Insanity is acceptable inside an asylum. But insanity inside insanity is too messy to play around.

Rating: 7/10 (23 March 2011)

****MAY HAVE SOME SPOILERS*****
I've managed to go to the Avant Premiere on the 21st. As I've read a lot of the film, I knew where the thing was going to.
Technically speaking, there are a lot of things that are not quite clear, messy, and also a lot of facts Zack has to improve on as a director. Its a very complex story what he had in mind, and not a easy work to do. A movie has a structure, you can twist it, make it insane, but making sense at the same time. In some ways, it didn't.
I can't be objective with the message of the movie right know, it keeps saying and showing that "you" are the key to all the problems you have. Its very simple itself, but heavy at the same time. The fact that you were expecting something shallow, when it gets to the strong part of the story, it hits you. It really got me, it made me feel something. And that's important in a movie, not to be shallow.
The art department is incredible (both sound and visual), despite of being a mix of past movies (excalibur, lord of the rings, etc.). Anyway there're a lot of original designs. I do admire the capacity of showing that amount of content in such a little time frame and also leaving you a message.
The imagination scenes, inside the burlesque (that's also her imagination), are not quite necessary. It makes the movie "cooler" but makes it very complicated with no reason to be. The spectator receives so many different informations that ends up not feeling "sucker-punched" by the imagination scenes Babydoll creates while dancing. Specially if the you don't know what the movie is about before going to watch it. Take those scenes away, and the movie would had been visually amazing and had made sense anyway. I would have done the burlesque fantasy and leave it there, it was a perfect idea the one he had about her turning the asylum as a cabaret. Insanity is acceptable inside an asylum. But insanity inside insanity is too messy to play around.
Sucker Punch sold us an action movie, that would left us with our mouth opened, meaning " visually". That was the concept of the title almost everyone had. But when you get to see the movie you find something you were not "prepared" to watch, something you didn't expect. The action or the supposed visually amazing scenes really didn't got me. Because the important fact was not the mechas, zombies, war, droids or samurais. It IS Babydoll's story, problems, and how she decides to scape or solve them. And it may also be because of the amount of things going around at the same time or it was made that way on purpose, so the spectator does focus more on the character reality.
For example, the climax and the end of the movie, are the best parts. And those being the ones that don't have the "imagination" sequences on them, still on the burlesque but happening the same as in the asylum, that's why I say he should've left the movie THERE, on the cabaret, and go no further. This tells you something about the strength of the story leaving behind those sequences.
Sucker Punch it's not an "ACTION" movie itself, fantasy or epic. I'd call it a drama covered up with color-lights.
Despite of these negative comments, I enjoyed it. I found it original and rare. I've been following its steps for a long time, and kind of got attached to it. They've fail in many things, but worked well on others. -I'm sick of hearing that it's the same as INCEPTION , first, because it's not a dream inside a dream to change your ideals, it's a girl's way to scape from reality, and second, because this story was thought about 7/8 years ago by Zack and from then on with Steve they started working on it to get it real.- Some will get disappointed for not being able to watch what they thought they would see. What Sucker Punch sold us with all those amazing trailers, visually eye-popping posters and etcetera. Some others, like me, will feel the "sucker punch", despite of the visual facts. It's not a movie for everyone.