DVD Reviews

Sucker Punch (Two-Disc Extended Edition) – Blu-ray Review

By Dana Rae Jul 11, 2011, 17:35 GMT

Born from the creative vision of filmmaker Zack Snyder (Watchmen, 300), this epic action fantasy launches from the vivid imagination of a young girl whose dream world provides the ultimate escape from her darker reality. Locked away against her will, Babydoll (Emily Browning) has not lost her will to survive. Determined to fight for her freedom, she urges four fellow captives – outspoken Rocket (Jena Malone), street-smart Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), ...more

Director Zack Synder’s vision, Sucker Punch, comes to life on Blu-ray in eye-catching 1080p format. Blu-ray is really the only way to watch this over-the-top, theatrical phenomenon that is sure to be a cult classic. This is one of those films made for high-def.

Emily Browning plays Baby Doll who finds herself in an insane asylum, put there without mercy by her abusive, tyrannical stepfather. The opening sequence shows how far the abuse has gone when her father tries to attack her younger sister and Baby Doll tries to stop him.

She almost succeeds put she somehow cannot bring herself to kill him. She does manage to hurt him but accidentally kills her sister. Her father has her committed with hints that she is so far gone that she will have to have a lobotomy.

The entire movie plays like a concept musical with bouts of dialogue, but music is definitely a major element that adds to the feeling that the audience is watching a musical. But the film becomes its own beast, almost out of control as the colors pop and the scenery swirls.

There is really no way to describe Sucker Punch except to say it has carved out its own genre: part musical, part intense dance combined with drama, part Moulin Rouge like costuming, part kung-fu movie, part historical action, part sci-fi thriller. At times, it seems like one long extended music video gone array. Add the sexiness of Baby Doll and her cohorts, you find yourself memorized.

Perhaps the glitter will take away the painful fact that the movie is very confusing, perhaps not. Scenes change without warning, and there is little to the plot except that Baby Doll is stuck in this place and you might feel sorry for her (certainly the open sequence will stir the heart string for sympathy at her plight).

Aided by four other girls in the mental hospital, Baby Doll hatches a plan to escape. Each girl must obtain one thing for the escape to work. The sense of urgency is heightened by the timeline. In five days’ time, Baby Doll will be lobotomized (or in the fantasy world given to a high roller to take her innocence).

The film switches genres at an alarming rate. At first, the mental hospital is seen as it should appear: an ugly stone edifice with little use for beauty, gray and lifeless as its inhabitants, meant to keep people in and visitors and the rest of the world out.

Then, without warning, the place becomes a whorehouse and the girls are made to sleep with clients, high rollers and men of influence. The colors pop, the costumes glisten and draw you into such a world.

Other worlds that Baby Doll inhabits are a war-torn World War II like Europe, a Fantasy like world with a Dragon, a sci-fi place where they fight robots, and a feudal like world with Samurai.

The girls that aid her in the fight are Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish), Rocket (Jena Malone), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens) and Amber (Jamie Chung). In each place they must bring back something, and these items parallel what they must obtain to escape the hospital and ultimately Baby Doll’s brain surgery.

Other supporting roles include Carla Gugino as Dr. Vera Gorski, Oscar Isaac as Blue Jones, Jon Hamm (Mad Men) as the High Roller/Doctor, Scott Glenn as the Wise Man and Gerard Plunkett as the Stepfather.

In you don’t know what you are getting into, you will probably walk away a lot confused and a little disorientated. Being in the mind of a crazy person is never fun. But if you go into the movie knowing what to expect, you will appreciate the theatrical brilliance of such an epic.

The colors are wild, the sequences are larger-than-life, the fight scenes colossal, the scenery spell-binding. Just be prepared for a wild ride, it’s a roller coaster of a movie.

For fans of the film, the Blu-ray/DVD combo pack is packed with extras. Snyder takes fans on a two-hour tour of the fantasy worlds and gives background stories to each. In addition to storyboards, director walk-ons, picture-in-picture commentary, and interactive galleries, there is an additional 17 minutes added to this extended cut. This addition also includes the theatrical release.

The combo pack is well worth the money and is packed with extras. If you are not a fan and are watching for the first time, be prepared for an intense movie experience unlike any previously attempted. Go into the film with the mindset that you are watching a crazy person decompress and you will be fine.