The critical response to Sucker Punch depressed me. They just SAVAGED this movie, as if they had all received instructions to "kill this film." You see, I loved this movie so much when I saw it that I couldn't believe that the reviews were real. I had this bizarre feeling that I was dreaming.
Which brings up an interesting point, considering that this movie is a dream.
Sucker punch is not a realistic film. It's not supposed to be. It's a dream-scape. The characters are dream characters, in a dream that *somebody* is dreaming--but who? I could say that "you" are dreaming but that's not a precise use of language. There is not some other person, some "you," doing the dreaming. I am the dreamer. I am dreaming and the characters in Sucker Punch are dream characters in my dream. There is no "reality" in the movie Sucker Punch (just as there is no reality in any movie). But, in a way, there is MORE reality in Sucker Punch than the average film. I'm dreaming it, after all, and within the context of the dream whatever I experience is as real as any other experience (or pain), just as long as I don't get hung up on the existence of "others" who really don't matter, anyway.
In some films, it is my job to feel sympathy for, and compassion towards, the characters in the movie. That's my "job" as a member of the audience. But in Sucker Punch I have a different job to do. I shouldn't walk out of the theater with the impression that I saw a movie that tried to get me to care about the characters when it did no such thing.
The movies, in general, are dream-like. Sucker Punch takes that idea and runs with it. As I watch the film, I am dreaming. I am a person called "Baby Doll" and I am fighting dragons and also living in multiple worlds where I win wars, perform some kind of exotic dance, get institutionalized and eventually lobotomized. I rescue my friends and they rescue me. There are villains and heroes. I even have the ability to "jump" from one identity to another. Not all of the dream is "fun." Some parts are nightmarish.
And then I wake up. The lights come up in the theater. I leave the cocoon and step outside. Now I have to ask myself if I have learned anything from the dream. The dream told me that I should have total victory. Total and complete. So do I? I do if I "control this world." If the world I inhabit is another dream, then what happens to me in it is a product of my mind. I will experience in this world what I expect to experience. No more and no less.
So what do I expect? If I expect to be afraid and be defeated, then I will be. But if I expect to be unafraid and undefeated, I will be. I have all the weapons I need. Now it's up to me to fight. The film may (or may not) "bleed" into my "real life" in the way that some dreams do. That's a pretty impressive piece of film-making, in my opinion, and Zack Snyder should be congratulated for it.
The above interpretation of this film is not a conventional one. I know this. But I don't know why it can't be a valid one and leave anyone who sees this movie with the choice to accept that this film is a step further along the evolution of film from "story telling" through "thrill ride" to "guided dream" to "lucid dream." Sucker Punch is a guided dream intended to unfold in my mind. It is different from a "story-telling film" but it is not a lucid dream experience, but it is a step in that direction. At some point in the future, movies will be "interactive" and the video game and movie will be one and the same--providing us with the opportunity to experience a lucid dream while fully awake, and take one more step towards the experience of an alternative, virtual reality.
The objection to the idea of "movies as guided dreaming" is that, after all, we are accustomed to seeing a film as a story. We peek into another person's life and, as voyeurs, we enjoy watching them. Disbelief is suspended and we are tricked through the magic of film into believing that we are seeing "real people" and so we have an emotional response to them and their story--but this is not what Sucker Punch is. Sucker Punch is not intended to "make you think" it is an experience that you have, not something you look at and interpret. The only difficulty Zack Snyder had in putting this on screen is that the technology doesn't really exist (yet) to give the viewer the physical experience of the characters on screen. When that does occur (and it will) then we'll have a true "mind bending" experience and we'll see where Sucker Punch has led us, for good or evil.
Sucker Punch is going to go down in history as a noble experiment that failed financially. It will also be seen as the event that demonstrated (once again) that "the critics" can be very, very wrong.
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Despite its flaws, I just can't hate it. (PLUS UPDATE ABOUT BLU-RAYS.)
THIS CONCERNS THE THEATRICAL CUT. ***MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS***Well, my used copy of this movie arrived. Now I have clear picture and clear sound, I find it near-impossible to dislike it. Sure, in some ways it's absurd and I'm guessing some male critics were afraid to admit they liked it because of all the skimpy clothing, but I have to admire Zack Snyder's boldness. (It's interesting that two of the three most favorable reviews were written by women. Maybe they enjoyed seeing women kill the villains without a lot of help from men and without having to be ornaments for heroes???)"SP" is demented, delirious, and sometimes delightful.When she tries to prevent her stepfather from raping her sister, a young woman accidentally kills that sister. The loathsome stepfather eventually has her committed to a mental institution where she's about to receive a lobotomy when.... she enters a dream world wherein she works in a brothel. What happens there is near-indescribable. But it gets a bit loud at times.I can understand all the objections to this movie. I just can't hate it. Much of it I'm really enjoying. (I'm half through it.)I'm not much of a fan of action movies and some of the battle scenes in this seem too long but they're so over-the-top I almost have to admire them.I'm curious to see if this sells a lot of DVDs and/or becomes a cult favorite.Here's a little oddity: I removed the paper sleeve so I could scan it for a review and I discovered there's artwork on the (usually white) INSIDE of the sleeve. Plus the art features the person who is the film's true protagonist. Snyder gives a hint or two very early about whom the story really centers, then he spends the rest of the movie throwing you curves. I wonder if that major mystery is solved more clearly in the extended version??? Did Warner Brothers insist on cuts that muddied the story and helped sink the movie at the box office? Blast! Now I want to buy the extended version!************************************* UPDATE: 16 Dec 2011 ***********************I don't have a Blu-Ray player but I saw this set for only $10 including shipping. The discs arrived in perfect shape in only three days. But here's what surprised me: There were THREE physical discs.1. Blu-Ray theatrical. (I thought this would be on the "extended" disc.)2. Blu-Ray extended.3. DVD Theatrical. (This DVD can also be used with your code to download a digital copy to your PC.)So you might say you get four discs. But only one has the extended cut.Now all I have to do is buy a player!
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