Mixed bag, but still great to look at

Rating: 7/10 (29 March 2011)

Sucker Punch is really two movies. One is pretty dang impressive, especially from a visual standpoint, and the other is really just mediocre. Combined, they make a half-decent film. It's one of those movies that looks so good and is set against a backdrop with sufficient surreality that one can easily not only suspend disbelief but also expel it, semipermanently, from one's mind.
A diminutive girl (Emily Browning) is thrown into an insane asylum by her evil stepfather after she accidentally kills her younger sister while defending her from his advances. Once in there, she's befriended/mocked/ostracized/encouraged by a group of young ladies, led by Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish). The asylum, we quickly learn, is really a very expensive brothel, and the girls earn their keep.
When the girl, named Baby Doll, is asked to dance during the girls' ballet practice by their taskmaster teacher Dr. Gorski (Carla Gugino), she retreats into an imaginary world that would put make Alice's Wonderland look like a trip to JC Penney's. Within this fantasy world, Baby Doll learns from a wise man (Scott Glenn) that she will need to locate certain artifacts in order to make her escape. When she comes out of her reverie – to much applause, as apparently her dance was just that good – Baby Doll has formed her plan.
Imagination is a powerful tool. Each time Baby Doll dances, she is able to get closer to her ultimate goal. But she isn't alone, not even in these fantasies – she is joined by Sweet Pea, Rocket (Jena Malone), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), and Amber (Jamie Chung). One moment they're fighting the Germans in a steampunk warfront, the next they're in a Lord of the Rings setting, and so on, all to get those artifacts. That's the good, impressive movie. The meh one is the plot line outside of those fantasy scenes. True, the actresses all seem to have good chemistry with one another, but what we basically get is an evil asylum leader with lascivious intentions that are eclipsed only by his unmitigated greed. We do get quite a bit of urgency, too, as Baby Doll is scheduled for a lobotomy in just five days' time. And while Oscar Isaac, as bad guy Blue Jones, is hissable as a villain, there's almost no depth to his character at all, making his scenes with the girls excruciating and pointless to watch.
Here's something I did find a little odd. Browning, all bright eyed and bushy tailed, looked to me to be in her mid teens, an older sister to a single-digit sib. But when she's checked into the asylum by her stepfather, her age is given as 20. I don't know if Browning, who really is 22, looked 20 in this movie. But maybe that's a minor quibble.
The visuals will remind you of director Zack Snyder's earlier work with 300 and Watchmen, with maybe a smidge of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Sweeping, violent, visceral war scenes, improbable action, the works. When the girls descend to kick ass – be the ass German, robot, orc, what have you – their movements are even less believable than those of the Crazy 88s in Kill Bill Vol. 1. But that's intentional, and here it works.
Overall, Sucker Punch is entertaining, and it delivers on its own premise. It's full of truly astounding cinematography, spectacular but not dizzying, and it features some pretty damn commanding performances, particularly by Browning, Cornish, and Malone.