27

Mar

Single-Sentence Movie Reviews: Sucker Punch

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I genuinely have every confidence that Zack Snyder will eventually make a classic for the ages – his technical skill is steadily improving with the addition of actual craft, and he’s learning to work with actors greatly – but lord, this ain’t it.

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Zenrage said on March 27th, 2011 at 3:04 pm

Thought so.

So was it better or worse than Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow?

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Thok said on March 27th, 2011 at 3:23 pm

You seem to have messed up the italics.

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Brandi said on March 27th, 2011 at 3:47 pm

Haven’t seen it yet, but from the description of the story it sounds like as a screenwriter, Snyder’s a damn fine director.

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Pronoiac said on March 27th, 2011 at 3:56 pm

It made me think of a special effects demo reel: “Hey! Check out our zombies, mecha, & dragons!”

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Qseal00 said on March 27th, 2011 at 5:06 pm

OK, the movie was basically the Holy Shit Quotient + Fanservice + Mindscrew + McAweseome’s all rolled into one.

Now whether you think it was executed well or not is up to you. Me personally found it engaging as a simple fairy tale with a few inception themed twists.

I would matinee it if I could have.

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NCallahan said on March 27th, 2011 at 6:21 pm

Sucker Punch is one of the few times I felt actually guilty for paying money to see a film. The dialogue is painful to listen to, the lead actress emotes like a brick, and somehow SLITTING A DRAGON’S THROAT is an ANTI-CLIMATIC. I mean, if you’re just going to reproduce 10 years of Heavy Metal covers, how does nothing stick?

It also has the dubious honor of the being the most anti-feminist attempts at feminism I have ever seen. And I’m not even talking about the cheesecake. When you’re strong female intellectual needs it pointed out to her by a male doctor, multiple times in the same five minute span, that someone is forging her signature on lobotomy papers, you are perhaps off message.

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malakim2099 said on March 27th, 2011 at 7:48 pm

Is it wrong that I liked Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, as a total aside?

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Patrick said on March 27th, 2011 at 9:28 pm

@malakim So did I. Slight but entertaining. And avoided being as offensive as this seems to be.

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Ed (Jack Norris) said on March 28th, 2011 at 3:36 am

My favourite one line description was over at the AVClub: “The Pussycat Dolls Present Steampunk Kill Bill.”

And yeah, it’s unfortunate that his best moment was the whole “The Man Comes Around” opening titles sequence of Dawn of the Dead, and it’s all been downhill ever since.

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John 2.0 said on March 28th, 2011 at 9:05 am

You know, I think it’s going to be another 5 years or so before we have a really good ‘digital backdrop’ movie (you could argue about Sin City, I guess. My take is that it’s more interesting than good). The film-making technology has outrun actors’ abilities to connect with the audience.

I have every faith that someone will work out an acting and a directing style that work with that technology (Ewan McGregor almost had it down in ROTS). Till that breakthrough I’m staying away from movies like this.

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MGK said on March 28th, 2011 at 9:41 am

I have every faith that someone will work out an acting and a directing style that work with that technology

But that’s just it: the problem with this movie isn’t the CGI action sequences. Those are well-made and quite fine. The problem with this movie is when it’s on real sets and there’s, you know, the dialogue.

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Cookie McCool said on March 28th, 2011 at 12:37 pm

I’m just a schmuck working at a community college, so I’m not trying to claim any knowledge of how Hollywood operates, but I have a vague idea that you should already have, like, skill and craft and stuff *before* someone pays you a brazillion dollars to make a movie. If that’s not the case, I need possibly two brazillion dollars for my live action Thundarr the Barbarian remake, stat.

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T.Shock said on March 28th, 2011 at 1:13 pm

@MGK

There was dialogue?

Seriously, though, it’s one of the few movies I thought I might enjoy going in and found myself flabbergasted at how terrible it was. There was the multi-layered levels of “reality”, but one of the levels was completely necessary (and the sad thing about the plot is, it could’ve been either the insane asylum or the brothel). Snyder must’ve wanted to give himself a high degree of difficulty by casting terrible actresses (minus Jena Malone who is fantastic).

As I told my girlfriend after walking out. It feels like I paid 26 bucks to watch a 2-hour music video for a pop-punk band.

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CB said on March 28th, 2011 at 2:30 pm

Action porn has it’s place in the entertainment industry, too.

I certainly didn’t see this movie expecting good dialogue, anyway.

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PaulW said on March 28th, 2011 at 2:38 pm

The thing you want in a good movie, a GREAT movie, are characters the audience can get emotionally invested in.

The Matrix did. The Nolan Batman reboot trilogy does. Pirates of the Caribbean exceeds expectations because they created characters (esp. Captain Jack Sparrow) that the audience loves. There are action movies out there, especially some that rely heavily on CGI, that still take the time to create likable or believable figures to play out the tale.

Sucker Punch looks like a simple excuse to blow sh-t up. I won’t go to watch it because I don’t think I can like or believe in any of the characters on-screen.

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Somnopolis said on March 29th, 2011 at 11:55 pm

@Ed

‘And yeah, it’s unfortunate that his best moment was the whole “The Man Comes Around” opening titles sequence of Dawn of the Dead, and it’s all been downhill ever since.’

So very true.

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Silcrist said on March 30th, 2011 at 11:13 am

Apparently I had the right (low) level of expectations going into the theater. I actually enjoyed the movie. I wouldn’t ever claim it was a *good* movie, or even that it was worth paying full theater price to see it, but I was definitely entertained.

Yeah, the ‘real world’ and bordello world are basically throwaways. The interesting parts are all in the innermost world with the missions and the CGI fights. I wouldn’t mind owning a copy of this movie if it were just those action sequences. I liked all the genre-mashing. Heck, I’m looking forward to playing some RPG where I can fight steampowered clockwork zombie Nazis…

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Jidasfire said on March 30th, 2011 at 1:29 pm

Sucker Punch was an amazing music video. As a movie…not so much.

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mds said on March 31st, 2011 at 10:37 pm

If that’s not the case, I need possibly two brazillion dollars for my live action Thundarr the Barbarian remake, stat.

I’d probably pay to see that.

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