Sucker Punch

Rating: 4/10 (17 September 2011)

From director Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead, 300, Watchmen), I had heard a relatively big hype about this film during the time of release, so despite seeing the rating after looking it up I was still keen to try it. Basically, set in 1961, after being sexually abused by and attacking her Stepfather (Gerard Plunkett), and accidentally killing her younger sister, twenty year old Baby Doll (Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events' Emily Browning) is placed in the Lennox House for the Mentally Insane. She is due to be lobotomised in five days, after the stepfather bribed orderly Blue Jones (Oscar Isaac) to forge the signature of psychiatrist Dr. Vera Gorski (Watchmen's Carla Gugino), this is so she cannot inform the authorities about her true circumstances. She is locked away with four other inmates and dancers, Amber (The Hangover Part II's Jamie Chung), Blondie (High School Musical's Vanessa Hudgens), Rocket (Donnie Darko's Jena Malone) and Rocket's sister Sweet Pea (Limitless's Abbie Cornish), and the all works as part of the team for the new inside brothel. Baby Doll is told by Blue that he is to become a dancer too and her virginity will be sold to the client called "The High Roller" (Jon Hamm), however he is actually the lobotomy doctor scheduled for her operation. It is while performing her first erotic dance that she finds herself able to imagine herself in a new fantasy world, meeting Wise Man (The Right Stuff's Scott Glenn), but this is also a representation of what is happening in moments for real, as he explains that if she desires to escape she must find four "weapons". Of course returning to the real institute world, where he dancing is highly praised, despite having no memory of it, she realises these four "weapons" she remembers from being admitted into the institute, they are tools for escape. So as time goes by she and her four new friends are on a mission to get these tools, which are a map to find all the routes and exits, fire (a lighter) to cause a distraction, a knife in case they run into trouble, and a key to unlock all the doors, but there is also an unrevealed fifth tool Baby Doll must find out. As each tool is collected by one or more of the girls and Baby Doll is seducing everyone with her mind blowing erotic dancing, we see her and the four girls in her fantasy world going on missions from the Wise Man, going against zombie Nazis to get a map (mirrored by Sweet Pea), invading an Orc filled castle to take the fire-breathing crystals from the throat of a dragon (mirrored by Amber), and going on a speeding train to stop a bomb (mirrored by Rocket). In the third fantasy mission Rocket sacrifices herself, and of course in the real world she is the one who gets stabbed and dies from an attack from the kitchen cook. When it looks like hope has gone and escape is not going to happen, they band back together and the final mission is not going into Baby Doll's fantasy world, she is the one who steals the key after a proper confrontation with Blue. After all the tools are put to use, and one by one the girls lose their lives during their attempt to escape, it is just Baby Doll and Sweet Pea remaining, but Baby Doll sacrifices herself and lets Sweet Pea get away. The final scene sees that Baby Doll has had her lobotomy operation, it appears that all the events just seen did happen, and Sweet Pea did manage to escape, but many of the events may have been in Baby Doll's imagination, and Sweet Pea is seen managing to get on a bus, with the Wise Man as the driver, and her final words are something about "you" (the audience) being the best weapon, and that "You have all the weapons you need. Now fight." All the female performers give good performances, I will admit the story could have been improved for bits and pieces, but overall it is not too bad, and the best things about is of course the inventive use of the fantasy world, brought to life by the great special effects, a reasonable and not terrible fantasy action adventure drama. Okay!