Being a so called "movie-person" people often ask my opinion about movies or sometimes to explain some to them. Sometimes I'm on the money, sometimes I'm lost and some other times I am so baffled I don't know exactly what to say.
This moment came when my friends cousin from Argentina, who is studying english here for a year, asked me to explain to her Suckerpunch. First she's not very fluent in english and second not very versed in American pop culture so how to break it to her easy was the thing. I went ... it's like Inception, no wait it's like Pan's Laberynth, no... it's like Shelter Island... well, it's a bunch of hot girls in sexy outfits, using swords and guns to escape their surroundings through dreams.
So it's a dream movie she asks? I say kinda. So it's a quest type movie? I go kinda. Do they go out of the this dream? I say not for 80% of the film. And then she hit's it on the nail, she goes , so if it's a dream there are no consequences to the characters since nobody can get hurt.
And I went WOW.
Funny a person with no film training found one of the many flaws of Suckerpunch as a movie. In writing class one of the very first things they hammer to you is that one must have a very clear understanding of the stakes for your hero. What will the character loose, and why she/he/thing must do something to avoid any wrong doing that will become. Zack Snyder , the writer,(Director of 300 and WATCHMEN) surely played hooky that day.
Now some people might say, well you didn't get what he was trying to say. He's actually using these escapism dream sequences to mirror the horrible conditions the characters are living in (a 1930's asylum for "troubled" women). And that the opponents they face are just symbols for male oppression that females face every day - AKA combating the penis. So for every german soldier (penis), Dragon (big penis) and SUPER SAMURAI ROBOT (huge penis) they fight, they're actually trying to bring their oppression down and gain equal rights.
Sorry I'm not buying it. Especially when you can clearly see that this movie is what Snyder and probably other suits though teen males with raging hormones would go rush to see.
Now this a great, great disappointment because the action scenes a very well done and piled up with layers and layers of very awesome geeky goodness. I mean the WWI scenes where fantastic (with a nice tight script it could have just stayed in this realm and been another hit for Snyder), the Dragon stuff was cool and the giant robot fight scenes were crafted to 
perfection. But like an awesome meal in front of you it's totally useless when you just came from IN - N - OUT. One can use the argument that Snyder is a master of green screen illusion and can craft a fun action movie, but only if he's tightly reined and guided by an interesting story, such as Frank Miller's 300. Therefore once again, action scenes witout a good story to back them up end up being a *ahem* "suckerpunch" to your intellect.
And here is were it's important to us writers. THE SCRIPT. It is always sad to see how high the level of entry to Hollywood's writing community is and then see movies like this constantly flow through their pipes.
When it comes to story give me something real, something to believe in and if not keep the dream coherent and in the nice neat storyline to follow. Don't jump from a cruel reality to a Strip club ambient 2nd dream reality and then to a batsh*t crazy what ever you think is hot n cool 3rd dream reality. Then of course don't mix all three and shake it like crazy and throw us bits and pieces all through 109 minutes. If you want to do this, atleast put some work in the storyline so we can be convinced of it.
The movie is about a wronged girl named "Baby Doll" who is forced into a mental institution by her evil stepfather (lay on the stereotypes please). She then finds out she going to be treated to a lobotomy but before that happens she decides to use what is left of her useful mind to escape her reality and try to finally ditch her horrible situation.
There she uses the other girls from the asylum to help her find "keys", "fire"
and a "map"
to help them escape their dire situation. I say uses because there is really no reason for the others to help her out and no real character development on them either. Besides it's Baby Doll's dream and she can do what ever she wants.
The sets, design and acting are good. I mean every actor committed to their parts and gave it their all. But nothing could save them from the huge plot mess that they had to work with. I can detail for a while all the weak points of the film but why bore you. Maybe if you want to watch and decide that for yourself I encourage you to do so. One can learn a lot from a good movie as much as a bad one. Also if you dig deep enough you can justify the plot and actions. I have no problem having to work a little for a good film but just can't get myself to it for this one.
if you think you'll enjoy huge explosions and hot chicks with machine guns for no good reason then this is great movie for you. Could I catergorize it? I don't know, the closest thing I can come to is maybe "Hick Porn" ???
So what can we learn from Suckerpunch?
Lesson 1) Make the stakes worth while. If you're in a dream and you die, make that have consequences other than that it's just paper thin.
Lesson 2) Don't pile action sequences for the sake. If you want to do that go create a video game. Scenes should have to be a function of one another not a "cool" reason to blow something up. You can do that but I'm doubtful any producer would want to produce your movie.
So pretty much like the strippers of Baby Doll's fantasies, SUCKERPUNCH doesn't care about you, it just wants your money. It's all up to you if you just want a cinematic lapdance or a meaningful movie relationship..
