***Major Spoilers*** Amazing!!! Effin!!! Film!!!

Rating: 8/10 (7 December 2011)

Sucker Punch (Extended Cut) is all about the music. It is, essentially, a beautifully stylized (your mileage might vary), multi-layered full length music video/video game montage. It maximizes and prioritizes the lyrics and moods of the songs as they weave their way throughout the story line. The tone for the entire movie is set with the opening song: Annie Lennox's "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of These)". It's the perfect opening salvo, since the song, like few others, addresses complex human emotional issues – particularly abuse – which is what this movie is all about: the all too unfortunate sexual abuse/molestation of the main character, and how she and those around her try to deal with it. And the fact that it's performed by the lead character gives this movie an unusual sense of authenticity and credibility.
The next number is Roxy Music's (Ferry/Mackay) "Love Is The Drug", performed by Dr. Gorski (Carla Gugino) in a Vegas-style number that's top rate. It also begins to develop some of the story line, and it does it in a way that primarily uses images, music, and lyrics to convey both the message and the mood of the film, very similar to a well done music video.
The next song is The Smith's "Asleep", performed once again by the lead actor, Baby Doll (Emily Browning), while she's down on her knees scrubbing the floor. Here, the mood changes 180 degrees, and digs deeper into the emotional vault. So as you can see, each song propels the viewer down the multitude of ambivalent channels of the protagonist's mind, heart, and soul.
While Baby Doll is cleaning the floor on her hands and knees, she hears Sweet Pea scream and comes to her defense. The two of them then go to a dance class, in which Sweat Pea is instructed to feel the music, and move in response to what she's feeling. This, in turn, catapults her to an Asian temple, where she obtains weapons and wisdom regarding how to find her path to freedom and defend herself (map, fire, knife, key, and a 5th "unknown" element that only she can discern). It's clear that the 3 enemies she then faces are each elements of her inner and outer struggle against her step-father, all of which plays out while Bjork's "Army Of Me" is playing. This overlays with the dance class, to which she returns at the end of the fighting scene. Again – the seamless integration of the music with what's happening on screen is masterfully achieved.
Baby Doll then discloses her escape plan to Sweet Pea, Blondie, Rocket, and Amber. Grace Slick/Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" (performed by Emiliana Torrini) is the perfect song for the next scene, which is the beginning of the "dance distractions" in BD's plan -- through which she can obtain the necessary elements/tools in order to escape. (In this instance, the map) A fundamental spoken line in this scene, delivered by Wise Man (Scott Glenn), is: "Remember ladies...if you don't stand for something...you'll fall for anything". Morality in this scene is handled somewhat creatively in that the girls are told that the "soldiers" they're about to kill are not actually human. The Germans devised a way to re-animate dead soldiers, but not as Zombies – rather, as steam propelled soldier-bots, so the entities that they're "killing" are already dead. The importance of working together is also stressed.
The next scene, in which "fire" is obtained, involves "The Mayor", who looks just like Winston Churchill, and, appropriately, smokes big cigars – needing – you guessed it – a lighter. The music for this scene is Queen's "I Want It All/We Will Rock You", ("I Want It All" is performed by Armageddon), followed by Iggy Pop's "Search And Destroy". This particular section seemed way over the top to me, and was my least favorite part of the movie. But nevertheless, in the end, the lighter/fire was obtained.
The "knife" section is set to The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows", performed by Alison Mosshart and Carla Azar. Suffice it to say...things don't quite go as planned. And it raises the fundamental question: Who's story is this? The answer: it is ours. Each of us has exactly what we need to fight – for our lives.
Personally, I enjoyed this movie a lot, because it allowed the actor's expressions and actions, combined with the song lyrics and music, to tell the story, as opposed to a bunch of wordy, preachy monologues and/or dialogues (at least until the very very end), which seem to dominate 21 century cinema. The acting, casting, and directing are all right on the mark. And so is the suspense. When it's all said and done, this is an Amazing!!! Effin!!! Film!!!