Sucker Punch

REVIEW BY NATALIE WARWICK

I've read quite a bit of controversy on this film. Some people have right out said it is crap, others say it is Zack Snyders (writer slash director) worst work etc etc... but I feel like these people are taking it too literal or too seriously. Sure the premise is rather bleak but the overall filming experience is... cool. I love the soundtrack a lot and the Kill Bill come Burlesque come One fly’s over the cuckoos nest action is great. The girls are hot in their Anime style get up and the fight scenes "kick ass"" - what's not to love? It is a story of will overcoming adversity as 5 girls try and escape their tormentors.

People have been angered by the three realms of reality, which feature in this film. Oh contre this is its winning angle and is essentially what the film is. So without such it would cease to be... so deal with it. The film begins in reality one, filmed in dark gritty realistic shots. Cue lots of rain, thunder, grey outfits and gloom. The action is shot in a montage style until we are bought into realm 2. The lights are now harsh and superficial… the girls once in grey rags prance around as burlesque dancers and prostitutes and congregate in a glitzy changing room. Although the location has changed into a speakeasy slash "whore house" you still get the sense that the glitter and the frills are only masking the reality of a dingy and unforgiving asylum and that they are one and the same. Then we are treated to the 3rd realm as and when it is needed in an episodic fashion. It is not gauze of reality this time but shows the girls fighting in battle giving a literal sucker punch to the powers that suppress them. It is a dramatic tool used to override the otherwise anti climatic scenes of young girls dancing and stealing knives and lighters.

Definitely one to watch if your in Blockbuster or the like and are after a simple action, because despite the 3 realms brain shaker Sucker Punch is a very simple story. It is quite a unique concept and I, at least, haven't seen any other films which are even remotely similar. It is a mixed bag of genres and dramatic tools thrown at you in the name of story telling. At its heart it is bitterly sad but the layers and layers of glam and kick ass action battle scenes ease the blow.




Year:2011
Running Time: 110 mins
Classification: 12A
For more info check out the IMDb

No comments:

Post a Comment