MovieBob, we need to have a talk.
I love your reviews, I look forward to them every week. I watch them, I watch the Big Picture, and I generally am very interested to hear what you have to say. For the vast majority of your reviews, I couldn't agree with you more. I loved Scott Pilgrim to death, I adored Watchmen, Inception is one of my personal favorites of all time, etc and so forth. (And these are just the ones you mention in this review- I tend to agree with your opinion on a lot of things). This review, however, falls under that 1% that I so vehemently disagree with on almost every point that I begin to wonder whether you and I were watching the same movie. I just got back from Sucker Punch, and, in my opinion, I thought it was a complete load of garbage. This is my opinion, and you and everyone else who liked this film are entitled to your opinions. If you liked it, I'm glad you were entertained. However, I did want to share some of my thoughts on the movie.
Firstly, the film doesn't work as a serious movie. Zach Snyder is talented on many levels, but one thing he clearly cannot do is write an original script with any sort of pacing or drama. Every female character in the movie is a stock character stereotype that spouts dialogue that ranges from the hilariously awful to the simply cliche. (Except maybe Rocket- She was one of the redeeming points of this movie and I liked both her and her actress) The male characters are indeed stock, shallow figures who are overcome by the women, but I fail to see how the women in the movie are any deeper or more fleshed out than they are. I know some might disagree with me on this point, but I fail to see how making the women prostitutes "empowers" them or gives them strength in any way. Disregarding the dream action sequences, Baby Doll's entire plan boils down to her doing a sexy dance for a bunch of male pimps while her friends steal the items they need while the pimps are distracted. Not exactly empowerment there. When they go into the action sequences, they shed their slutty costumes in order to don the powerful, empowering garments known as? slutty action heroine costumes! Woo! I?m not saying they all had to be dressed in turtleneck sweaters or anything, but was that really necessary? The action sequences, meanwhile, come out of nowhere and shoot the serious dialogue bits to hell with giant explosions and random gratuitous fighting, creating tonal shifts so dramatic that I practically got whiplash going back and forth as the movie couldn?t decide on the tone that it wanted to take. They don?t flow naturally with the story at all and cause the plot to move forward in a series of jerking starts and stops, rather than having them integrated into the plot in any meaningful way whatsoever. The film clearly thinks that it is making some giant, grand statement about life and feels like it has to do so, but never bothers to actually MAKE that statement. The ham-fisted, poorly constructed writing and structure bring down any hope it has at seriousness.
Now, some might say in response to the above, ?Well, at least it can be a good action movie, right?? Well, it doesn?t work as an action movie either. The action sequences, as stated earlier, are so random and thrust into the story at various places that you don?t have the time or inclination to care about or appreciate them. We don?t care if these girls are fighting if A) We don?t care about the characters and B) the fact that each of these sequences take place in an entirely separate, unrelated fantasy world means that the characters will never, ever get hurt unless a clear indication pops up in the real world saying THIS PERSON IS GOING TO GET HURT NOW. WATCH OUT. EMOTIONAL DRAMA, COMING RIGHT AT YOUR FACE. Each sequence is a tiny, irrelevant chunk taken from the pages of better genre movies and video games; movies and games that construct a world around their battles and give each one relevance and context rather than just saying HEY ISN?T THIS COOL, GUYS? LOOK HOW COOL THIS IS! (It?s not a criticism, par se, but I lol?ed to see that the generic enemies in the WWI section looked EXACTLY like the Helghast from Killzone, and the enemies in the Lord of the Rings section looked, well, EXACTLY like the LOTR orcs.) And the sequences aren?t nearly as cool as they think they are. The PG-13 rating and a lack of true over-the-top camp really prevent there from being any really memorable kills or great action moments, adding up to an endless repetition of ?girl shoots, girl slices, girl kicks, lather, rise, repeat.? The World War I section, the thing I was most looking forward to in the whole film, was ruined by constant screwed-up camera work and SHAKY CAM. I ended up laughing at the movie far more than thinking how cool it was. But what really kills the action sequences is the overall feel of the film. Each one COULD be viewed on its own as a fun action sequence, and some general self-awareness or camp might have been enough to save this film, but Zach Snyder clearly wouldn?t have it. He wanted to make his grand magnum opus, and the serious parts and heavy tone of the non-action sequences prevent you from just turning off your brain and enjoying the action as Mr. Snyder tries to blatantly hammer in THE POINT regardless of whether there is actually a point or not. This approach could potentially work if the action flowed with the story, but the two are just two diametrically opposed to one another that they simply will not flow together, and by the end they both just grab their toys and go home without leaving us with anything memorable. If the movie had just allowed itself to realize how stupid the whole affair really was and tried to make itself a tad more campy and self-aware, it could have been a great action piece, but it tries to juggle too many balls at once and drops them all.
What really got me was the pretentiousness of the whole thing. Zach Snyder clearly seemed to think that he was making THE BEST MOVIE EVER, and if people didn?t see his piece the way that he wanted to, he wasn?t going to make any concessions for them. I?m prepared to give him a chance with Superman, as he has shown his skill with adapted material, but I sincerely hope that Christopher Nolan keeps him away from the writing table. The film just simply is not well-made regardless of the mindset in which you view it.
Wow, long rant is long. Sorry, but Sucker Punch really just didn?t work in any way for me. I respect your opinion, MovieBob, but I?ve said my piece.
