Zack Snyder's sprawling sci-fi fantasy is visually stimulating -- and pretentious to the point of pain.
Sucker Punch, a sprawling and convoluted action sci-fi fantasy, is director Zack Snyder’s first “original” film, in that it’s based on a script Snyder co-wrote (along with Steve Shibuya) and not a graphic novel or a previous movie. But to anyone who has seen Snyder’s two previous live-action films, 300 and Watchmen, it will feel awfully familiar: His now-trademark flourishes – gorgeous visuals, elaborate action sequences, a desaturated color palette, a CGI-airbrushed “heightened reality,” abundant slo-mo, and fatal self-seriousness – are all conspicuously on display.
It’s all there, in fact, in Sucker Punch’s opening sequence: a very intense and ultra-dramatic montage, set to a haunting cover of the Eurythmics’ "Sweet Dreams" and slowed down to a crawl so that we may better admire every super-stylized detail of Snyder’s exquisite handiwork. It depicts a series of wrenching domestic tragedies that result in the film’s teenage heroine, Babydoll (Emily Browning), being shipped off to an all-girls mental hospital by her malevolent stepfather (Gerard Plunkett), properly setting the stage for the ensuing melodrama.
To ensure Babydoll doesn’t act up again, evil stepdaddy bribes a corrupt orderly (Oscar Isaac) into having the traumatized but otherwise mentally competent girl lobotomized without the required consent of the facility’s resident psychiatrist, Dr. Gorski (Carla Gugino). The year is 1967, and lobotomies, though still legal, are exceedingly rare; as such, they must wait five days for the local lobotomizing physician (Jon Hamm) to come and turn Babydoll into a very pretty vegetable. Which is more than enough time for her to retreat into a dreamworld and concoct a vivid fantasy in which she and four scantily clad mates – Rocket (Jena Malone), Sweat Pea (Abbie Cornish), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), Amber (Jamie Chung) – conspire to escape the brothel in which they’re imprisoned.
The meat of the escape plan calls for a series of quests in which Babydoll and the gang battle giant samurais, World War I zombie troopers, futuristic alien robots, dragons, et al – all while dressed in sleek variants of the archetypal hot chick Halloween costumes (sexy nurse, sexy schoolgirl, sexy sanitation worker, etc.). The sequences are well-choreographed and visually stimulating but have very little connection to the plot – they’re more like beautiful and disposable diversions, grandiose music videos in which Snyder is able to cram elements from a broad spectrum of pop culture influences, from Hong Kong cinema and anime to Moulin Rouge and Heavy Metal, without any apparent rules or logic to bind his fertile imagination.
All of which wouldn’t be so bad – honestly, it wouldn’t – if Sucker Punch weren’t so punishingly maudlin. Nary a scene goes by in which some poor girl isn’t threatened or smacked or nearly raped. (All the women in the film are victims; the men, with the exception of Scott Glenn's imaginary character, monsters.) A movie with hot chicks and guns and orcs and robots and zombies should, at the very least, be fun. But Snyder’s film is dour and pretentious to the point of pain, an overstuffed emo tragedy bracketed by ponderous voiceover about demons and monsters and how all of us have the weapons within us to defeat them. Or something like that. Sucker Punch is such a molten-hot mess that whatever Important Message it's supposed to convey ends up hopelessly garbled by the time the end credits roll.
Full Cast & Crew
Theatrical Release
3/25/2011
Director Credit
Zack Snyder Director
Cast Credit
Emily Browning Babydoll
Abbie Cornish Sweet Pea
Jena Malone Rocket
Vanessa Hudgens Blondie
Jamie Chung Amber
Oscar Isaac Blue
Carla Gugino Madam Gorski
Jon Hamm High Roller
Scott Glenn Wise Man
Richard Cetrone CJ
Gerard Plunkett Stepfather
Malcom Scott The Cook
Ronald Selmour Danforth
A.C. Peterson Mayor
Revard Dufresne Big Boss Thug
Kelora Clingwell Babydoll's Mother
Frederique De Raucourt Babydoll's Sister
Jon Hamm Doctor
Monique Ganderton Lobotomy Nurse
Lee Tomaschefski Lobotomy Nurse
Eli Snyder Tommy Soldier #1
Cainan Wiebe Tommy Soldier #2
Danny Bristol Tommy Soldier #3
Brad Kelly Guard
Peter Bryant Guard
Patrick Sabongui Earl
John R. Taylor Grim Doctor
Chris Nowland Cemetary Cop
Christine Willes Reception Nurse
Gina Garenkooper Bitter Nurse
A.C. Peterson Lighter Orderly
Revard Dufresne Orderly #3
Monique Ganderton High Roller Girl #1
Lee Tomaschefski High Roller Girl #2
Brad Kelly Chauffer #1
Peter Bryant Chauffer #2
Christine Willes Designer
Michael D. Adamthwaite State Trooper #1
Phillip Mitchell State Trooper #2
Ian Tracey Police Officer #1
Sean Campbell Police Officer #2
Louise Hradsky Dancer
Arassay Reyes Dancer
Danielle Benton Dancer
Caitlin Goguen Dancer
Maiko Miyauchi Dancer
Juliana Semenova Dancer
Paula Giroday Dancer
Allie Bertram Dancer
Vicky Lambert Dancer
Caroline Torti Dancer
Chantal Hunt Dancer
Carla Catherwood Dancer
Stephanie Sy Dancer
Kathryn Schellenberg Dancer
Geneen Gorgiev Dancer
Annie Au Dancer
Tia Haraga Dancer
Hailley Caulfield Dancer
Daniela Dib Dancer
Jeff Dimitriou "Emilio" Gangster Dancer
John Howard Band Member #1
Thomas Fornataro Band Member #2
Antoine Baby Harry Calaway Band Member #3
G! Force Band Member #4
Nii Nortey Engmann Band Member #5
Gary A. Hecker Creature Voices
Producers Credit
Deborah Snyder Producer
Zack Snyder Producer
Andrea Wertheim Associate Producer
Wesley Coller Executive Producer
Jim Rowe Executive Producer
William Fay Executive Producer
Chris De Faria Executive Producer
William Fay Executive Producer
Jon Jashni Executive Producer
Thomas Tull Executive Producer
Writer Credit
Zack Snyder Screenwriter
Zack Snyder Screen Story
Steve Shibuya Screenwriter
Production Credits Credit
James M. Churchman Stunts Coordinator
Misha Bukowski Second Assistant Director
Melissa Remenarich-Aperlo First Assistant Editor
The Aaron Sims Company Conceptual Design
Kraig Tytus Post Production Coordinator
Damon Caro Stunts Coordinator
Nick Brandon Stunts Coordinator
Jimmy Chow Properties Master
Paul Leonard Stunts Coordinator
Tim Rigby Stunts Coordinator
Art Department Credit
Rick Carter Production Designer
Grant Van Der Slagt Supervising Art Director
Patrick Banister Art Director
Todd Cherniawsky Art Director
Sheila Haley Set Designer
Bjorn Ollner Set Designer
Allan Galajda Set Designer
Jay Mitchell Set Designer
Jim Ramsay Set Designer
Cheryl Marion Set Designer
Bryan Sutton Set Designer
Margot Ready Set Designer
Jim Erickson Set Decorator
Casting Credit
Lora Kennedy Casting
Kristy Carlson Casting
Choreography Credit
Paul Becker Choreography
Damon Caro Fights Choreographer
Film Camera Credit
Larry Fong Cinematographer
Music Credit
Tyler Bates Composer (Music Score)
Tyler Bates Musical Direction/Supervision
Maruis de Vries Composer (Music Score)
Maruis de Vries Musical Direction/Supervision
Physical Effects Credit
Tim Ralston Puppeteer
Christian Beckman Puppeteer
Geoff Redknap Puppeteer
Mecki Heussen Puppeteer
Production Management Credit
Paul Barry first Assistant Director
Jim Rowe Unit Production Manager
Brendan Ferguson Unit Production Manager
Nicole Shizuka Oguchi Production Coordinator
Hans Dayal Location Manager
Kimi Webber Script Supervisor
Sound Credit
Michael McGee Sound Mixer
Chris Jenkins Re-Recording Mixer
Lee Gilmore Sound Effects Editor
Frank A. Montaño Re-Recording Mixer
Scott A. Hecker Supervising Sound Editor
Visual Effects Credit
Lyndon Barrois Supervising Animator
Bryan Hirota Visual Effects Supervisor
George McCarthy Visual Effects Editor
Wendy Lanning Visual Effects Producer
Edwina Hayes Visual Effects Producer
Joel Whist Special Effects Coordinator
Andrew Chapman CGI Effects
Rainer Gombos Visual Effects Supervisor
Jonathan Stone Visual Effects Producer
Dawn Brooks MacLeod Visual Effects Producer
Andrew Congreve Brown Visual Effects Supervisor
Genevieve West Visual Effects Producer
Luke Hetherington Visual Effects Producer
Emmanuel Blasset CGI Effects
Chad Wiebe Digital Effects
MPC Visual Effects
Tamara Watts Kent Visual Effects Producer
Pixomondo Images Visual Effects
Prime Focus Visual Effects
Animal Logic Film Visual Effects
Digiscope Visual Effects
John "D.J." Desjardin Visual Effects Supervisor
Guillaume Rocheron Visual Effects Supervisor
Wardrobe Hair Makeup Credit
Michael Wilkinson Costume Designer
Anji Bemben Department Head Hair
Ron Blecker Armorer
Rosalina Da Silva Department Head Makeup
Summer Dietz Assistant Costume Designer
Dana Hart Costumes Supervisor
Quantum Creation FX Makeup Special Effects
Courtney Daniel Assistant Costume Designer
Jana Rayne McDonald Costumes Supervisor
