Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Last night (..from about 23:59 pm.. to 2 am), I was watching the movie Sucker Punch.
And now I cant stop thinking about the damn thing...
..And am wondering about other people's interpretations of this movie.

I've looked around the internet, and the majority of people seem to be dumping all over this movie, saying it's "over the top" or that "it makes no sense", but the general consensus seems to be that most people had no idea what was going on, because it's not a conventional movie, really.

From here, I'm going to be talking about what occurs in this movie, and will end up giving out some serious plotline details.
I therefore recommend that if you haven't seen the film yet, stop reading, watch it on netflix (or any other way you can), and then come back when you're done.

Also: SPOILER ALERT!!!!
________________________________________________


I gave you all a fair warning. Srsly, if you haven't seen it yet, don't continue, because watching it after this will completely negate ALL of the atmosphere of the film. Permanently. I'm serious. The film WILL be disappointing.

________________________________________________

Also, btw, long-ass post...
'
'
Okay, so the film starts off with a little "background history", where the young girl known only as "Baby Doll", is seen to loose her mother to what I think may be intentional murder by her abusive stepfather.
He is in no way upset by this death, and is shown to only care about her will, because when we see he is left out of it he rages around his office, and drinks a lot of alcohol.

In his anger at his step-daughters, he decides to attack them, presumably to rape them, possibly murder them.
Baby Doll ends up shooting at him with his own gun, in order to protect her sister and herself, but she misses and kills her sister by accident. Grief-stricken and in shock, she runs from the home only to be captured by authorities.
They sedate her, because her step-father seems to have told them that she is a murderous lunatic. [Up to this bit was the first time I had ever actually felt pity for a character in a movie, all this in about 5-10 mins, an impressive feat].

He has Baby Doll taken to a corrupt Asylum, and fills out a form to get her in there to have an unsanctioned, possibly illegal lobotomy performed on her so that she cannot speak of his crimes. He gives her age to be 20, though she looks 16. [At this point, I don't believe that's her actual age, I think she's really 16, but the papers were made to fool anyone checking the paperwork for illegal surgery. They didn't have a problem forging a signature, did they?].

BabyDoll is given 5 days before her lobotomy, and the film takes us straight to it [awesome foreshadowing tactics used here ], but just as the surgeon is about to begin, the scene cuts. We're back in the "theatre". It was just a play, right?

From here all we can see is Baby Doll's perspective of the world around her.
She's in a brothel, her step-father put her there to keep her away for good. [We find out later that this was a delusion, and many internet people I've seen are all complaining about why this girl came up with a brothel, saying that it's nonsensical. She came up with it because it was the only thing that would fit, and actually be better than the asylum, because here she can escape. She has hope.]

This caused even me to doubt that she had actually been put in an asylum (I knew the film was all from her point of view, but not where she actually is).

Whenever Baby Doll dances, we are not given a show that causes all people in the room to become enraptured with the beauty of her moves. We are given another show. A show that describes what Baby Doll senses as she tries to escape.
[Several people on the internet seem to think this is far too over the top, or that it is senseless, or makes no sense... But I like it, it gives the closest a human can have to a visual representation of an emotion - a dreamlike state, wherein all actions reflect some part of ourselves. Baby Doll projects herself into the other characters in these scenes. The girl "Sweet Pea", and the one that gets stabbed in the kitchen (I forget her name) seem to portray how Baby Doll sees her relationship with her now-dead sister.]

At the end of the film, we find out that all of this had been in Baby Doll's head for the last five days. We learn that they mirrored what had actually taken place in the film, but through the girl's eyes.

We also learn that the lobotomy was performed. And that she had wanted it to happen. She couldn't live in the reality she had forced upon her. :(



Only film that's ever truly made me feel for the character...

_______________________________________________

Now that's over, and I can stop feeling like a young girl who's pet kitten just died, has anyone here seen it, and what are your thoughts?

Dude... loved that movie.

It got babes... and gunz... and swords... and, and BABES!

 whembly wrote:
Dude... loved that movie.

It got babes... and gunz... and swords... and, and BABES!

I'm no perv, but the young helpless girl in a skimpy Japanese school uniform helped the film massivley, and quite possibly a few other things..

Yeah, it was mostly eye candy and lots of explosions. The plot line wasn't hard to follow and was mediocre interesting but the main appeal is the eye candy and explosions. I got it for $5 on blu-ray over the holidays. Figure if I even watch it once or twice while painting it's worth it.

Amen to that...

Moan.

It was pretty awful; you're kidding yourself if you think anything otherwise.

 rubiksnoob wrote:
Moan.

It was pretty awful; you're kidding yourself if you think anything otherwise.

Please, explain why you feel that way about the film before we all start fantasizing about the main characters in the film

Selym wrote:

 rubiksnoob wrote:
Moan.

It was pretty awful; you're kidding yourself if you think anything otherwise.

Please, explain why you feel that way about the film before we all start fantasizing about the main characters in the film

I hate to be the guy who comes into a thread just to pee in the punch, but...

It just was hyped up to be this great movie with amazing visuals and great blah de blah.

It ended being an okay action movie with a lot of chicks in tight clothing. I've seen that movie before. The plot was nothing revelatory. 'It was all a dream' is done enough that you know it is coming as the movie started. I was certainly not surprised at the end.

My main problem with it was that I really hoped for a lot more out of it. It had all the ingredients to be a lot of fun and interesting and just fell short. It isn't a bad movie; it just isn't a good/great movie.

Expectations are always important. I heard at length how awful it was, so it surprised to the upside when I finally saw it. It's certainly not a great piece of filmmaking, but then I also wonder who went into that film thinking it was anything other than a mindless eye candy action flick. It really wasn't a bad film in that context.

Having never seen any adverts for the film, looking at the DVD box it looked kinda stupid, but it was about £3, so I picked it up for the lolz...
Started with pretty low expectations, really liked the way Baby Doll's perspective was portrayed, and overall spent a good several minutes after the film wondering just how "gone" she was after the lobotomy..

My main reason for liking it though, was that this is the only film that's ever given me an emotion to work with, other than "shooty killy death"...

gorgon wrote: It's certainly not a great piece of filmmaking, but then I also wonder who went into that film thinking it was anything other than a mindless eye candy action flick. It really wasn't a bad film in that context.

The original poster, apparently.

Only film that's ever truly made me feel for the character...

most people had no idea what was going on, because it's not a conventional movie, really.

Selym wrote:
My main reason for liking it though, was that this is the only film that's ever given me an emotion to work with, other than "shooty killy death"...

Have you watched a lot of movies? There are plenty of very moving movies. If this is the bar you set for yourself, I think you'll be in for quite an awakening when you watch some real movies with emotional intensity.

I loved Sucker Punch. I liked just about everything in it; and I particularly like the fact that it didn't pretend to be anything that it wasn't- a shameless piece of eye candy. Best to think about the story as being essentially just a fairy tale.

My only complaint is that the fantasy sequences all used CG that appeared to have been borrowed from the cutting room floor of other films (LotR, Reign of Fire).

 pretre wrote:

gorgon wrote: It's certainly not a great piece of filmmaking, but then I also wonder who went into that film thinking it was anything other than a mindless eye candy action flick. It really wasn't a bad film in that context.

The original poster, apparently.

Only film that's ever truly made me feel for the character...

most people had no idea what was going on, because it's not a conventional movie, really.

Selym wrote:
My main reason for liking it though, was that this is the only film that's ever given me an emotion to work with, other than "shooty killy death"...

Have you watched a lot of movies? There are plenty of very moving movies. If this is the bar you set for yourself, I think you'll be in for quite an awakening when you watch some real movies with emotional intensity.

I have actually, but for some reason I just end up getting emotionally detatched from the film. Examples include:

The Titanic
Buffy the Vampire Slayer series (not technically a move, but ah well)
...having trouble thinking of movies...
Saving Private Ryan
Forrest Gump (I think that was a movie)
The Harry Potter movies (and the books, btw...)

Maybe I'll raid the film cupboard to remind me of stuff I've watched, my memory is terrible.

The "dance" sequences were metaphors of the girls being raped and the desire to escape the horror their lives had become. When you understand that, the movie takes on an entirely different dynamic.

 azazel the cat wrote:
I loved Sucker Punch. I liked just about everything in it; and I particularly like the fact that it didn't pretend to be anything that it wasn't- a shameless piece of eye candy. Best to think about the story as being essentially just a fairy tale.

My only complaint is that the fantasy sequences all used CG that appeared to have been borrowed from the cutting room floor of other films (LotR, Reign of Fire).

This. Is exactly what I feel
Well said

Selym wrote:
I have actually, but for some reason I just end up getting emotionally detatched from the film. Examples include:

The Titanic
Buffy the Vampire Slayer series (not technically a move, but ah well)
...having trouble thinking of movies...
Saving Private Ryan
Forrest Gump (I think that was a movie)
The Harry Potter movies (and the books, btw...)

Maybe I'll raid the film cupboard to remind me of stuff I've watched, my memory is terrible.

Those don't seem like particularly emotional movies, but maybe that's just me.

@azazel: I guess that was part of my problem as well. I went in expecting great eye candy and got recycled CGI.

 Breotan wrote:
The "dance" sequences were metaphors of the girls being raped and the desire to escape the horror their lives had become. When you understand that, the movie takes on an entirely different dynamic.

and that.

 Breotan wrote:
The "dance" sequences were metaphors of the girls being raped and the desire to escape the horror their lives had become. When you understand that, the movie takes on an entirely different dynamic.

Yup...

I thought that was understood already?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 pretre wrote:

Selym wrote:
I have actually, but for some reason I just end up getting emotionally detatched from the film. Examples include:

The Titanic
Buffy the Vampire Slayer series (not technically a move, but ah well)
...having trouble thinking of movies...
Saving Private Ryan
Forrest Gump (I think that was a movie)
The Harry Potter movies (and the books, btw...)

Maybe I'll raid the film cupboard to remind me of stuff I've watched, my memory is terrible.

Those don't seem like particularly emotional movies, but maybe that's just me.

@azazel: I guess that was part of my problem as well. I went in expecting great eye candy and got recycled CGI.

Well... I really, REALLY enjoyed the sword fight scene with those giants.

It was a terrible film, and a span of time I'll never get back.

If you think explosions and skimpily dressed women are all it takes to make a good movie, you'll love it. If you have any sort of taste, you'll hate it.

I had to make sure uwe boll wasn't the director after I watched it.

You can have taste and enjoy an explosion & hot girl movie. I like deep movies but I enjoy crappy ones too. It's probably a product of my late teens when several of my friends and I worked at Blockbuster and got 5 free rentals a week. This quickly turned into a bad movie contest mixed with medicinal herbs. As such I have great love for crappy movies.

I will say that Sucker Punch isn't nearly as bad as Ultraviolet.

Well, I really like Sucker Punch. The posters for the movie are easily some of the best out there, too.

Should have been named "Virgin Wallet Grab".
This movie was utter tripe.
Kung fu Hustle was alot better.... and thats saying quite a bit.

 rubiksnoob wrote:
Moan.

It was pretty awful; you're kidding yourself if you think anything otherwise.

Exalted. One of the worst movies ever.

 gregor_xenos wrote:
Should have been named "Virgin Wallet Grab".
This movie was utter tripe.
Kung fu Hustle was alot better.... and thats saying quite a bit.

Should have named your post "Projection: how does it work?".




Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Shredsmore wrote:

 rubiksnoob wrote:
Moan.

It was pretty awful; you're kidding yourself if you think anything otherwise.

Exalted. One of the worst movies ever.

You've obviously never seen Combat Shock.

Had some great fight scenes.

As far as the story goes, it was boring.

Could have... should have been better.

Everyone makes a big deal over the girls. I saw WW1 undead Germans, and I was sold at the trailer (too bad most of the other bad guys were kind of lackluster). May have not been worth the ticket price, but I didn't walk out having a huge reaction against geek fetishism that some did apparently (even if it kind of yanked the rug out beneath you if that was what you glued your posterior into the seat for).

 gregor_xenos wrote:
Should have been named "Virgin Wallet Grab".

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Remember going to a lot of movie like that in middle school and high school

Necroshea wrote:It was a terrible film, and a span of time I'll never get back.

If you think explosions and skimpily dressed women are all it takes to make a good movie, you'll love it. If you have any sort of taste, you'll hate it.

I had to make sure uwe boll wasn't the director after I watched it.

You have got to the kidding me. The acting wasn't wooden, Rolf Mueller wasn't in it, and its production values were way too high for Uwe Boll's standard 3-million-dollar travesties.

I want you to go watch a fairy tale movie. Pick one. Doesn't have to be Disney. Then to watch Sucker Punch and tell me it's not the best one of the lot.

Hulksmash wrote: and I worked at Blockbuster and got 5 free rentals a week.

Wow, that is some weak sauce right there. I put myself through university working at a Rogers Video (Canadian competitor for Blockbuster) and we at least had unlimited free rentals.

 azazel the cat wrote:

Hulksmash wrote: and I worked at Blockbuster and got 5 free rentals a week.

Wow, that is some weak sauce right there. I put myself through university working at a Rogers Video (Canadian competitor for Blockbuster) and we at least had unlimited free rentals.

I have Netflix.

d-usa wrote:

 azazel the cat wrote:

Hulksmash wrote: and I worked at Blockbuster and got 5 free rentals a week.

Wow, that is some weak sauce right there. I put myself through university working at a Rogers Video (Canadian competitor for Blockbuster) and we at least had unlimited free rentals.

I have Netflix.

I have Netflix Canada. It's terrible.