Sucker Punch Delivers Unexpected Depth

Rating: 7/10 (28 August 2011)

It is easy to dismiss Sucker Punch as another of the mounting number of films where digital effects substitute for plot, character development, script and justification. I think this seduced many reviewers into panning this effort based on preconceived notions. That's a shame, because this movie accomplishes much that makes it a fine bit of film-making.
First, we care about the characters as they progress from societal jetsam into living engaging, satisfying entities through the most unconventional mechanism of sheer fantasy. Second, the film leaves us with several strong messages and pays homage to heroic altruism in a way that was, for this reviewer, quite shattering. After the banality of other fantasies such as Thor and Green Lantern, this level of engagement was very welcome indeed.
Of course, one must address the issue of eye candy. The movie is a fountainhead of imagination. It aspires to portrayal of intense violence with almost no blood, sexuality with no nudity and makes use of the female warrior archetype with a completeness that films like Aeon Flux and Ultraviolet seemed to miss in the final analysis. Most gratefully, this success was achieved without the cloying presence of 3D.
Seven out of ten seems like a high rating, but unconventional courage must be respected and this film provides it in both conception and execution.