Nice Try

Rating: 5/10 (14 April 2011)

Sucker Punch is an attempt by Zack Snyder to tell a story on different levels of reality. A young girls is committed to an asylum by her violent stepfather after accidentally killing her sister in an attempt to save her from being raped. She has five days until a lobotomy is performed on her, instigated by her abusive stepfather. And now things get complicated: the asylum is a casino cum brothel where the girls have to work as dancers and prostitutes and they have five days to escape. Baby Doll, the protagonist, finds out that she can mesmerize men by lascivious dancing. And during those dances she escapes into a fantasy world where she and her fellow inmates are superheroes on a quest. Eventually we find out that there is a third layer of reality. To some extent the film works but I got the impression that Snyder had an idea that didn't really carry a feature film and fills the time with drawn out action scenes. These are well made (although too hectic for my taste) but you never et engaged because you know it's only a fantasy, it distracts from the real storyline and they are not really connected. That's why to me the film as a whole does not work, it seems to be patched together. Although I like the idea of these fantasies as am means of empowerment, it doesn't work because they became a means in themselves. The ideas are hardly new: we have seen very similar ideas in The Prisoner, The Singing Detective and others. No so marks for originality there. It seems Snyder is at his best when he can focus on directing within the clear framework of a defined storyline.