final thought. This rating thing bothers me on another level too. It managed to snag a PG-13 rating. Why, because it didn't kill “people” en mass or use the word “fuck” in the action sequences? Um.... a fair amount of time is spent in a 40-50s era brothel where the women are abused (verbally and physically) on screen, manipulated, SHOT IN COLD BLOOD and totally objectified (like in the movie itself) and that isn't viewed as violence worthy of “R”? There is nothing wrong with “R” if you understand what it signifies. Gee... I think this movie missed its own contrived message. Sadly, so did the ratings board. Congratulations - you now own the lowest rating ever* for The Film Lounge! 2/10

*Actually tied for the lowest rating ever with a couple other "winners" (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Shrek the Third). The Brothers Solomon, while given a 0/10, was not an official review, just a public service announcement, as stated.