From Left to Right, “Sucker Punch’s” stars Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Emily Browning, Vanessa Hudgens, and Jamie Chung gearing for a battle. (PHOTO COURTESY OF WARNER BROTHERS STUDIOS)
It’s not often that I let my friends choose what movie to see. As someone who sees almost every movie that hits major theaters, I like to be considered a somewhat trustworthy source, in terms of weeding through the sometimes-muddled movie selections.
However, this past Saturday, I chose to loosen my grip and let one of my friends choose the movie to see. Out of a decent selection offered by AMC, my friend ended up choosing “Sucker Punch,” a movie that never really caught my interest.
The movie, a misguided mash up of over-zealous computer graphics, follows a young girl as she tries to escape a mental hospital that her evil-stepfather forced her into. The film decides to tell the story of her escape by translating it to the viewers as some mythical epic journey full of sword fights and interesting creatures.
The movie’s confusing dual narratives is the first misstep in a series of bad decisions that lead to this cinematic catastrophe. If someone were to pitch an idea that involved molding the stories of “Lord of the Rings” with “Girl, Interrupted,” taking away the good acting, and letting what seems to be an over-active 12-year-old do the post editing, than “Sucker Punch” would be the result.
Another laughable aspect of the sour film is the decision to name its character ridiculous, if not unimaginable, names like “Baby Doll” and “Blondie.” I feel as if “Sucker Punch” may just be Hollywood’s stab at an early April Fool’s joke.
The fail of film features the acting abilities of Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Vanassa Hudgens, Jena Malone, and Jamie Chung. The five females are forced to escape from Lennox Hall, the mental hospital they were sent to that operates dually as a strip club/ brothel.
The film’s costume department must have been low on fabric, as even as the actresses are trying to escape the strip club, they look like strippers doing so. Meagerly clothed and heavily armed, “Sucker Punch” unfolds to a variety of creatures and loud noises that while may be entertaining to some, were boring to this critic.
Trying too hard to be an action-packed “Alice in Wonderland,” “Sucker Punch” fails miserably. Running at 109 minutes, one would be better off skipping “Sucker Punch” and taking in more notable films like “The Lincoln Lawyer” or “Rango.”
Coming from Zack Snyder, the acclaimed director of more memorable action films like “300,” and “Watchmen,” it seems as if Snyder will want “Sucker Punch” to be the movie that everyone knows is bad, but never mentions it. For such a good director, Snyder lost the storytelling elements that he had in “300” and “Watchmen.” Perhaps filmed a little too lightly, it is very hard to take “Sucker Punch” serious on any aspects.
There were two lessons learned from my viewing of “Sucker Punch.” First, I learned to never let me friend pick the movie, even if I haven’t heard about it, and second, I learned that some movies, despite how action packed it may be, it can still come off as disastrously boring.
Don’t let the title of “Sucker Punch” fool you. Once you leave the movie, you’ll feel like you’ve been sucker punched as well.
