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.007 - Sucker Punch
This week I watched a movie I didn't exactly plan on to write about in the blog this week. When told to right any film, one I already saw and focus about things I missed -- I planned on watching a Disney Movie. I planned on watching Tangled again actually.

Instead, I caught Sucker Punch while flipping through my HBO channels and ended up getting my DVD and watching it about three times in a row. This film is the brainchild of director and writer Zack Synder. He's the one that directed 300 and Watchmen. Now this movie wasn't exactly what everyone that went in there wanted. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has about a 25% Rotten Score and most of those fancy-smancy critics dislike it. People often dismiss it as "too weird", "nothing but fan-service and cool looking CGI", or "offensive as all hell to women."

But really it's none of those things. This is a highly underrated film in my opinion and you can love it or hate it but it deserves a little more credit. The first time I watched it I wasn't even sure what to think but this second time around, then third, then forth, then fifth... I found myself liking it more and more every time.

The most important thing I noticed is that the "levels of reality" so to speak. It got compared to Inception in the trailers but that's not really it. Nor is the lead character, Babydoll actually insane. The CGI fights and having the asylum suddenly become a brothel for 90% of the film is a visual metaphors employed in the film are for our benefit, not hers. She's not fighting dragons in her head because she's nuts (she might be but that's not the point)-- she's fighting them because it's an interesting way for the audience to view her world. Without them it would be a typical escape movie where they sneak around stealing things and it would be horribly depressing and probably have a disturbing scene of molestation in it for shock value and the critics would have loved it and maybe it would have won an Oscar for Emily Browning playing a poor mental patient because old folks love that kind of stuff.

But I would have hated it. The visual CGI bonanza looking like a video cutscene was called great but it's said to take away from the story--- only it definitely doesn't. Snyder is telling the story of these girls in this asylum by providing these amazing visuals that are as epic as their situation feels to them. Without it the girls would be sitting around like a soap opera, probably. By comparing their problems to visions of epic battles and carnage, it makes for a better movie in my opinion and that's probably what he was going for.

As for what else I noticed there was little clues here and there tying in one reality to the other -- Like Babydoll using the same gun she aimed at her Stepfather in the beginning during the rest of the movie and it having a little bunny charm on it that matches the one her little sister is shown sleeping with in the opening (and is also on Amber's robot) and the Paradise Rum bottle showing up almost everywhere.

My brother joined me for the viewing and pointed out how unlike most action films, the girls were actually using the weapons correctly (never crossing paths, holding them right, correct stance/form/everything) and the correct guns for the era the film takes place in---- which is absolutely amazing and never would have even thought about. To make something accurate like that shows how much effort gets put into a film.

And let's not forget the music. The soundtrack contains mixes and covers of songs already made-- not a single original song in this film. I don't care that none of it is original though because it sounds new the way they do it and fits perfectly into the film as a storytelling device. The music is used as cues for when Babydoll switches from one world to the magical fantasy one-- and at one point the radio stops and she gets sucked back into reality. It's great. Zack also had Emily Browning, who plays Babydoll, to sing the covers of three of the songs.

The first scene is put here for viewing pleasure-- which introduces the main character and shows how visually it's beautiful and how the music really plays into how this movie is viewed. Overall it was a film I was confused about and now put in my list of favorites thanks to a rewatch (or six).