Coyote Cinema: Sucker Punch

[cyrano]

Mild spoilers.I am deeply ambivalent about this film. I think that if you liked the last series of Doctor Who, this might be your sort of gig: Stunning visuals, some really cool ideas, and a hot steaming mess of plot and continuity. Luckily, in this case the plot and continuity are influenced by a sort of melange of insanity drug fueled dream sequence detachment that makes it nearly appropriate so long as the viewer can keep up.
This is Zack Snyder, and there is no subtlety here. The volume is pretty much always at eleven, and plot elements carry their own sledgehammers engraved with their names. The world is an opressive misogynistic rape-ateria, and the only power female characters have comes from sex. Seriously. Our main characters super power is SexyDance which is so sexy that opponents are stunned into inactivity and oblivion until the radio cuts out. Wearing fetish wear and lingerie makes you even more powerful, and the battlefield is some hypersexual hybrid steampunk Fellowship of the Harry Potter with faceless or animalistic men as opponents.

The soundtrack is pretty awesome, down to the cheesetastic cover of "Love Is the Drug" over the closing credits. I was pleased that there was at least a nod to the moral quandary over the mission to slit the baby's throat. And I have to say that there were two bullets that I did not see coming. And again, some stunning visuals and cool ideas.
All in all, it's a movie I'm glad I caught in the cinemas but I don't need to own it. If it were on cable and I were watching on a megamighty Dolbytastic home cinema, I'd watch it again. Two and a half to three wags.

Comments

[lil-m-moses.livejournal.com]

When I saw the poster I thought this looked cool. When I saw the trailer, I thought, "WTFF?" I can't decide if it's worth my $$, and you're not helping me decide. ;P

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

That sounds very familiar. And I'm not helping me decide much either.

[spideyj.livejournal.com]

I was ambivalent at first but the more I thought about it, the angrier I got. That was not the hot chicks kicking ass in a fantasy world popcorn flick that I went to see - it was a dreary misogynistic downer.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

I haven't thought about it yet. I'm afraid I'll end up in the same place, though. It was definitely the guy who did 300.

[scarywhitegirl.livejournal.com]

I kinda want to see it again, to see if I just can't track combat action now that I am old and have glasses, or to see if it's just sitting too close to the screen that does me in. Because really, all of the "AWESOME!!!!1!" combat sequences that two of my younger female friends told me about were a total blur for me.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

The action sequences weren't as bad as the modern trend, especially with his tendency to go slo-mo and lovingly caress a particular moment. You may have been too close to the screen, though.

[reluctantgenius.livejournal.com]

Ultimately, I found it rather like Barbie - pretty and empty, but pretending that it has meaning - and getting away with it due to excellent marketing.