It's Sweet Pea's story, not Baby Doll's.

Rating: 7/10 (29 March 2011)

Hero's Journey, developed by Joseph Campbell, is a list of common elements in mythic storytelling. Here's the Sucker Punch breakdown.
ORDINARY WORLD – The main character is not Baby Doll (the blonde in the Sailor Moon outfit) our main character is Sweet Pea. We establish Sweet Pea's ordinary world in the "Theater." The theater is a lounge inside the mental institution where the Polish doctor plays music to allow the girls reenact their problems. The head of the facility, "Blue," talks about how their reenactments are so real (hence a set up for the worlds we will enter). Sweet Pea is on stage of the theater, she comes down to have a face-to-face with Baby Doll thus showing us the ordinary world for the girls. The music plays and for the rest of the movie we are in the imagination on Sweet Pea. It's Sweet Pea that creates a world where the girls are not mental patients but dancing strippers with a pimp boss and a dance coach. This world is safer for Sweet Pea. It's in the world that Sweet Pea is the top dancer, but then Baby Doll arrives. CALL TO ADVENTURE – Baby Doll is our conduit for this call to adventure. When Baby Doll is asked to dance, she transitions to world in her mind (Sweet Pea is still the puppeteer of all this) where she finds "Wise Man" When asked what Baby Doll wants, she says, "Freedom." The Wiseman tells her that a "High Roller" is coming for Baby Doll in 5 days. Therefore giving a sense of urgency. The Wiseman gives her tools – a gun and a sword – and tells her she needs to find 5 items (map, fire, knife, a key and a fifth to be discovered later) to gain her freedom. Thus setting up the plot points of the movie. REFUSAL TO CALL – Baby Doll tells the girls of this encounter. Sweet Pea doesn't want to go on this journey and makes the girls agree that if she wants to call it off they will. Why? because she's the main character, and in this format, that is what they do. MEETING THE MENTOR + CROSSING THE LINE OF THE ORDINARY WORLD INTO THE SPECIAL WORLD – this happens when Baby Doll does her dance and Sweet Pea steals the map to the Mental Institution/Brothel. The entrance to this special world is actually special. When Baby Doll closes her eyes when she begins to dance she is now transported to a WWII/steampunk/Prussian War type place where all the girls must fight these mechanical Germans to get the map. In the special world is where Sweet Pea meets the mentor, "Wiseman." TESTS, ALLIES AND ENEMIES – This can be boiled down in to gaining the items needed for the quest, they get the map from the office of the Mental Institution, the fire from the Mayor's lighter, the knife proves harder
***WARNING Spoilers***
ORDEAL, DEATH and REBIRTH –Baby Doll dances for the cook to get the knife when the dance goes crappy because water shorts out the electrical cord to the song before Sweet Pea gets the knife. The cook realizes what's she doing and Rocket get's stabbed and killed. Amber does get away with the knife. Before Rocket dies, she tells Sweet Pea to tell their parents that she's sorry for running away. Sweet Pea is locked away in a closet. Blondie cracks and tells Blue the girl's plans. Now it's the day of the "High Roller" and the girls need the 4th and 5th item to gain freedom. REWARD, SEZING THE SWORD – Blue kills a couple of the girls, and tries to rape Baby Doll. Here's the problem – It should be Sweet Pea who comes and saves the day getting the last item – the key around Blue's neck. But it isn't. Baby Doll overcomes her fear of Blue and stabs Blue with the knife before grabbing the key around his neck. Baby Doll then frees Sweet Pea. This is a confusion of who's story we are watching. THE ROAD BACK -reality of the mental institution and the imaginary world of the brothel start to intersect here. Baby Doll and Sweet Pea are the only ones alive of the girls. They use the map to know how to escape, the lighter to start a fire in a closet that will trigger some of the doors to open, the knife was already used against Blue, and then the key opens all the locks. There is a clue that we're getting closer to reality as we see the front door operator looks like the "Mayor" that Baby Doll danced for. Outside the Mental institution there are men waiting to enter the brothel. Confusing but convenient. RESURRECTION- At the front gate, Baby Doll realized what the fifth item needed to escape is – her. Baby Doll says to Sweet Pea, "This isn't my story, it's yours." In Sweet Pea's imagination it's Baby Doll who is the last item needed for her safety, hence why the story started in the theater and Sweet Pea's introduction. Baby Doll dances and distracts the guys as Sweet Pea escapes. RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR – Sweet Pea boards a bus driven by the Wiseman to Fort Wayne, Indiana. She doesn't have a ticket and the Wiseman says something really cool that I can't remember. The reason why I can't remember it is because I live not far from Fort Wayne and I think it's funny that that is where she's escaping too. But the meaning is that Sweet Pea is going to return home to tell her parents that Rocket really did love them and didn't mean to run away. Therefore, in my mind, giving it the message of forgiveness.
Like it, love it or hate it, Sucker Punch does follow the Hero's Journey of mythic storytelling with only 1 misstep. More on myblog.