The Sucker Punch thread

Cafe Society
121

Chapulin, let it go already.

Saw the movie this weekend with a couple girlfriends and we were all pretty underwhelmed. One of the girls and I have a long standing bad-movie watching partnership. Anytime a cheesy comic book movie or a terrible sci-fi flick comes out we tend to spare our SOs the grief and see it together. My SO was perfectly thrilled that she was spared the TRON 2.0 experience. Anyways, my SO was actually interested in this one, though her enthusiasm diminished when we told her it was the Watchmen/300 guy who made it as we entered the theater. Anyways, that’s a long ways of saying that 2 of the 3 of us have a pretty high level of tolerance for cheese and thin plots with caricatures for characters.

The action sequences started out really fun. The samurai battle and the zombie Nazis were excellent and diverse enough to to keep us smiling in the face of the lunacy. The problem showed itself later during the orc/dragon battle and the robot soldier fights. By the time these fights kicked in we were starting to get bored with the gimmick. There was variety between the first two fights, the Big Trouble in Little China fight was with giants in a wintery setting and it had a well defined tone. The Castle Wolfenstein fight was a massive gun battle against droves of enemies in a virtual apocalyptic wasteland, it too had a distinctive tone and feel. Then the 3rd and 4th fights, Lord of the Rings and I, Robot respectively, were massive gun battles against droves of enemies in an apocalyptic wasteland. In other words, they felt way to repetitive. You’d think that shooting zombie Nazis, Orcs and killer robots would be entirely different experiences but no. Each of those scenes felt the same, and when you’re checking your watch during big action sequences you know something has gone wrong.

All this could have been avoided if they’d have come up with a little more nuance and variety in the missions. Perhaps replace the orc/dragon battle with a less bombastic shoot 'em up, perhaps a stealth mission in a cave or something. Replace the robot/train fight with some type of hacking heist sequence with a chase scene amidst a futuristic city with flying cars or something. Everything after the samurai fight was the same black, smouldering, pitted motif and the girls were dressed in the same combat gear with the same weapons. The bad guys were just different dark, faceless, speechless stormtroopers. Variety please.

We all loved the cinematography and music. Snyder for all his flaws really knows how to shoot a cool looking flick. There were a lot of interesting edits and technical elements that really worked. Quirky camera angles and coherent fight sequences. No jitter cam here thankfully. The stylized pop/rock soundtrack was fantastic. Easily the highlight of the move. Like TRON it was maybe the best music video ever.

The main plot felt a little thin. The beginning and ending monologue were confusing and didn’t really explain the meaning of it all. I didn’t expect the most in depth story but I really expect my popcorn flicks to at least be coherent. It’s not that this movies was confusing as it went along, it’s just that everything seemed to lack purpose. The framework of reality that surrounded the dream/fantasy was the confusing part, the characters fantasy was coherent and straight forward, the why and how of the real world was opaque at best. You’d think that having a fantasy within a delusion would be the tough part to grasp, but not here. That is disappointing since fixing that would probably have been easy. I think Snyder was trying a little too hard to be “artistic” or “clever” in the mold of Inception and lacked the chops to do it.

I think the movie was probably edited poorly. A few scenes, notably the snitch scene, seemed like they came out of nowhere and didn’t fit with the rest of the plot. The action sequences dragged on too long. Maybe the story would have made more sense if fewer scenes found the cutting room floor and the pacing would have been better of some of the eye candy was clipped.

A fun movie, didn’t regret seeing it, I think everyone who was sucked in by the previews should give it a shot. Unfortunately it’s not going to be the next cult classic though, and I really think it could have been if it’d have been executed better.

122

Slight nitpick, but were they really zombie “Nazis” if the setting looked like it took place in WWI? They met those enemies (to get the map) in the trenches and had multi-winged aircraft like biplanes and triplanes and they also had dirigibles. Later in the movie, they appeared to be in a WWII bomber aircraft during their fight to get fire, which was the dragon.

123

I haven’t seen the movie, so consider my comment in that light, but WTF man, you’re looking for historical accuracy? :smiley:

124

Yeeeah you’ve got a WW2 fighter-bomber, equipped with modern multicolor MFDs in the cockpit, dogfighting with a fire-breathing dragon over a hellscape Quake castle full of orcs that’s being sieged by a force of medieval knights while the protagonists stage a running battle using MP5s and katanas. When you’re that shameless in adopting the Rule of Cool, you really have earned the right to be safe from nitpicking.

Personally, I liked the movie. I thought the bookending worked for the presentation and the viewing of events through the lens of retro speakeasy made a nice contrast to the crapsackitude of the real world, even if it did wind up rather more dark than probably anyone expected from the ZOMGAWESOME trailer bits.

125

Also, if it has anything to do with Germany, they’re Nazis, always. It could be about the Franco-Prussians War and the Germans would be Nazis.

126

QFT
I do agree that the cyber-punk battle (the last one) could have been a lot more clearly segregated from the other ones. It’s the only one that really didn’t have a “feel” to it in my opinion - I mean, boxy train cars and shiny robots only get you so far.
Also, not just zombie Nazis, but CLOCKWORK zombie Nazis. Gotta smush the steampunk in there somehow, or no one will think you’re the cool kid! :rolleyes:

(Please note that despite mockery, I still liked it.)

127

That last battle was great close quarters clearing out of a couple of rooms. I liked Rocket’s little flip and Sweet Pea’s knee to the chest.

With that original ending the bookending would be complete, starts with a stage and ends with a stage. He mentions they cut it because people were already going WTF?? at screenings without that last number thrown in.

one question when they first talk of the escape Blondie mentions three previous attempts at escape ending in death. could that have factored in the three that died?

128

First, look at my usernsme. Mock. Then, I don’t know how bleached Mia is. Pre about 25 that’s my natural coloring. It’s some ridiculous Scandinavian gene. Now natural color is wheat and white. My name the same as former highlight days.
So shitty movie, find we’ll see at dvd release. Bleach factor, no.

129

Here http://www.google.com/m/search?site=images&source=mog&gl=us&q=mia%20wasikowska#i=30 me about 20. No, not ME, but nearly identical. No brag. So not traditionally attractive

130

I think the original ending would have greatly improved the movie. It was a fun movie, very nice to look at, a great junk food movie, but I prefer my movies to be a little mire nutritious.

131

Holy hell was this movie a crapfest from start to finish. I am a girl, but I was excited for this movie from the first I heard of it, and just kept hearing things that made me more excited. Loved 300, loved Watchmen, and here was the same director, and Carla Gugino and Jon Hamm were going to be in it? I couldn’t wait. But the movie was total tripe.

Also, there’s a big difference between “hot girl fights bad guys in skimpy outfits” (which am I a fan of) and “hot girl is nicknamed Babydoll, wears her hair in pigtails, and wears a skimpy schoolgirl outfit, and oh hey here’s a subplot about her virginity being auctioned off” (skeevy), even if you stupidly try to claim the character is twenty. That almost makes it seem more obvious “Hmm, pigtails, schoolgirl outfit, Babydoll… we’re pushing the Lolita thing pretty hard… I know! I’ll just say that this character who is obviously an oversexualized teenager isn’t a teenager! Problem solved”.

132

I saw this movie yesterday and while the look and action were great, the plot was very thin. I enjoyed the movie immensely and I thought Carla Gugino was great as the psychatrist/choreographer. I must admit, that Babydoll didn’t do any dancing that I could see. She maybe swayed a little at the begining and sweated a little at the ending of each “dance” sequence.

133

I just got back from seeing this movie and I haven’t the faintest idea why everyone is complaining about the plot, or character development, or anything outside of what the movie is.

It’s just a fun “hot chicks with guns/swords” movie, and anyone seeing this movie expecting anything but is simply out of their mind.

With the way that I perceived this movie to be all I needed was a plot to get me from point A to point B, characters that are good guys and characters that are bad guys…and the rest is just visuals.

This is a movie not a film. It’s got hot girls, shit being blown up, zombie nazis, and a giant mech with a bunny…plot and characters are just there as filler.

134

Actually, believe it or not, someone had really done their homework on that sequence- the guns (with the exceptions of the hardware the protaganists were carrying/using, obviously) were almost all historically accurate:

The Wise Man is shown with an M1903 Springfield sniper rifle; the British Soldiers are carrying SMLE rifles, the Steampunk German Zombies are carrying Mauser 98 rifles, and the machine-gun Baby Doll uses against the Zeppelin is a Lewis Gun. The only gun I saw in that sequence in the hands of someone besides the protaganists that wasn’t accurate for a late WWI setting was the revolver the German with the Map was carrying; it looked like a Colt Thunderer so definitely not something a WWI German Officer would have been carrying.

Anyhoo: I really enjoyed Sucker Punch; I’ve described it to some of my friends as cross between Inception, Shutter Island, and the highlights of several video games.

It’s also clear to me that some elements of the movie are supposed to be ambiguous (gotta give people something to argue over on the internet, after all!) but I honestly don’t get the panning this movie is getting. Then again, I loved Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, so apparently I’m not allowed to recommend movies to people anymore. :stuck_out_tongue:

135

I, and two of my also female friends, saw it last night. I’m not much of a feminist, but I’m generally enthusiastic about movies that show women kicking ass, and this didn’t disappoint much on that front. Plus, it’s very pretty in a gothic surrealism way, so I was pleased over all despite the bummer ending.

136

don’t know how true this is (I can’t find any reference to Film Now), but Charlie Sheen likes it :stuck_out_tongue:

Charlie Sheen talks with Film Now magazine reporter Henry Williams. Interview Monday, April 11.

Do you still have time to go to the movies though?

Oh sure. Plenty. I go all the time, I’m a fan. Me and my family, friends we all go. Yeah.

What’s the last film you’ve seen and what were your thoughts about it?

Well, let me think. Processing, processing, hah. What was it. Oh yeah, Limitless. Limitless and Sucker Punch. Good movies, totally.

Sucker Punch is a big box-office failure though, did you know?

Where? What box-office? No man. Listen, who cares. Don’t talk to me about box-office. Please, stop. Box-office is for losers. Losers who don’t understand how it’s all done. You know? Been there done that. They have nothing on me.

What do you mean by that?

Look, I know. Sucker Punch is way out there. Way there. You need to be like me. You can’t process the film with normal brain. Like what, eat at McDonald’s, walk your dog, pick in your nose and then BAM! You are suddenly hit with this mega, super, fantastic vision. Like a huge magical firework explosion, straight from some warlock’s flaming eyes. It’s too much. Too much man. These little people can’t comprehend it. It’s a hit. Trust me. I know a hit when I see one.

But the box-office numbers don’t lie. It’s how the whole film industry works.

Man, open your eyes. At least for once. Sucker Punch isn’t bombing, it’s winning! Duh! Like me! I’m winning, Sucker Punch is winning. Everyone who sees the film is winning. Only box-office is losing, man. Don’t be on the losing side. Don’t sell yourself to box-office. Don’t be, you know, a wh*re. It’s not worth it, believe me, I’ve been there. I know how it tastes, I know how it smells. I know all the little hidden inner-workings but I can see past through them. I see all! Duh! You know? I see all. Take my, you know, take my advice. Don’t be a loser, Henry. Don’t, really.

Yes, alright. Thank you Charlie. Lets move on to another subject.

I also happened to pick up the awesome art book at Fry’s for $20 bucks, score. Screw you leeches on ebay wanting $100 bucks and up!
anyway these are a couple of quick scans which I thought were neat. Basically the whole story is already foretold on her weapons.

katana
gun

137

I fucking love Charlie Sheen :smiley:

138

:smiley: I appreciated the accuracy of the weapons, however I leaned over to the missus during the scene, and said “Why would the germans have had a lewis gun?” :stuck_out_tongue:

139

So, saw this over the weekend, and you know what I really enjoyed it. By no stretch of the imagination is it a cinema classic or anything, it won’t be getting any of the ‘serious’ oscars*, But that didn’t matter, because for me it was just such an enjoyable movie to watch. My wife also loved it.

The soundtrack was just phenomenal, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we wind up downloading it.

Personally, I really enjoyed the ‘reality’ levels, and I’m really curious now about how a few of the ‘brothel’ events actually occurred in the hospital.

  • by serious I mean best actors, best directors, etc. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it win something for visual effects though.
140

The Germans had many captured Lewis Guns, particularly from the Belgian Army (the gun was nicknamed “The Belgian Rattlesnake” for a reason), so it’s not actually that unreasonable for the Germans to have a Lewis Gun in a WWI scenario.

They are, however, extraordinarily heavy in the configuration shown in the film (with the full cooling jacket); there is no way Baby Doll could even have picked one up in reality, much less fired it from the hip with any degree of accuracy. But it’s a fantasy movie and the Rule of Cool outweighs that minor quibble by quite some distance. :wink: