Spectacular production and women, but so-so story

Rating: 6/10 (28 July 2013)

I've seen 2011's "Sucker Punch" twice now and it struck me the same both times. Like I said in my title blurb, it is a spectacular production with absolutely stunning women, particularly Abbie Cornish and Emily Browning, and it is entertaining in many ways; unfortunately, the story is only moderately interesting.
Browning plays "Baby Doll" in the 1950s, whose wicked stepfather takes her to a mental asylum to receive a lobotomy. He wants to shut her up to hide his crimes, of course. She resorts to fantasy to escape her predicament, imagining herself and the other people at the asylum in a mob-owned brothel. When she's forced to dance at the "brothel" she withdraws further into wild fantasies involving feudal Japan, World War I German soldiers, a dragon and an assortment of other bizarre imaginations.
There's some depth here. The film's not all hot babes in lingerie and CGI-laden action fantasies. But I'll have to watch it a couple of more times to figure it out. The multi-layered nature of the plot -- reality turning to fantasy and then fantasy within fantasy -- is somewhat off-putting and tends to take one out of the story. As it is, the entertainment value is pretty much limited to the women and the outlandish action sequences. The story of the girls trying to get out of the brothel or asylum is only mildly compelling. Still, it's not bad and I may upgrade my rating after future viewings.
The film runs 110 minutes and the extended cut 127 minutes (I own the shorter version and that's more than enough for me).
GRADE: C+ or B- (but the women are a definite A+)