Sucker Punch

"Sucker Punch" is an exercise in indulgent filmmaking that fails in building tension and momentum, but rather relies on action segments strung along with porous connective tissue, resulting in action-filled vignettes suitable for showing off your home theater system, but utterly fails in crafting characters the viewer can invest in, and ultimately undercuts its premise by limping to a finish that was simultaneously plodding and welcomed for all the wrong reasons.

The bits of acting requiring dialogue was unengaging, and dull and lifeless.  Some of the scenes between Abbie Cornish and Jenna Malone were poorly directed and offputting.   The actor who was cast as Blue was a terrible choice. Felt bad for Carla Gugino stuck in this role feigning a hammy Russian accent.  Emily Browning as Babydoll is hit-or-miss for me, she lacked a certain "stage" presence that failed to buoy the film.

The rhythm and footage from the action sequences were put together well, but within the scope of the film, it felt more directorially masturbatory and cinematically pointless at times.  Are there some beautifully crafted battles and confrontations in this film, sure, but it's a matter of the sum of the parts not adding up together to a more cohesive whole for this film.  With a better script and acting performances, there's a decent film in there, but in its current form, "Sucker Punch" is a deeply flawed cinematic treatise on women empowerment viewed through the mental recesses of Babydoll's mind.  Zack Snyder deserves all the praise and all the derison that comes his way.  He is still all flash, no substance, but he's trying to raise his game, but this was not his break-through.

I give it 2 stars, or a grade of C.