All style, no substantive 'Punch'
Zack Snyder's new movie “Sucker Punch” should have been called “Kitchen Sink.”
Snyder throws enough at the audience during this film's 110 minutes to fill eight other movies. Abusive stepfathers, giant samurai warriors, deformed German soldiers, fire-breathing dragons and robot assassins all compete for screen time here.
And yet Snyder forgets a few key ingredients, like a coherent story and three-dimensional characters.
By the time the credits roll, “Sucker Punch” has become a depressing, headache-inducing slog, despite Snyder's patented wizardry with computer-enhanced action scenes.
Emily Browning plays Babydoll, a porcelain-faced 20-year-old who is sent to an insane asylum by her deranged stepfather. Blue Jones, the sadistic and corrupt head of the facility, promises that a doctor will come to lobotomize Babydoll in five days.
Desperate for escape, Babydoll slips into an elaborate fantasy world where she is a gun-toting, sword-wielding superhero who battles an array of digital baddies.
In this world she meets an old man who tells her that to achieve freedom, she needs to collect five things, starting with a map, fire, a knife and a key. The fifth item, he said, is a mystery.
Fantasy and reality start to blur when Babydoll recruits four friends of hers at the asylum to go on these quests with her. The girls enter these dreamy, violent worlds like a sexy version of the Wild Bunch, shooting and slicing and punching their way to the promised land.
Snyder, whose previous films include “300” and “Watchmen,” pulls out all the stops in the fantasy sequences. Many of the sights are dazzling, like the fiery destruction of a World War I-era blimp or the majestic ascent of a winged dragon. Snyder stages his action scenes with blistering kinetic energy (often assisted by pounding rock music on the soundtrack). Even his most annoying filmmaking tic — repeated use of slow-motion, followed by a sped-up action — doesn't bog things down.
But all this spectacle starts to wear thin as the film rolls on, primarily because “Sucker Punch” doesn't offer anything else. Babydoll and her friends have about as much depth and humanity as video game characters. Sure, it's fun to see the girls kick butt for a while, but without something human for the audience to connect to, that novelty gets old fast. Babydoll's final dramatic moment, which is clearly meant to move us, barely elicits a shrug. (It doesn't help that the acting here rarely rises above wooden.)
The story, meanwhile, is both underwritten and overly complicated. It's tough to figure out exactly what goes on inside the asylum, and there are some scenes of sadism and violence that really leave a sour taste. (Note to parents: “Sucker Punch” is very intense for a PG-13 movie!)
The story also feels awfully familiar. Though based on an original story by Snyder — he co-wrote the screenplay with Steve Shibuya — the film pulls much of its structure and plot from acclaimed fantasy/adventure films of the past decade or so. Many viewers will be reminded of “Pan's Labyrinth,” “Kill Bill,” “Iron Man” and the “Harry Potter” movies, just to name a few, as they watch “Sucker Punch.”
Snyder is clearly a talented filmmaker, and I've liked much of his previous work. But “Sucker Punch” shows that while he's a whiz with effects, he still has a lot to learn about character and human drama. Snyder will soon helm the newest iteration of Superman. I hope he's able to balance drama with spectacle a lot better in that film, because another misfire like “Sucker Punch” could be kryptonite to his career.
<b>“Sucker Punch”</b>
★ ½
<b>Starring: </b>Emily Browning, Jena Malone, Abbie Cornish, Vanessa Hudgens, Carla Gugino, Oscar Isaac, Jon Hamm
<b>Directed by: </b>Zack Snyder
<b>Other: </b>A Warner Bros. release. Rated PG-13 for thematic material involving sexuality, violence and combat sequences, and for language. 110 minutes. <a href="http://www.suckerpunchmovie.warnerbros.com/" target="_blank">suckerpunchmovie.warnerbros.com/</a>