Ambitious to a Fault, Sucker Punch's Story and Style Drag Down Great Visuals and Decent Action

Rating: 4/10 (13 October 2017)

Sucker Punch is the story of Babydoll and her journey to escape her past. The story has some very serious undertones and I can respect the attempt to tell this deep and encompassing story. There are layers upon layers of symbolism and hidden meaning. The ambition to try and tell this kind of story is admirable but where Sucker Punch falls down is trying to interweave these elements together. It isn't the plot holes (there are a few) or the implausibilities (there are even more) that drag this movie down, its the plot collapsing in on itself that does Sucker Punch in. Executing this kind of movie would be hard for an expert filmmaker and they can't stick the landing.
Snyder and his team drop Babydoll and her comrades into crazy fantasy after crazy fantasy to establish a metaphor for them gaining what they need to execute Babydoll's plan. This is where I have to give them a backhanded compliment. Snyder's visual sensibilities are perfect for this and each level he creates is impressive. It's like watching this team of girls execute missions in a video game that spans decades and different worlds and that's definitely entertaining. The problem is that they have no sense of continuity and although I perfectly understood the metaphor they're going for (how this is an escape for Babydoll's horrific reality), the execution of it is clunky. The technology in each setting varies wildly (samurais with railguns? Mech suits in WW1? Fighting orcs with assault rifles?) and there aren't any consequences to the action. The action within them is solid but they make little to no sense and the fact that they are Babydoll's escape shouldn't distract you from the fact that they don't have any purpose within the story. Add in Scott Glen's character Wise Man, who delivers advice that is confusing and seems to hold almost no relevancy to the current situation and Sucker Punch is frustrating to watch.
You don't see many action movies led by a female ensemble and that's one of the more refreshing aspects of the movie. While I think this movie has more than its fair share of shortcomings, I don't want to blame the actors and actresses. I don't think that anyone really shines through but you can only do so much with the material you've been given. Emily Browning is pretty wooden but I think that was a deliberate choice. I just had a hard time getting attached to her because of it. The rest of the main cast are all well cast but there is little to distinguish between them. If I had to single one out of the group, Jena Malone is the next best. Vanessa Hudgens and Jamie Chung amount to window dressing which is too bad because I wish they'd been given more to do. Abbie Cornish is way too serious, Oscar Isaac is way too cartoonish as Blue and while Carla Gugino is well suited to her role, her bad accent undercuts her performance.
The defenders of Sucker Punch always point to the action as one of the saving graces of this film. This has always been another strong point of Snyder's work and while I think this movie delivers on the required set pieces, watching it a second time I wasn't astounded or blown away by the battle scenes. It merely comes across as serviceable as opposed to something jaw-dropping. The problem is that with this movie tripping over its own feet in other key areas, it needed to be something unique away to distract from those flaws.
I honestly believe that Zack Snyder wanted this to be an empowering movie for girls/women. The movie unfortunately moonwalks into being really sexist. The entire group of girls are beautiful but the movie takes every chance to show off their figures or accent the revealing clothing they're wearing. I get that most blockbusters featuring young and attractive women do this but we approach Michael Bay territory here. Add in the fact that in the most consistent fantasy that Babydoll has, they're all burlesque dancers who are only useful when dancing/putting on a show for their clients and it gives the movie an overall feel that this is just a teenage boy's fantasy. Either that or they're directly pandering to teenage boys, could be either option.
There are other things to comment on including a really terrible soundtrack (the music is mostly made up of covers of famous rock songs that completely miss the mark) and an ending that can't get the movie out of a serious tailspin. This is one of the more divisive blockbusters that has come down the pike and while I'm pretty critical of this, it isn't a flop for the ages. Snyder and his team really swung for the fences and while I credit them for trying, Sucker Punch adds up to a big and embarrassing whiff.