Sucker Punch - Not as Bad as They Say, but........

POSTED BY: SHINYGOODGUY
UPDATED: Sunday, July 24, 2011 03:43
VIEWED: 12485
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DREAMTROVE

Wednesday, April 6, 2011 11:23 AM

I thought it was a relatively well executed weak story.

If I were to take it serious, rather than as geekporn, I would hit a very large number of problems.

First, nothing can be counterculture whilst having a mainstream cultural value set. That's pretty much a fail.

Second, nothing can fight the power while not being counter culture.

Third, probably more significantly, there's absolutely no point to having a story in an insane asylum without having the characters be insane.

The movie was decent up until the first transfer into the brothel world, which I thought was pretty dumb. It seemed like an excuse to put the girls in underwear, but lacked a strong reason for being there, but not as much as the asylum lacked.

I have no objection to schoolgirl hookers fighting videogame monsters. I enjoyed it overall, but I didn't think it was high art. It was sort of like the Cell.

That's what a ship is, you know - it's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs.

STEGASAURUS

Sunday, July 3, 2011 5:18 PM

Overall, I enjoyed the movie. Just saw it on demand and thought it was a pretty decent waste of my time.

My only complaint that probably no one else would encounter here, was that my 12 year old step-son came in and started watching from the steam punk nazis part. I had to ask him to stop asking questions until the end of the movie. What's worse is that he's a high functioning autistic, so I skipped explaining the dream within a dream bit.

-Steg

ECGORDON

Sunday, July 3, 2011 8:44 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Stegasaurus:
...a pretty decent waste of my time.

Yep, that about sums it up.

SHINYGOODGUY

Saturday, July 16, 2011 8:24 PM

I have to confess, after getting the Blu-ray of Sucker Punch, that I keep finding new ways to appreciate this film. And now I have to eat my words from my inital response regarding the theatrical release. As I suspected, the director's cut kicks ass (to put it bluntly).

Overall there are still some flaws, but now I see where the fail was when Warner's decided to "chop up" the film. There are 17 minutes added to the film and it makes a big difference in the storytelling process. It's much like watching Serenity and not any the the Firefly TV series - it's incomplete. So much was made of the incoherent mess that was Sucker Punch, that I too saw it that way. Now the Blu-ray extended version fills in what was sorely lacking in the theatre. I don't want to spoil it for anyone. But buy it, rent it (the extended director's cut)and you will see what I mean.

Why Warner's cut those scenes is beyond me. There was nothing truly R-rated about it at all. Baby Doll and the High Roller together in the final chapter was quite tame, if you ask me. I've seen worse in the American Pie movies or Superbad. Baby Doll is not a teen (she's 20 in the movie) and the only reason I could see them taking that scene out is because of the puritanical sensibilities of some uptight adults in the censors department. It is a symbolic gesture on Baby Doll's part and in keeping with the theme of the film - girl power.

Anyway, I recommend buying the Blu-ray with the extended director's cut.

SGG

"If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything" The Wise man

ANOTHERSKY

Monday, July 18, 2011 12:26 AM

disclaimer: haven't seen it. But from the trailer, I'd say they've finally figured out the commercial formula I've been convinced of for years.

300 was a slight miss because it was half-naked-guys-and-violence.

Change that out for half-naked-girls-and-violence, plus le effects special and it's a shoo-in.

All I'm gonna say. :)

--
Going for a ride.

PHOENIXROSE

Monday, July 18, 2011 1:02 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by AnotherSky:
300 was a slight miss because it was half-naked-guys-and-violence.

Hey now, 300 was the best thing to happen to geeky con-goers who want some men to ogle, don't be dissing it.

What reason had proved best ceased to look absurd to the eye, which shows how idle it is to think anything ridiculous except what is wrong.

SHINYGOODGUY

Wednesday, July 20, 2011 12:40 PM

Hey PhoenixRose, been a while................

It's nice to know women ogle too.

BTW, on the surface Sucker Punch appears to be a story about a bunch of half-naked girls and violence. Look closely, it is much more, ok so there's some ogling - it is SF, or speculative fiction as EC Gordon states in another thread.

It is commentary on the journey women take in the day-to-day slugfest that we commonly refer to as life. Anywho, the extended cut makes much more sense than it did in the movies with the added scenes. Just so you know, it was co-written by Snyder's wife.

SGG

Tawabawho?

PHOENIXROSE

Wednesday, July 20, 2011 4:21 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Shinygoodguy:
It's nice to know women ogle too.

'Course we do.
...I have so many photos of the Spartans from DragonCon, man. There was even one who invited me to confirm the reality of his six-pack.

DragonCon is kind of a babe-fest, no matter your preference. I asked for a photo with one of the CruxShadow girls, just for an excuse to get close to her

Quote:
the extended cut makes much more sense than it did in the movies with the added scenes.

Good to know. I would have liked to see the coherent version on the big screen, but I'll check it out.

What reason had proved best ceased to look absurd to the eye, which shows how idle it is to think anything ridiculous except what is wrong.

STORYMARK

Wednesday, July 20, 2011 6:49 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by AnotherSky:
disclaimer: haven't seen it. But from the trailer, I'd say they've finally figured out the commercial formula I've been convinced of for years.

300 was a slight miss because it was half-naked-guys-and-violence.

Change that out for half-naked-girls-and-violence, plus le effects special and it's a shoo-in.

Well, since you don't seem to be paying attention to how things played out - what you are convinced of has pretty much been proven wrong as 300 was a big hit and this was one of the biggest flops in a decade.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

SHINYGOODGUY

Sunday, July 24, 2011 3:43 AM

Just so you know.....300 was considered a hit back in 2007. It's total worldwide gross was a bit over $456M (that's M as in million). They managed to pull that in in a little over 4 months (18 weeks). It did better overseas where it raked in $245.6M (domestic gross was $210M). 300 was made for $65M, by Hollywood standards, thats a hit.

Sucker Punch was made for $82M and scraped together $89.8M worldwide ($36M domestic). Again, by Hollywood standards, a flop. Breaking even is never a good sign (same fate as Serenity: $39 to make; grossed $38.9M). Who knows what Warner Bros. spent on the ad campaign. Maybe they will think twice before chopping up a decent film and making it more confusing for it's audience and for critics who, I believe, killed this film beofre it opened. The Blu-ray will do better, as it was with Serenity, after the fact. It is currently No. 2 behind the LOTR trilogy in blu-ray sales.

There is a rather interesting review of the DVD by Cindy White (IGN Entertainment)which, IMHO, is better than most reviews pre-DVD release. There are 2 points with which I slightly disagree: 1) the added scenes do enhance the movie, in particular the added scenes with the High Roller, and 2) there is character development throughout the film, but it was poorly set up and poorly directed (points I made in my initial take on the film). The subtitle of the review pretty much sums up the reviewer's take on the Blu-Ray release - A flawless HD presentation of a deeply flawed film.

Below is the link to the article:

http://bluray.ign.com/articles/117/1179291p1.html

SGG

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