Summary

• Fans of Zack Snyder's work appreciate the extended cut of "Sucker Punch" for its restoration of his original vision, adding depth to the story.
• The controversy around "Sucker Punch" highlights Snyder's interest in exploring satire and challenging themes within his films.
• Despite initial poor reviews, "Sucker Punch" has gained a dedicated following, sparking anticipation for Snyder's unreleased director's cut.

Director Zack Snyder has proven to be a director who enjoys exploring multiple cuts of his movies, so it shouldn't be a surprise that the Sucker Punch extended cut and other versions exist. Released in 2011, Sucker Punch was met with poor reviews plenty of controversy, and a poor box office performance. However, as with many of Snyder's maligned movies, there is a passionate following for Sucker Punch and the movie has earned some reexamination over the subsequent years. Snyder himself has expressed that Sucker Punch was more of a satire than people realized (via Comic Book Debate).

With a great reputation for Sucker Punch in the years since its release, it's been revealed that the world has never truly seen the film as Snyder envisioned it. As with the majority of Snyder's films, Sucker Punch's home release included an extended cut that restored a significant amount of footage and the ending being massively recontextualized. Snyder has been famous for his alternate cuts, such as Zack Snyder's Justice League and even his Netflix Rebel Moon movies. While fans can check out the extended version of Sucker Punch, there is still more to Snyder's vision for the movie.

Sucker Punch was Snyder's first movie not based on an existing property.

Sucker Punch Theatrical Release

Runtime: 109 Minutes

The theatrical version of Sucker Punch hit theaters on March 25th, 2011. This version of the film runs 109 minutes and despite Snyder's intent to make it R-rated, the cuts pushed by the studio ultimately resulted in a PG-13 rating. The movie focuses on a young woman named Babydoll, played by Emily Browning, who has been institutionalized by her stepfather to cover up the truth about her sister's death.

With Babydoll on the path to being lobotomized, she retreats from her grim situation by imagining herself being held captive in a brothel with several other young women and forming a plan with them to escape. While using her dance performances for the brothel's patrons as a distraction while the others retrieve items necessary for their escape, Babydoll slips into a third reality where she and her allies engage in battles in various fantasy settings, guided by the sage "Wise Man" played by Scott Glenn.

While it's commonplace for Snyder's movies to be polarizing, Sucker Punch was especially controversial and bombarded with accusations of misogyny due to its female leads being scantily clad performers in a brothel intermittently tossed into over-the-top action sequences. As a result, Sucker Punch swiftly became the poster child for women being made into objects of male gaze in the film industry. The movie was further dismissed by critics and audiences, earning 22% on Rotten Tomatoes and less than $90 million at the worldwide box office on a production budget of $82 million (via Box Office Mojo).

Sucker Punch Extended Edition

Runtime: 127 Minutes

While the theatrical cut of Sucker Punch was rated PG-13, the movie's extended cut debuted on home media with the originally intended R-rating, adding back in approximately 18 minutes of footage. Among the more significant added material are such additions as the flamboyantly over-the-top dance sequence set to Love is the Drug with Oscar Isaac's Blue and Carla Gugino's Madame Gorski, only seen in the end credits in the theatrical version.

The movie's action scenes also feature added material, particularly the fantasy sequences in the trenches of World War One and the castle siege where Babydoll and her allies battle a legion of orcs and a fire-breathing dragon. On top of other additions of varying degrees of significance, perhaps the most notable arrives at the end during Babydoll's scene with the High Roller, played by Jon Hamm.

After Babydoll sacrifices her freedom so Abbie Cornish's Sweet Pea can escape the brothel, she finds herself captive once more and in the presence of the High Roller. However, he proves to be far less vicious than Babydoll is expecting and expresses a desire for Babydoll's consent, even though he's already technically purchased her, as that experience is one his vast resources cannot buy and the encounter would be empty without her blessing.

Because of this scene's inclusion in the extended cut, when the movie cuts back to Babydoll's lobotomy being completed by a brain surgeon - who is also Hamm - his question of "Did you see the way she looked at me?" is suddenly cast in a very different light. The movie is a closer look at the story Snyder wanted to tell but was still not his complete version as revealed later.

Zack Snyder's Unreleased Director's Cut Of Sucker Punch

Runtime: Unknown

Amid his teases for the Justice League Snyder Cut, Zack Snyder also confirmed that his director's cut of Sucker Punch also has yet to see the light of day. Snyder has made clear that the extended cut's additions still don't fully restore his vision of the movie. The movie's director of photography, Larry Fong, has spoken of Snyder's cut as having extended musical numbers with the ending also being different.

[T]he massive amount of attention the Justice League Snyder Cut drew leading to its release also had the side effect of putting more of a spotlight on Zack Snyder's unreleased version of Sucker Punch

Snyder has also shed a bit of light on the ending specifically by revealing that it features Babydoll singing, while his director's cut also takes a more direct condemnation of female objectification, though without the more on-the-nose voiceovers present in the movie - changes he said were pushed by the studio to make it more commercial. As with Justice League, Snyder has also expressed interest in his unseen cut of Sucker Punch finally being released at some point.

The additional material provided in the extended cut of Sucker Punch has likely aided the gradual reassessment it has seen over the years. At the same time, the massive amount of attention the Justice League Snyder Cut drew leading to its release also had the side effect of putting more of a spotlight on Zack Snyder's unreleased version of Sucker Punch, as well. While much remains undiscovered about Snyder's true version of Sucker Punch, it is something that fans of the filmmaker still hope to see.