Sucker Punch

Rating: 3 Shurikens

Sucker Punch is the story of a pretty young girl who is sent to an asylum by her step-father, who is trying to gain control of the inheritance left to her by her mother. In the intro, the step-father seems to have some sort of hand in the death of the mother, trying to get to her money. The mother's will leaves the money to her daughters, and in anger, the step-father kills the younger daughter and pins the blame on the main character, who we know as Baby Doll, and lands her in the asylum. The story takes place in the early part of the twentieth century, when psychiatric science was experimental, barbaric and somewhat cruel to the mentally ill. The asylum is a large, dark and ominous-looking facility in Vermont, which has residents who are mostly girls and young women. To establish the tone of the movie, the weather is cold and rainy, and there is no daylight at all throughout the movie.

The story is told in a fantasy format which is concocted in the mind of Baby Doll, played by Emily Browning. Emily played Violet, one of the Baudelaire Twins, in Lemony Snickett: A Series of Unfortunate Events, several years back. Her acting is passable, in that she delivers a sad and depressed-looking character, who in her fantasy worlds is athletic and determined to overcome all obstacles. Her fantasy is one where the asylum is some sort of hotel where the girls are used as slaves for the gratification of a seedy clientele. This is a psychological defense mechanism, and possibly represents a premise in the story that she may actually be slightly insane. As the story unfolds, there are several allegorical fantasy segments, fantasies-within-a-fantasy, so to speak. They feature most of the movie's spectacular action sequences, with all the violence a moviegoer can ask for. Much of the violence is directed at automatons and zombies, so we are spared large amounts of gore.

Baby Doll teams with some of the other girls to plot an escape from the asylum, form a team of fighters who do some fantastic deeds. She is joined by Sweet Pea, Rocket, Blondie and Amber. Sweet Pea is played by Abbie Cornish, who turned in a pretty decent performance as Lindy in Limitless, which is playing at the same time as this movie. See my review of that feature here. Her character is the cautious voice of reason, and the older sister of Rocket, played by Jena Malone. The other two girls are Blondie, a brunette played by Vanessa Hudgens, and Amber, played by Jamie Chung. The asylum staff are basically a crooked orderly named Blue Jones, played by Oscar Isaac, the actor who played Prince John in the Russell Crowe Robin Hood last year.


There is some pretty intense action, and some incredible animation as the different stories are woven into the fabric of the main story. The cinematography is subdued to the point where the movie is in black-and-white for the most part, and where color creeps in, it is muted. The style is very much like Sin City, The 300 and Watchmen, but without a graphic novel to be based on. The positives of this film, then, are good faced-paced action and  superb visual effects. The soundtrack is pretty decent as well.

On the downside, the movie is very loud, and most of the acting is decent at best, but nothing worthy of award. The title, Sucker Punch, means a hit coming out of nowhere, being a surprise to the one assaulted. The relationship between the term and anything in of the movie is unclear, and how it became the title is unfathomable. The ultimate outcome of the movie is less than satisfying, because the viewer enjoys some very spectacular action scenes which have no influence on the outcome of the movie. They merely entertain, but do not contribute. In the end, one does not get the feeling that justice is served, and the feeling of vengeance fulfilled is utterly lacking. I came away felling a little bit cheated. I can see using allegory as a vehicle when the ending is served, and have seen it done much better. I do believe that there are the artistic types who so badly want to produce art that they forget what a movie is for. They give us weird and unfulfilling endings in order for their friends to pat them on the back at cocktail parties. I would have ended it much differently.

I rate this one a wait, as in wait for the video on NetFlix, and enjoy a microwave popcorn on a Thursday night, rather than plunking down thirty bucks taking a date to the theater. You may end up owing your date a chick flick to compensate for the time you made her sit there. There are many good choices of movies more worthy of your theater dollars. This one gets 3 Shurikens, for cinematic artistry and really good CGI action, but an ending that does little to inspire.