"Where is my mind?"

Rating: 7/10 (26 April 2011)

It's been three weeks, and I still don't know what to think. There is a kernel of truth in this film, but it's buried deep beneath what seems like a lot of nonsense. The wisdom of the opening and closing narration and the enigmatic Wise Man's one-liners are misplaced, eclipsed by generic video game-style action sequences and the heroines'exploited beauty.
Sucker Punch, like its female protagonists, struggles to do better and have a voice among the distracting, head-scratching elements that make up a majority of the movie. It's an action movie with a message- several messages- about escapism, sexuality, and turning weaknesses into strengths, but where they are to be found is different for everyone. The characters are flat, but they don't need to be their own people- they are like figures in a dream, in an allegory, and their virtues (courage, wholeness, loyalty) and their vices (lust, cowardice, betrayal) are universal.
I would love to see Sucker Punch as a book, or a graphic novel. I would love to see what was left on the cutting-room floor for it to earn a (pointless) PG-13 rating. But at its best, it's a stunning synchronization of visual and audio, a true music video movie, with a little bizarre philosophy on top, like oil in water. It's destined to be watched late at night over and over again, dissected and discussed, until the viewer finds something deep and meaningful, or a load of garbage.