Am I the only one to find Sucker Punch amazingly distasteful? Spoilers possibly

[electric discordian]

I have a steady diet of extreme horror, violent films and some of the banned stuff from the seventies! Also some of the more questionable prison films of the seventies and yet I find Sucker Punch without any merit at all.

It's a comic style action film with a heavy dose of Paedophilia and child abuse. Not that any of this behaviour is in anyway shown to be wrong or indeed punished, as the only character who seeks to reclaim their humanity and free themselves from their shackles is punished to the fullest extent the plot will allow.

We are supposed to be drawn into a highly sexualised voyeuristic world where women are purely used as sex objects, even in the action scenes their own fantasies picture themselves in hot pants and bras!

The film despite being set in the fifties has a soundtrack straight out of the late nineties which jarringly breaks the reality and spoils the entire effect.

Okay it does have some blinding action but it's all too live action Anime for my taste!

This is a dreadful waste of Two Hours and is everything that is wrong with film making, I love all films and this was horrible. It made Transformers 2 seem like a Merchant Ivory film!

Urrgh!

 

[Irony's Acolyte]

Okay, I saw it and while I didn't find it amazing, I still don't see why you have so much problems with it. I don't see where the Pedophilia comes into play (and if it is there it isn't shown in a favorable light) and the whole thing with abuse is what helps to drive the story. It's like getting angry about people dying in a war film. As for the high sexualization of the women in it, it's a release method used by said women. The brothel doesn't really exist and is just a fantasy within the mind of "Baby Doll" to help her cope with her dismal surroundings, same with the fantasies within fantasies she imagines. She's trying to embrace her sexuality and use it as a source of confidence and power rather than weakness.

And with your complaint with the music, sure it's set in a a 50's-esque area (though it's never actually established that's the time period), that doesn't mean that they can't use music from different eras (it wasn't just from the 90's, I believe one song was from the 60's). And your complaint about it being too anime (while I did feel the same thing) is just you're opinion. Some people probably enjoyed that feel to it.

I think you're seeing parts of context of the movie, but missing other parts. This leads to an incomplete and incorrect evaluation of the film.

 

[electric discordian]

Paedophilia comes into play as all the characters are supposed to be below the age of consent, the father step father is clearly interested in "a piece" which is why he tries to tear of his step daughters clothing. Then when she has too much fight goes after the younger sister!

The near rape in the kitchen of sweet pea which goes unavenged, the fact that as far as the film is concerned the step father gets all the money keeps the house and the heroine is lobotomised for trying to escape from her hellish confines. The fact that the central character is damaged so much that she needs to feel like a sex object to avoid the abuse of her surroundings.

It just left me wanting to take a shower after walking out of the cinema!

Okay I take your point about the soundtrack, the version of Love is the Drug over the closing credits is amazingly good! But it is a wee bit obvious and heavy handed and there is never ever an excuse for Bjork!

 

[Blondi3]

What a crappy movie. I called it though. So many people were excited for this garbage. Not saying some people didn't enjoy it, but people also seem to enjoy the expendables and that was the most boring action movie I've ever seen. Pathetic.

To each his own I guess.

 

[auwdioslave]

Babydoll is the youngest of the girls. In the beginning of the movie though, they say she is 2.

 

[Lionsfan]

It's not great like Bob said it was. It was a fetish grindhouse flick made for teenage boys and anyone wanting to "shut their brain off". It wasn't "female empowerment" and it was in no way shape or form a good movie. The problem was that it tried to be this amazing awesome mind bending reality-questioning movie and came off really pretentious. So to answer your question, yes it's pretty distasteful and no you're not the only one to see it that way e.g. see every critic out there who called it for what it was (besides Bob).

Edit: Oh and yeah the soundtrack blew. Just a bunch of generic 90's stuff, and then you find out that they're actually horrible covers of much much better songs

 

[thefunk686]

Babydoll is the youngest of the girls. In the beginning of the movie though, they say she is 2.

I think you meant to say 20, but yea, the only implication of any pedophilia in this movie is the father in the beginning, and it's cast in an EXTREMELY negative light. Using it as a plot device does not make this into some kind of snuff film. (Ever seen American Beauty, Discordian? I'm guessing not because you seem to be a horror junky)

Before you go passing such harsh judgement on anything, I suggest you do pay a little bit more attention to what you're looking at and spend a little time formulating an intelligent argument.

 

[Obrien Xp]

It's not great like Bob said it was. It was a fetish grindhouse flick made for teenage boys and anyone wanting to "shut their brain off". It wasn't "female empowerment" and it was in no way shape or form a good movie

Tell that to all the girls that told me to go see it...

Yeah, I can see where OP is coming from, and indeed this is simply a matter of taste. I was a bit confused at first with all the what's real situations. Now I think I've finally figured out that the brothel was imagination, and the Badassery is imagination within that. Ugh, conscience levels make things so confusing! (Paprika was worse).

 

[Levethian]

Don't watch L.I.E. or Hard Candy.

 

[theguiltyone]

We are supposed to be drawn into a highly sexualised voyeuristic world where women are purely used as sex objects, even in the action scenes their own fantasies picture themselves in hot pants and bras!

Just want to say: What the girls wear is very similar to the sort of bad-ass/sexy combination that I would LOVE to have my Imaginary World avatar wandering around in. Sweat Pea's outfit in particular I found myself lusting after.

So...in this light, is expressing oneself as a strong, sexually-aware female the same as turning myself into a sex object? I don't agree with this. You can flaunt it for your own damn benefit, because it makes YOU feel cool and awesome and badass. My opinion, though.

 

[Zombie_Fish]

...and the heroine is lobotomised for trying to escape from her hellish confines.

Actually she was going to be lobotomised anyway, that was the whole point of her trying to escape. The lobotomy was what she was imagining as being The High Roller coming along.

Personally, I wasn't a big fan of the film. It was okay, just a bit too weird and unexpected for my personal tastes, combined with the fact that those battles just made me think of a more fantasy version of Charlie's Angels.

However, I did actually like the soundtrack, which kind of reminded me of Moulin Rouge. Also, the steampunk Nazi zombies were just awesome. But I still won't buy it on DVD.

EDIT:

Honestly there are movies out there that balance the fine line more then Suckerpunch does(see "Leon" or "Hard Candy" (and probably "Lolita")).

You could also add Taxi Driver to that list. Got a lot of controversy through starring 13 year old Jodie Foster as a child prostitute.

 

[D Moness]

It's a comic style action film with a heavy dose of Paedophilia and child abuse. Not that any of this behaviour is in anyway shown to be wrong or indeed punished, as the only character who seeks to reclaim their humanity and free themselves from their shackles is punished to the fullest extent the plot will allow.

Except for the begin scene with the stepfather and younger sister. All the girls are above the age off consent. So if you see pedophilia in it might be you. Also like someone said before the movie hard candy is much much worse.

The film despite being set in the fifties has a soundtrack straight out of the late nineties which jarringly breaks the reality and spoils the entire effect.

Like moulin Rouge the music used in that movie didn't fit the time frame but like this movie it does fit the scenes.

Okay it does have some blinding action but it's all too live action Anime for my taste!

This is a dreadful waste of Two Hours and is everything that is wrong with film making, I love all films and this was horrible. It made Transformers 2 seem like a Merchant Ivory film!

Urrgh!

So because it doesn't fit your taste it is a bad movie. I just say thank heavens we all have different tastes or else the world would be boring. I found the movie very interresting, the way babydoll dealt with her reality and how she retreated into her fantasy

 

[maturin]

Paedophilia comes into play as all the characters are supposed to be below the age of consent

The age of consent is 18 in a lot of states. That ain't pedophilia.

 

[Nicos Amblecrown]

I too felt skeeved out after I saw it, though a few reviews are softening my opinion on it. My big problem is that the female sexuality is broadcast to grab your attention. When it does, the movie parallels it to the desires of the male characters, who are all right bastards. Essentially it says, you came to see the T&A, look at what we think of you for it.

Besides insulting the audience on that level, it is also just a poorly plotted movie leaving questions that aren't so much philosophical mind-bending ones, but ones like

Spoiler

did the two girls in the dressing room actually die? And if so, how did Orderly McRapey get away with it?

or

Spoiler

Why did the least interesting, most unlikeable (including the males) character get to escape?

On the other hand, the action scenes were fantastic! I despise anime, so I choose not to see it as an anime aesthetic, but the videogame chic elements were really cool. I've also never had a problem with the Snyder Happy Matrix Time or whatever the meme name for it is, so I thought that just made them cooler. Hell, my favorite seconds of the movie were what many reviewers complain about:

Spoiler

when the girls begin their missions by dropping down, landing with one leg out, then looking up in unison.

Damn fun.

Overall, yes the movie made me want to take a shower afterwards, but I'd definitely see it again to see if it gets better (if XD tickets weren't so damn expensive). What I'll do is wait for release. Perhaps no movie other than Kingdom of Heaven has ever needed a Director's Cut more.

 

[Instant K4rma]

So you didn't like the movie? Alrighty. I really dug the movie, personally. I think Zack Snyder is a brilliant director, and this is one of the few times I've found myself in total agreement with Movie Bob. I still think Snyder's best film is Watchmen (if you haven't seen the Director's Cut, you're missing out), but Sucker Punch was by no means 'bad', I don't think.

But hey, that's the glory of opinions, right?

 

[Gigano]

I don't see anything wrong with depicting controversial subjects and themes or using them as a plot device. Reality can be far more grim, unfair, and brutal. And just what's so tasteless in letting previously victimized girls kick ass?

Nor does a film need wholesome morals or happy endings to be good.

 

[D Moness]

also a funny point the girls are at least 23 old (blondie and babydoll), 26,27,28 (rocket , Ami , sweatpea (in that order). Loved Rocket's character.

Keira knightly (a very liked actor) was 18 when she acted in the first pirates movie.

 

[Lionsfan]

Tell that to all the girls that told me to go see it...

Yeah, I can see where OP is coming from, and indeed this is simply a matter of taste.

Well there's always outliers but you can't deny that the target audience for this was the teenage boy demographic. But I would have to agree with you that this movie is all about taste. I hated the stupid message overtones it was sending while my friend didn't mind them. Pretty much the only thing MovieBob was right about is that it's a polarizing film