April's Film of the Month: Sucker Punch
Yes, that's right, I'm highlighting this trash as my Movie of the Month. I expect a fair amount of grief for that. In fact, I expect to be treated with contempt for even liking this film...
My initial reaction to 'Sucker Punch' was, "It's a mess." Within five minutes, I'd broadened this simplistic review to, "It's an immature, superficial, pretentious, loud, nonsensical, over-stylised, over-long pop promo...and I loved every minute of it!"
Zack Snyder is the man who gave us '300', an obnoxious action flick for adolescent boys confused about their sexuality, and 'Watchmen', an ambitious examination of the superhero myth (which in its extended version is a borderline masterpiece). This is somewhere between the two. There's no denying its entertainment value: it's a ridiculously enjoyable experience and there's much to admire, not least the performances of the five female leads - especially Emily Browning.
The highlight of the film is its gripping opening sequence, cut to Browning's own rendition of 'Sweet Dreams'. Snyder deserves praise for balancing the movie's different levels of "reality" - with the style shifting from gritty verisimilitude to burlesque theatre to spectacular fantasy.
There are flaws aplenty, but I respect creativity in contemporary cinema and directors who take extraordinary risks, even if they don't quite succeed. The main issue is that the movie has been sanitised - with Snyder making numerous alterations to secure a PG-13 rating (the equivalent of a 12A certificate) in the US. The director claims several scenes that would have helped the audience understand and interpret the complex multi-layered narrative ended up on the cutting room floor.
He's promised to restore this footage for the Blu-ray/DVD release. I look forward to seeing the director's cut, even though this is an "in-your-face" action movie that really needs to be watched on the big screen. Ideally, an IMAX screen.
