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Stunning - 23/4/2011 2:20:18 PM

Jables55

Posts: 8
Joined: 8/1/2010
From: Northern Ireland

Sucker punch was amazing, visually stunning and mind bending film i have every scene, though the costumes were definitly trying to prove zach snyder could make movies for men e.g. half-naked women, guns, gas powered zombies e.t.c but the sound track was amazing and the visual effects were mind boggling. tough the film ended with no hope of a sequal

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Post #: 121

RE: Stunning - 2/5/2011 11:24:42 PM

KeithM

Posts: 862
Joined: 31/7/2008

Sucker Punch

Awesome action sequences, confusing plot (even knowing ostensibly what its themes were about it still didn't make a lot of sense), too many 'music video' moments, dull movie.

Being a PG13 doesn't help as the subject matter is pretty 'heavy' (death, murder, rape, insanity, etc.), and I imagine a more adult rating might have helped, although perhaps not. As a fan of Snyder's visual panache, I think this shows that he should leave the writing to others.

Disappointing.

5/10 (would have been a 4, but the action sequences do provide some entertainment, even if they are largely pointless)

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Post #: 122

Wasted Opportunity - 3/5/2011 8:20:51 PM

docksidedave

Posts: 19
Joined: 5/6/2009
From: Doncaster

....Loved the ac tion scenes and the music but ultimately what was the point.Why the crap ending?.We know the Good Guys(and Gals),do not always win, in real life,but is it too much to ask for a feelgood ending, when our heroes(and heroines) have had to endure such hardship and the baddies are so evil.Come on Zack.Get your finger out,and please do not cock up Supes.......

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Post #: 123

- 11/5/2011 3:26:42 PM

windsor666

Posts: 12
Joined: 4/1/2008

I loved it (not just because i had been waiting over a year for it) but it's about time did a film from his own writing. The effects were great, the music was brilliant. Great characters although Blondie and Amber should have been given a bit more to do. I also wanted to see the dance number which was left out and more of the high roller. I was ready to accept it as a standard asylum pic but Snyder made it much more. Overall I loved it. As they say it's like marmite.

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Post #: 124

Background music - 18/5/2011 8:56:34 PM

danielthompson99

Posts: 150
Joined: 6/5/2006

This reminds me of Final Fantasy Advent Children. Turn the volume down, have as background during a party. Looks cool, job done.

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Post #: 125

Smarter than you think - 30/5/2011 7:36:22 PM 1 votes

trainedasninja

Posts: 206
Joined: 25/5/2011
From: Kidderminster

A story that is layered and invites the viewer to disect the film combining with an stunning arty visual statement makes this completely un-rubbish. The three world idea is great, if you look closer and investigate theories online it makes this more than some action film. It has faults, some characters are bland whilst some action sequences get increasly expected as it went along. Yet with such a creative and intelligent concept there is much to praise - 4 stars (but only just)

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Post #: 126

Sucker Punch - 10/6/2011 4:23:16 PM

ashleyrhys

Posts: 7
Joined: 17/1/2011

I was strangely excited for this film. I read a few interviews about it and the more I read on the more interested I got in the film. I was excited to see it. A gleaming cast of fantastic yet underrated actors has set this film alight. Intrigue about this film has been mostly from the male perspective as it is women in tight and skimpy clothing running around with big guns kicking ass in a fantasy world. I can’t think of a man who isn’t pleased by the concept. What about the execution?

Plot: A young girl is institutionalised by her abusive stepfather. Retreating to an alternative reality as a coping strategy, she envisions a plan which will help her escape from the mental facility.

Zack Snyder clearly likes showing off. It’s what he does best. Looking back at 300 what are the stand-out moments? The incredible fight scenes in slow-mo with fantastic shots. Realism, gore and violence submerged into a fantasy world. Unfortunately, it feels like he’s just showing off with Sucker Punch. He shows off his flowing style with obscure detail shots (an example of this is Baby Doll’s button coming off in the opening credits and a slow-mo shot as it spins, a bit like the Watchmen smiley face scene) and a lot of action. The storyline always lacks though.

Cast: Emily Browning, Vanessa Hudgens, Jena Malone, Jamie Chung, Carla Gugino, Oscar Isaac and Abbie Cornish. Directed by Zack Snyder.

The entire back story of Emily Browning’s Baby Doll is summed up in the opening scene during one or maybe two songs, I’m not sure. Another thing about this film is there is a lot of music. This means less script and that’s probably why the storyline is poor in comparison. It’s an original script and quite a clever one. A girl is institutionalised by her cruel and abusive step-father after a weird and sort of unexplained back-story. There she is planned to be lobotomised and plans an escape. To escape she replaces the institut

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Post #: 127

I wish I never watched it - 17/6/2011 6:30:40 PM

Joelrobinson

Posts: 10
Joined: 28/12/2010

I had high hopes for this film, but it the back of my mind I doubted it was going to be any good. To be honest a movie isn't really a movie if it depends on special effects the ways this one does and at some points Snyders over use of Slow motion really started frustrated me. Furthermore the storyline seemed to have been cooked up by someone high on crack randomly picking ideas from a hat. Empires review is way too generous!

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Post #: 128

RE: I wish I never watched it - 28/6/2011 12:11:20 PM

jonson

Posts: 8107
Joined: 30/9/2005

Quite possibly the worst film of all time. Not even so bad it's good, just absolutely bad.
I loved 300, I really did, and was looking forward to finally catching up with this, but very annoyed I bothered.

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Post #: 129

RE: I wish I never watched it - 28/6/2011 8:19:47 PM

kenada_woo

Posts: 1669
Joined: 30/9/2005

Erm....Oh dear.

While it looks pretty and is very imaginative its also very poorly structured and un-involving to a point that you're thrown into a "fantasy" within a "fantasy" without any introduction to what you're seeing. It ends up just being a series of video game trailers of different games back to back for an hour and a half.

The acting is poor in places that reminiscent of Showgirls but without the "classic" unintentional LOL dialogue uttered in that eye-opener of a film. The plot doesnt make a whole lot of sense either which makes any glossy OTT action sequence nothing more than a empty music video with a budget.

Which is a shame because its the only Snyder film I've watched where the action scenes are very imaginatively put together - the train scene is very impressive technically. But overall....it really is an extended music video with some dialogue thrown in that is visually arresting but hollow and un-engaging.

**/*****

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Post #: 130

RE: I wish I never watched it - 1/7/2011 2:53:09 PM

genejoke

Posts: 1783
Joined: 5/10/2005
From: bournemouth

I liked it. It does drag in the middle a bit and the end feels wrong for what seems like such a dumb action movie but the more i think about it the more i want to see it again.

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Post #: 131

Terrible - 8/8/2011 7:21:27 PM

Turd Ferguson

Posts: 70
Joined: 24/2/2011

Monumentally atrocious. Went into this with very modest expectations, which this movie didn't even come close to meeting. The action scenes, which I hoped would be the saving grace of this mess, were a complete disappointment. One of those movies that makes you feel dumber for having watched.

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Post #: 132

RE: Terrible - 9/8/2011 10:26:55 AM

jobloffski

Posts: 1846
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: elsewhere

The best metaphorical post ironic parable for female enslavement/emancipation as a personal choice, not something in the hands of 'the system' ever directed by a game influenced pervert.

Kind of taking the mickey there, but I actually really enjoyed this, much more than I thought I would, given the trashing it has received. The Empire review relates the red curtain opening to Moulin Rouge, but I'd go somewhere else for the comparison, Club Silencio in Mulholland Drive, where what is real and what is fantasy imagined to escape a reality a character wont/cant face meet.

Of course the ending is a downer, the film is called Sucker Punch. The ending is a sucker punch. Freedom is something you imagine you have and you act accordingly if you believe you are free, or if you believe you are oppressed. And in harsh situations, or even mundane ones, a fantasy of being able to cut down all in your path and get to where you're going can be good, sometimes necessary escapism. But I feel there is enough in the film to allow a happier ending than it seems on the surface (and who knows, given the film is all about what's underneath conscious reality, maybe Snyder is smart enough to give a surface sucker punch to the viewer and invite a personal interpreatation of why he would do that).

Notable thematic and visual touchstones are Brazil, The Battle For Helm's Deep,Kill Bill, and Charlies Angels and the overall message, you already have the weapons you need to gain your freedom, now fight, is pretty basic, but if you've ever needed something that basic to keep you on track and not crumble, that's enough.

Anyway, the film actually tells you, it's never Baby Doll's Story, it's Sweet Peas, and if you take everything as a representation of Sweet Peas state of mind, then all the other girls are her 'angels' and 'demons'and the stuff happening to Baby Doll is the side of Sweet Pea that can handle that. The other girls are her self betrayal, her naivety, and her fear of getting hurt. And the bus driver, though he is Scott Glen, my take on that is that's her perception of him, and like the opening narration implies, the help you need will be there when you need it, you just don;t know what form these angels (or even the demons that sohw you your errors) are going to take. The cops represent the system trying to keep her in her place, the bus driver the kindly stranger willing to help, selflessly.

Sweet Pea is Free. Or something

< Message edited by jobloffski -- 9/8/2011 10:35:10 AM >

_____________________________

Yes, dreamers dream and doers do. But if dreamers DON'T dream, doers don't have anything TO do. Everything that is only here because people exist, only exists because someone thought of it., or in other words, dreamed it.

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Post #: 133

RE: Terrible - 9/8/2011 10:53:54 PM

The REAL Bozz

Posts: 3273
Joined: 15/5/2007

I liked it.

_____________________________

Films I've watched
Star Trek Into Darkness ***
Iron Man 3 *****
Evil Dead (2013) ***
Bait 3D ***

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Post #: 134

Sucker Punch Sucks - 10/8/2011 7:14:47 PM

megatishak

Posts: 1
Joined: 10/8/2011

Honestly? 3 stars? This movie sucks big time and its an abysmal show of snyder's other work. There is no redeeming value, the action sequence are dull and uninspired, and the motivation limp and non-engaging. Its as if snyder rewrote his fantasy plucked from his pre-teen years and re-imagined it for production. A complete waste of time, money, effort and an affront for so-called female empowerment. He should stick to other people's work and not go indulge himself. I'm still wondering how the studios agreed to fund this silly, nonsensical piece of fluff.

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Post #: 135

RE: Sucker Punch: Review - 14/8/2011 10:57:49 AM

darth silas

Posts: 4949
Joined: 1/10/2005
From: My living room

This is one of the worst films iv ever seen! I actually thought id like cos any film that has hot lookin babes kicking ass has to have something going for it right? Wrong.The film makes absolutely no sense.The acting is horrible and despite throwing everything at the screen during the dream sequences,the film is just one complete and utter bore.Snyder has a flair for showing comic book action but he overdoes the slo mo and should never be allowed to ''write'' anything again.I would actually be very worried now for Man Of Steel if it wasnt for Chris Nolans invovlement who will hopefully reign in Snyders excesses and provide a good storyline to go along with the action.

A strong contender for worst film of the year.Avoid like the plague.

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Post #: 136

Awful - 3/10/2011 1:55:17 PM

fraser1978

Posts: 95
Joined: 1/9/2006

A visually stunning glorified mess of a movie! So incoherent it doesn't know what to do with itself! Vanessa Hudgens is wasted and doesn't have allot to do. It just jumps clumsily from scene to scene with little justification! However, a bloody good soundtrack though!

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Post #: 137

RE: Awful - 21/10/2011 9:04:04 PM

bozo

Posts: 2479
Joined: 1/11/2006
From: HM Prison Slade

Noisy, shiny and shallow. As Father Ted would put it, chewing gum for the eyes. And nothing, at all, for the brain.

_____________________________

The Cabin In The Woods 4/10
Wolf Creek 8/10
Carnival of Souls 8.5/10
The Brood 9.5/10
Wrong Turn 8.5/10
Perfect Blue 10/10
Madagascar 3 6.5/10
Mama 7.5/10
The House at the End of the Street 6/10
Oz the Great and Powerful 7.5/10
Django Unchained 9.5/10

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Post #: 138

ahhhh!....I get it now! - 10/2/2012 9:04:14 PM

danielthompson99

Posts: 150
Joined: 6/5/2006

"Let go your conscious self", as one old Confucius impersonating Jedi once said.
First viewing at the cinema I totally poo-pood this film. Brash, shallow, non-sensical pop-video. 2 of 5 stars was my rating (and I felt I was being generous!)
My second viewing was on blu-ray at home (followed shortly by my third and forth watch) and low and behold, I can now see the light.
This film has so much depth, and has an emotional resonance once you connect with Babydoll that is overwhelming.
If like me, the cinema experience went over your head, give yourself another chance. You never know, you may have been Sucker Punched like I was.

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Post #: 139

RE: ahhhh!....I get it now! - 26/4/2012 6:43:25 AM

YouWillBeUnprepared

Posts: 61
Joined: 20/2/2012

A five star rating? I salute you, sir! this film really is a masterpiece...

(in reply to danielthompson99)

Post #: 140

RE: Terrible - 26/4/2012 1:11:13 PM

Emyr Thy King

Posts: 2154
Joined: 13/4/2006
From: The Grid

quote:

ORIGINAL: jobloffski

The best metaphorical post ironic parable for female enslavement/emancipation as a personal choice, not something in the hands of 'the system' ever directed by a game influenced pervert.

Kind of taking the mickey there, but I actually really enjoyed this, much more than I thought I would, given the trashing it has received. The Empire review relates the red curtain opening to Moulin Rouge, but I'd go somewhere else for the comparison, Club Silencio in Mulholland Drive, where what is real and what is fantasy imagined to escape a reality a character wont/cant face meet.

Of course the ending is a downer, the film is called Sucker Punch. The ending is a sucker punch. Freedom is something you imagine you have and you act accordingly if you believe you are free, or if you believe you are oppressed. And in harsh situations, or even mundane ones, a fantasy of being able to cut down all in your path and get to where you're going can be good, sometimes necessary escapism. But I feel there is enough in the film to allow a happier ending than it seems on the surface (and who knows, given the film is all about what's underneath conscious reality, maybe Snyder is smart enough to give a surface sucker punch to the viewer and invite a personal interpreatation of why he would do that).

Notable thematic and visual touchstones are Brazil, The Battle For Helm's Deep,Kill Bill, and Charlies Angels and the overall message, you already have the weapons you need to gain your freedom, now fight, is pretty basic, but if you've ever needed something that basic to keep you on track and not crumble, that's enough.

Anyway, the film actually tells you, it's never Baby Doll's Story, it's Sweet Peas, and if you take everything as a representation of Sweet Peas state of mind, then all the other girls are her 'angels' and 'demons'and the stuff happening to Baby Doll is the side of Sweet Pea that can handle that. The other girls are her self betrayal, her naivety, and her fear of getting hurt. And the bus driver, though he is Scott Glen, my take on that is that's her perception of him, and like the opening narration implies, the help you need will be there when you need it, you just don;t know what form these angels (or even the demons that sohw you your errors) are going to take. The cops represent the system trying to keep her in her place, the bus driver the kindly stranger willing to help, selflessly.

Sweet Pea is Free. Or something

Review poetry there. Although it read more like a side project of a mad scientist rather than a full-on experiment (your review that is). I have to say I only enjoyed the action segments and that's where Snyder's forte/flair seems to remain. I liked the concept of a traumatised young woman fleeing to the recess of her imagination as a form of coping. And of course what went on in her imagination was spectacular. But the rest of...I just didn't quite get into it. Perhaps it needed a bit more drama. Maybe it shows Snyder's inability to convey really compelling drama within a more narrow framework or setting. I think he should've set the film more in the fantasy setting, as that seemed to be where all the interesting things happened. I certainly won't be seeing the film again. I got sucker punched once, I'd rather not mess my good looks a second time. Perhaps Snyder would consider Donkey Punch a suitable sequel title? Afterall they're both complete fantasy.

< Message edited by Emyr Thy King -- 26/4/2012 1:12:27 PM >

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Post #: 141