#guaranteed to be one of the most divisive guilty pleasures in my collection

[grigori77]

Guilty Pleasure #30

SUCKER PUNCH

Dir. ZACK SNYDER; Wri. ZACK SNYDER & STEVE SHIBUYA; Music. TYLER BATES & MARIUS De VRIES; Starring. EMILY BROWNING, ABBIE CORNISH, JENA MALONE, VANESSA HUDGENS, JAMIE CHUNG, CARLA GUGINO, OSCAR ISAAC, JON HAMM, SCOTT GLENN; R.T. 109 mins; 2011, USA/Canada

WHAT IT’S ABOUT: Possibly somewhere in 1960s America, Babydoll (Browning) finds herself locked away in an asylum by her brutal, corrupt stepfather, with just one week to go before she’s due to be lobotomized. As she seeks escape, she slips into a fantasy world in which she’s been sold into sexual slavery at the brothel run by Blue (Isaac), and as she enlists the help of fellow prisoners Sweet Pea (Cornish), Rocket (Malone), Blondie (Hudgens) and Amber (Chung), Babydoll slips further into her delusions, leading her into epic battles against monstrous foes in far-flung, impossible lands …

WHY IT’S GUILTY: Wow, where do I start?  There are DOZENS of reasons why this movie shouldn’t work, and plenty why it DOESN’T – the narrative structure is a twisted mess, riddled with plot holes, wild stretches in creative credibility and more than one shameful use of full-on deus ex-machina, several of the characters are badly drawn ciphers or clichéd caricatures, the pacing can be PAINFULLY inconsistent, and parts of the action sequences drag when they really should race.  Accusations of misogyny have been levelled at the film, and they’re not without foundation, while the rapey vibe of the main characters’ core dilemma can sometimes leave an unpleasant taste in the mouth.  This certainly is one of the strongest examples of a “Marmite film” in cinema, dividing critics and audiences across the board, and while the film ultimately managed to scrape even at the box office, it was nothing like the blockbuster tour-de-force it was intended to be.

WHY IT’S A PLEASURE: And yet, if you just switch off and go with it, there’s still plenty to enjoy here.  This was, after all, written and directed by Zack Snyder (co-writing with relative unknown Steve Shibuya), whose more successful features include 300, Watchmen and Man of Steel, and if there’s one thing we learned from his other (relative) misfires, Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, it’s that even when he delivers a clunker, it’s still an interesting and often ENTERTAINING clunker.  While it becomes an incoherent, bloated mess in places, it’s still visually stunning, every shot of the film designed to almost anal degrees of detail, some compositions genuinely transitioning into realms of high art, so the whole thing looks like a particularly rich and glossy graphic novel brought to vivid life. The action sequences are, for the most part, EXQUISITE (no surprise, really, since they were handled by stunt coordinator Damon Caro, who, as well as working on Snyder’s previous two films, also choreographed the Bourne movies), particularly Babydoll’s initial meeting with Scott Glenn’s mysterious mentor, the Wise Man, which progresses into a moody, evocative confrontation with a three enormous demonic samurai, and the spectacular steampunk-flavoured World War I-set adventure where the girls are first put through their collective action paces.  Indeed, while many characters fall short, one of the film’s genuine strengths is its five strong female leads – Emily Browning (American Gods) may be deceptively slight but once Babydoll picks up her katana and .45 automatic she’s transformed into truly iconic ass-kicker filled with unbreakable spirit, Jenna Malone (Donnie Darko, The Hunger Games) is all fire and unpredictability as troubled teen runaway Rocket, and Jamie Chung (The Gifted) and Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical) definitely aren’t underdeveloped eye-candy as they both bring true depth and nuance to Amber and Blondie, but in many ways the true heroine of the story is Sweet Pea, Abbie Cornish (Three Billboards, Jack Ryan) adding a powerful “big sister” vibe that brings additional pathos as the tension peaks in the final act – and a genuinely memorable, compelling and creepily seductive villain in future Star Wars-star Oscar Isaac’s Blue.  YES, the film IS misogynistic, but there’s a message beneath the overt sexuality and glossy presentation, Snyder clearly trying to ram a message of feminine empowerment home and sometimes succeeding, even if it does tend to get lost in the noise. More interesting, however, is a more subtle idea buried in the narrative, telling us to keep fighting no matter what, even if the battle really can’t be won.  Clearly it’s one Snyder and co took to heart – this is a deeply flawed film that fails on many levels, particularly the genuinely ridiculous twist ending, but it’s not for lack of trying.