Disappointing

Rating: 6/10 (28 March 2011)

I saw Sucker Punch today, and I was extremely disappointed. It was nothing like I expected it to be, and not in a good way.
Admittedly, I didn't know very much about the movie, except for what a friend told me. I knew that at least one of the characters was wrongly institutionalized, but I expected her to be able to get out and exact her revenge. I expected a happy ending. I expected that these women would warp to and from an alternate universe, and, by fighting various battles and doing various quests, they would achieve victory and better circumstances in the real world. I expected a decent plot, with everything developed and explained as the plot moved along. I expected these women to develop a strong bond and also for them to become best friends even after they won their ultimate victory. I expected these women to be powerful and empowering characters. Admittedly, I expected this movie to be a LOT better than what it actually was. The concept was great, and the visuals were nice. The plot left a lot to be desired, though.
*************Warning, spoilers ahead!************************
What REALLY happened:
The protagonist (Baby Doll) did NOT make it out of the institution. She instead was lobotomized (WTF) even though she wasn't crazy! Therefore, she did not get revenge upon her evil and murderous stepfather. She did not get her revenge against the slime ball that operated the mental institution. She got absolutely nothing out of the situation except for epic failure. I mean, she doesn't even get to ESCAPE! I thought that was the whole POINT of the film! Instead, her friend gets to escape. The one that gets to escape was the annoying one, the naysayer, and the least agreeable and likable character of the main female characters. WTF?!
The ending was NOT a happy one. I found myself to be depressed after the film ended.
There were 2 different alternate universes in the film, which was not obvious for way too long. One was some sort of brothel, and the other was like a video game. They almost never warped back to the real world, so you had no idea if most of the characters in the film even existed. There was also no way to know what really happened and what implications the actions of the characters in the false worlds had on the real world, with the exception of the last third or so of the film. I wish they would have not had the brothel world at all and just had the real world and the game world. That would have been fine. It was also lame that they "danced" in order to get to the game world, but you never saw any of the dancing. It was especially weird because they were trying to make you believe that Baby Doll was so good that she stunned her enemies and made everyone loudly applaud her. The gaming world also made no sense. What happened in the world made no sense in terms of the plot or the character that was dreaming about it. Hell, the gaming world couldn't even stand by itself as a legit world. It was just a bunch of random fuckery that seemed ripped off of various games, movies, and animes. Admittedly, that probably bothered me the least because the gaming world was, at least, probably the most entertaining part of the movie. I was honestly pretty disappointed that there wasn't more of the gaming world in the movie. I'd say that 75% of the movie was the weird brothel fuckery. I don't get it. What did the brothel nonsense have to do with anything? Why was it most of the movie?
There wasn't much of a plot, and nothing made much sense. The only real thing that the movie had going for it was that the gaming world was pretty. Who cares? I didn't come to see a pretty picture. I came to see a story. The characters weren't even developed! They could have had a lot going for the film if they developed the characters! Baby Doll and Rocket's friendship especially had a lot going for it. Why didn't they have Rocket stay alive and help save Baby Doll much like she saved Rocket?
The women were only empowering in the gaming world. Even then, they epic failed in the last mission and almost failed in the one before that. In the other worlds, they were pretty much helpless.
I am so disappointed because they could have done so much better! I also really wanted Baby Doll to get her revenge on her stepfather! He was vile scum of the earth, and he did not get any sort of punishment in the film. Why not?