Saturday, 16 April 2011

FILM: Sucker Punch (dir: Zack Snyder, 2011)


"If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."


From the imagination of Zack Snyder comes probably the most demented film you will see this year. Being Zack Snyder, everything from mise-en-scene to sound dubbing is dialled up to 12. Although the action sequences are frequent, relentless and often very creatively shot, it does leave you feeling like being hit over the head repeatedly with an X-Box for a couple of hours whilst a wispy emo covers band warbles away in the corner. The episodic structure of the narrative runs like clockwork, apart from a couple of interesting curveballs thrown in towards the end, and the diverse nature of the quests gives the impression of a series of mini-movies strung together. Emily Browning just about convinces in the lead role, but there are some surprisingly assured supporting performances to look for by Vanessa Hudgens and Jena Malone, and Oscar Isaac gives a consistently unsettling turn. To the film's credit, the final voice-over manages to pull it all together to some degree, in spite of leaving some very big unanswered questions. Sucker Punch delivers epically on the visual level, but emotionally it does not quite convince, and it clearly demonstrates why watching your mate playing a computer game is not a very satisfying experience.

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