You will be unprepared the tagline says. It was right. What was presented to my eyes and eardrums was incredible. I was sucked in. Then the next day came along and I realised “what the hell?” I had to see it again to understand what had happened, what this film was trying to tell me, and just what the f***!! Here’s my review of Sucker Punch.
Sucker Punch is the story of a girl who spirals into a depression after great personal loss and gets committed into an insane asylum by her sinister stepfather. Once there she goes into her fantastical imagination to help her and her friends escape their misery. Directed by Zach Snyder, king of the slow-mo, you are guaranteed a feast for the eyes. It is visually stunning; the guy knows how to film action. The camera never gets too close-up so you can’t tell what’s going on, the sets and surroundings are fantastical, the creatures are brilliant and the fight choreography is amazing, slick and polished. And the soundtrack…amazing!! From the start, the films open to the eerie reworking of The Eurythmics Sweet Dreams building up the drama to the tragic story of lead character Babydoll. A particular stand out song for this film being Bjork’s Army of Me, perfectly accompanying Babydoll’s first adventure, bringing a perfect tension and adrenaline to the film. Unfortunately the music takes over the film at times, and the action taking place during the track seems more like the music video for the song, rather than the music simply setting the mood.
That’s not the only problem with this film. The acting from some of the cast is not very good and seemed straight out of a soap opera. The plot is very thin, but I’m suspecting a majority of people going to see this film aren’t going for the plot, if you are you may be disappointed. I have to admit the first time I saw this film I was blown away, but after the film had finished I realised I had simply been swept away in an aesthetically pleasing mind warp. Upon further viewing problems were surfacing.
Within this film there are several sequences that are fantasies for the lead character, but these are all contained within another imaginary world, of the main character…why? I don’t really know. Whether or not Snyder just wants to disorient us further or wanted an excuse to get his female leads into skimpy dance wear is unclear, I’m betting the latter. And female empowerment, I really don’t think so. Yes, they are kicking butt to a rock chick soundtrack, but with full immaculate (and excessive) make-up and with no end of skirt-flying-up-crotch-shots (we know they’re women Snyder!) and what is with the outfits? They are allowed to kick butt but only if they look like Lara Croft wannabe computer geek fantasy sex objects. I’m all for quirky outfits but seriously, we all know what the purpose of those outfits were (a barely there warlock outfit, sailor outfit etc) and it wasn’t fighting. It would have been better if they were all a bit more like Uma Thurman in Kill Bill or even better Chiaki Kuriyama in Battle Royale, savage, psycho, fierce, scary and, in Chiaki’s case, the only girl not wearing the typical school uniform but a track suit. (Arguably) Not so visually pleasing but incredibly memorable and strong. Thurman is a bit more debatable as she used to be a model and so has the looks, though in Kill Bill she is never scantily clad and doesn’t use her sexuality to get ahead.
As for the message of the film, again I am confused. The first part of the film seems to say, if you have a strong imagination it can spur you on to do and achieve anything. Then later on the message seems to change to retreating into your head is the best way to cope with harsh reality, with the finale suggesting that the film is saying just stay in your head, it’s better there (especially if you are a victimised girl). This worries me a little, especially when you consider the film’s rating is a (controversial) 12A, and you can’t deny the fact that young girl’s minds are very impressionable. I love Snyder’s style but this guy would benefit greatly with teaming up with a great writer or a director who puts plot first.
Overall I would say this film is well suited for geeky fan boys and, well, just guys in general. Ladies if you’re looking for a female empowerment film keep looking, you won’t find it here. Awesome soundtrack though.
No comments:
Post a Comment