As advertised

Rating: 8/10 (25 March 2011)

Having raised my expectations after a friend showed me the two trailers of Sucker Punch in December, I went and caught it on the first day. I was not disappointed. You know there are movies that pretend to be something they're not (e.g. Rango seemingly a fun movie and for kids, but it's not; or the poster of The Adjustment Bureau that made it seem like an action flick, but it's not). When I saw the trailer, I saw girls in hot costumes, kick-ass action, anime-inspired material, and visual sequences as only visionaries like Zach S can bring to the screen.
Simply put, it was as advertised.
Emily Browning stars as Baby Doll, a girl who was checked into a mental institution by her abusive stepfather, whose imagination comes to life while she's inside. Maybe it's a coping mechanism, or something more purposive for her, or maybe it's Zach Snyder's creative way of showing difficulties in real life. With Baby Doll are other young "girls" Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish), Sweet Pea's sister Rocket (Jena Malone), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), and Amber (Jamie Chung) who all band together and ooze testosterone (wait, or should it be estrogen, right? whatever...) with their swords, guns, heavily-armed vehicles, and martial arts moves, as they attempt to survive their daily hell. Impressive visuals are basically the norm of the film as expected, but at least this time we see more than we saw from the trailers (which were quick cuts but had enough oomph to get the average joe (READ: guys) interested to watch) -- kick-ass action and hot women. Hell, even women who like strong female leads could get into this, too. Though there definitely will be those that will get turned off by the way women are depicted in this film.
But don't get carried away - - this isn't Oscar-worthy acting, and the storyline, though well told in this visually-stunning, mind-F'ing, Inception-esque way--- is not that deep. But I didn't expect depth in a movie like this. And neither should you.
Acting was fine, especially for Jena Malone, whom I enjoyed watching when she was a kid in dramas like Stepmom and For Love of the Game. Abbie Cornish was good and intense. Lead Emily Browning had spunk and emotion in hey eyes; Jamie Chung and Vanessa Hudgens looked good, too, though not much else to see their acting chops. Oscar Isaac reminded me of that Numbers guy (is it David Krumholtz?), and he was scary and devious as Blue the orderly. While I am an admirer of Carla Gugino, her character's accent was somewhat weird and she only had moments, too. John Hamm's just a familiar name making a cameo, so his acting was severely underutilized. Like I said, it ain't Oscar-worthy, except maybe for visual effects/art direction, costume and the usual fare.
I still give it an 8 because I expected it like the way I saw the trailers, like I know Zach Snyder does films, and that's it.
Bring your popcorn and drink folks, and enjoy this ride. The Summer movie season starts with Sucker Punch.