An Epic Movie of Psychological Intensity

Rating: 9/10 (9 December 2013)

It seems like the critics simply did not like this movie, but then again I have never been one to agree with the critics. I like to make my mind up myself, and to be honest, I thought that this film was brilliant.
It is interesting that the song that I am listening to while I am writing this analysis is called 'Dreams in my Fantasy' as this is what this film is about, dreams in one's fantasy world, but the world in which the characters inhabit is a very dark and dangerous world that they are seeking an escape from.
The movie exists on three levels, the insane asylum (which is reality), the brothel, and the war zone. The film begins in reality, but as soon as the main character (who doesn't have a name) is settled into the asylum, the movie shifts to the brothel and it is from the brothel that the bulk of the movie is set. To me it appears that by shifting the movie from the asylum to the brothel ups to horror of the prison that the main character is caught in, but when she moves to make her escape, the movie shifts up another level to a war zone where they are given a mission to obtain a totem (there are four totems, a map, a key, a knife, and a fire).
None of the characters have names per se, but rather have monikers, which suits well in the brothel, where they are dancers, and in the war zone, where they are soldiers. However the lack of a name represents the identity of these girls being taken from them for the use of another, yet in the warzone, they are able to use the monikers to give them strength as they fight their way to obtaining the totem. Further, in reality they do not have a voice, which is another prison from which they need to escape. It is only when they are in the brothel that they gain their voice, and it is this gaining of a voice that is their first step to freedom.
There is actually a lot in this movie to consider, first of all the name 'Suckerpunch' which is something I will not delve into. The second is whether three of the girls actually exist at all (and I am speaking of the three girls that die in the warzone and in the brothel) leaving us with only two of them. Some have suggested that the number five is also reoccurring, which is it, however to argue that there are five realms is incorrect as I could only see three of them.
This is a great movie, though the title just does not seem to convey much of what is going on in the movie. The Japanese title 'Angel Wars' seems much more suitable, but would refer to the girls rather than to any supernatural element in the movie itself. It is not supernatural, but rather psychological.