Sucker Punched

Time again for a stale movie review. Yup. Went out and bought some DVDs again. This time I had a difficult choice of either choosing a Korean series or a couple of english movies. In the end I chose Fast & Furious 5 and Sucker Punch. This review is of course about Sucker Punch.

Sucker Punch is directed by Zack Synder whose previous works included '300' and 'Watchmen'. Like his previous films, Sucker Punch is highly stylised with a comic book feel to it. If you did not like his previous 2 movies, especially 'Watchmen', I suggest you skip this one as you are bound to dislike it.

I do not mind the stylised presentation but I have to say that Sucker Punch is a love it or hate it movie. A lot of people will hate it and say it makes no sense. I on the other hand loved it. Pay attention and you might just find the story in it. It also has great action sequences and enough complexity to give your brain a workout.

There are spoilers in my review so if you have not already watched the film, stop reading now.

***** Spoilers Alert ******

Sucker Punch is like an inversion of '300'. Where in '300' all the good guys are manly men, Sucker Punch throws in a group of hot ladies. While the ladies wear much more than the Spartans in '300', they are still very sexy and I meant sexy more as a mental image rather than a physical portrayal.

The movie deals with Babydoll (Emily Browning) which had been incarcerated in a mental asylum by her wicked stepfather. To prevent her from telling the truth, her wicked stepfather, in cahoots with one of the orderlies, schedules Babydoll for a lobotomy which will happen in 5 days' time. To escape this harsh reality, Babydoll retreats into a fantasy world to cope but she does not give up hope to escape from the asylum.

The movie will alternate between real world and the fantasy world and this may disorient a lot of viewers but if you pay attention you will do just fine. The action sequences will all play out in the fantasy world and it looks great! If you are an avid gamer, you will appreciate the sequences.

I'm more or less going to go into a scene by scene summary after this so if you do not want your movie spoiled, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER! You have been warned!!

******* Scene by scene spoiler alert ********

In the opening sequence, we see Babydoll's mother dead on her bed. We also see that she has a little sister and what we will know later as her stepfather. It's made clear that the stepfather is angry that his wife has left her fortune to the 2 girls and things really go downhill from there for Babydoll.

She loses her sister very soon after that and gets framed for the murder by her stepfather who promptly sends her to a mental asylum where he bribes an orderly named Blue to get Babydoll lobotomised so that his dirty little secret can be kept safe. The doctor performing the lobotomy is set to arrive for the procedure in 5 days time. Babydoll frantically searches for a way to escape this fate but what can a girl do in such a situation?

Babydoll is taken into the 'theater' of the asylum where we see some of the other inmates and also a Dr. Gorski treating her patients with an uncoventional method. She sets a stage and asks her patients to role play. From this point onwards, the line between reality and fantasy begins to blur as Babydoll retreats into a fantasy world to help her cope with the devastating situation she finds herself in while still trying to find a way out.

The mental asylum is now depicted as a brothel that is run by Blue and the girls are held in captivity and exploited. Babydoll gains the trust of one of the inmates called Rocket when she saves her newfound friend from being attacked by the cook. The duo is then seen at a dance rehearsal where Madame Gorski is the dance instructor.

In her fantasy world, Babydoll is about to have her virginity sold to the 'High Roller' who is in fact the doctor who will perform the lobotomy. Before she can be presented to this 'High Roller' she is instructed to dance by Madame Gorski. It is implied that all the girls are taught an eroctic dance to attract clients and thus Babydoll is no exception. The only thing different is that Babydoll seems to have a knack for dancing and performs very well straight from the onset.

Whenever Babydoll dances, she goes deeper into her fantasy world where she sees herself as a warrior. Starting out alone, Babydoll meets a Wise Man in her fantasy that tells her that she needs 5 items in order to escape. The 5 items include a map, fire, a knife, a key and a mysterious fifth item that only Babydoll will know. The Wise Man then arms Babydoll with a samurai sword and an automatic pistol and tells her to defend herself.

After the first dance/fantasy sequence, Babydoll gains some allies in the form of other inmates. Rocket (Jena Malone) and her reluctant sister, Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish) teams up with her along with Amber (Jamie Chung) and Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens). They then endevour to find the items necessary for their escape.

It is revealed that Babydoll fantasises every time she performs the erotic dance for specific intended audience so that her allies can either gain access or steal the required items while their target is mesmerized by Babydoll's performance. We never see the actual dance but what I would have given to see it.

Things get more and more difficult as the evil orderly Blue gets wind of the plan and becomes more alert. The girls mess up in the final leg which results in Rocket, Amber and Blondie dying. Babydoll and Sweet Pea makes it as far as the front gate of the asylum where they see a big group of guards. Babydoll then realized that the fifth and final item needed for the escape is her own sacrifice. Thus she gives up her freedom to distract the guards in order to let Sweet Pea escape.

The Sucker Punch for me in this movie is that Babydoll never made it out of the asylum and she is lobotomised in the end. Sweet Pea makes it out and we realise in the end that it was her that was narrating the story the whole time. Although the movie ended in a bit of a down note for me, I find the movie to be very entertaining.

***** End of Spoilers *******

Verdict : 3.5 out of 5 stars.