Sucker Punch

***Sucker Punch*** is an action-adventure film about a girl who attempts to break free from a mental asylum, receding into her fantastical imagination along the way. It's the first original project produced by Cruel and Unusual Films and director Zack Snyder. Their previous projects were all part of pre-existing franchises in some form.

## Synopsis

> Locked away, a young woman named Babydoll (Emily Browning) retreats to a fantasy world where she is free to go wherever her mind takes her. Determined to fight for real freedom, she finds four women -- Rocket, Blondie, Amber and Sweet Pea -- to join together to escape the terrible fate that awaits them. With a virtual arsenal at their disposal, the allies battle everything from samurais to serpents, while trying to decide what price they will pay for survival.
>
> -Official synopsis

## Production

The project was conceived by Snyder in 1996, at which point Snyder turned to his film school classmate, Steve Shibuya, to write the script. When the pitch was eventually picked up by Warner Bros., Snyder reworked the script for the final movie. *Sucker Punch* remains as Shibuya's only writing credit, as his path led him toward production.

*Sucker Punch* was Zack's first wholly original project (as opposed to remakes or adaptations of material from other media). While Zack hatched the idea, the original version of the screenplay was penned by Snyder's classmate, Steve Shibuya. Zack began full-time work on the movie in March 2007, over ten years after the project was first conceived, but he put it aside to film *Watchmen*.

> "I had been working on this other story a long time ago and there was a character in it, this baby doll character, and she kind of went on these sort of fantasies. That whole story kind of — she was only, like, a small side of the story — but it's, like, [one of] those characters that you're, like, 'Oh, that's cool.' Then [Steve Shibuya and I] just kept talking about her and sort of seeing how it evolved, and then this story kind of happened. It happened over quite a little period of time, but the actual structure of what it is, is locked in. We had been talking about it, knowing what it was, for quite a while, and I've just been busy with all these other things; never really got around to it."
>
> Zack Snyder, Movie Web

Snyder returned to the story he described as "*Alice in Wonderland* with machine guns" in 2009, when Warner Bros. agreed to distribute project, which would be produced by Zack and Deborah's Cruel & Unusual Films, Inc. Snyder told *Entertainment Weekly* in 2009 that he was looking to assemble an all-female cast for his new movie, since he "already did the all-male cast with *300*, so I'm doing the opposite end of the spectrum." Among the actresses he was considering at the time were Amanda Seyfried, Evan Rachel Wood, and Emma Stone, as well as eventual final cast members Abbie Cornish and Vanessa Hudgens.

Zack starting making *Sucker Punch* an R-rated movie, but as production continued, he readjusted his sights for the PG-13 rating with which it was released in theaters. Major cuts to the storyline were made to satisfy the MPAA, resulting in a gutted and somewhat confusing storyline. Snyder was able to restore a small portion of the material for the "extended cut" on Blu-ray and DVD, but still hopes to release the full director's cut in the future.

Snyder explained his name for the movie thusly:

> "It's about hopefully what the movie feels like when you watch it, more than a specific, 'Oh, it's a story of this person.' It's all stylized." And that stylization included many of Zack's fetishes. However, as he explained, "on the other hand, though [*Sucker Punch* is] fetishistic and personal, I like to think my fetishes aren't that obscure. Who doesn't want to see girls running down the trenches of World War I wreaking havoc? I'd always had an interest in those worlds -- comic books, fantasy art, animated films. I'd like to see this; that's how I approach everything, and then keep pushing it from there."
>
> Zack Snyder, Reuters

*Sucker Punch* was shot at 360 frames per second on film.

## Cast

Emily Browning
as
BabydollJena Malone
as
RocketAbbie Cornish
as
Sweet PeaJamie Chung
as
AmberVanessa Hudgens
as
BlondieCarla Gugino
as
Vera GorskiOscar Isaac
as
Blue JonesScott Glenn
as
The Wise ManMalcolm Scott
as
The CookRichard Cetrone
as
CJDamon Caro
as
Courier
**Full credits**
## Crew

Zack Snyder
Director
Producer
ScreenplayDeborah Snyder
ProducerWesley Coller
Executive producerSteve Shibuya
ScreenplayTyler Bates
Music byMarius de Vries
Music byLarry Fong
Director of photographyDamon Caro
Action designerSamantha Win
Stunt double (Jena Malone)Guillermo Grispo
Utility stunts
**Full credits**
## Studios

Cruel & Unusual Films, Inc.
ProductionAnimal Logic
Visual effectsFractured FX Inc.
Makeup & prosthetics
## References

1. ↑ Larry Fong. "Shot on film at 360". *Twitter*. Archived from the original on December 21, 2022. Retrieved on December 20, 2022. “Not to mention…shot on film at 360 fps”