Action Fantasy: Sucker Punch (2011)

This is a dominatrix, gamerboy fantasy gone wrong. Video games to my spectator’s recollection, watching a boyfriend or two at play, usually have very good storylines. There is something our protagonist wants, in this case Babydoll wants to escape confinement. There is someone who withholds it from her, here her captor Blue, and through a series of obstacle courses and challenges she edges closer to her goal in escaping. So where does Sucker Punch go wrong?

In many ways. In fact there is no emotional connection to any of the characters. Our attachment to Babydoll is lost in the fantasy through which the action plays. Not caring for the character makes this mass action just senseless. The incoherent plot would be almost bearable if more time were spent on the raunchy dance moves the girls, who dress according to their high-class porno names, do.  

Rotten Tomatoes rating:4/10

Action and Fantasy: Sucker Punch (2011)
Starring: Emily Browning, Vanessa Hudgens, Jena Malone, Jamie Chung, Abbie Cornish and Oscar Isaacs
Director: Zack Snyder

Synopsis:
   
When Babydoll’s mother dies and her sister is killed by her guardian, she is blamed for the murder and put away into a mental institute, Lennox House. Waiting to be lobotomised in five days time she must escape. The film slips into a fantasy where the institution is a guise for a gentleman’s club/brothel. She recruits some of the other dancers, Sweet Pea, Blondie, Amber and Rocket to escape with her. Every time Babydoll dances, a third fantasy emerges where the girl are caught on a CGI enhanced battlefield. Each time it’s a different scenario, laid out for the girls to collect the five items they need to escape. Four of the items are known, a map, fire, knife and key but the fifth is a mystery. The lines between fantasy and reality merge and while its hard to make out whats happening, the real question’s what is the point? The display of CGI and special effects imaginary, the sweet girls in cute outfits just goes to waste.

Reviewed by Janice Matthews for SA Men

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G68fHZig9nA