Sucker Punch

Rating: Null/10 (15 August 2011)

After reading several reviews, I have to say that I am surprised by all the negative reviews, and I think the reason for this is that a lot of people didn't understand it fully. Admittedly, I didn't expect much when I first watched this movie. I thought it was just going to be another typical guy movie with sexy girls fighting and I only watched it because my boyfriend wanted to, but it wasn't like that at all. I'm a girl, and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It was an action film, with a good thought provoking plot (if you understand it, that is), and yea, the girls were sexy, but they weren't really overly sexy. Think about it, there was no nudity, no sex, not even any direct talk about sex, and the costumes were more suggestive than outright sexy. The girls wear tight clothes, and short skirts, but in actuality most of their bodies are covered.
The film has several layers to it. The first is of a young girl, called Babydoll being taken to a mental hospital after being abused by her stepfather, there she goes into a fantasy world of a burlesque/brothel type place where she meets the other girls and plans to escape. The third level is a series of battles that the girls fight, and the stories of Babydoll's dances.
Some of the reviews on here from women say that they hated it because it objectified the women, but, to me, as a woman, I didn't perceive it that way at all. If anything, it was women taking back their power and kicking ass. I can see why someone would view it that way, but I think if they really thought about it they might see it differently. In the end of the movie it was shown that Blue sexually assaulted the girls, which implies that they had to give him what he wanted if they wanted to survive in the hospital, therefore, it makes sense that the fantasy world is a brothel. The girls themselves feel objectified. Within this fantasy world Babydoll realizes that people, men in particular become engrossed with her dancing. This allows the girls to get the items they need in order to escape. The men are so preoccupied with the girls' sexuality that they essentially give them the upper hand.
To round it out, the special effects were great, and the soundtrack was amazing. It was mostly, if not all, covers of songs, but they were done in a different way. Emily Browning has a very sweet voice that worked great with the songs she sang. All in all, this movie was good, and original, but I would only recommend it to people who like complex story lines. And if you're looking for a movie with lots of blood/gore and sex, then this is not for you.