Sucker Punch is a movie of contradictions. It preaches female empowerment while its heroines twist, bend and stretch in mini-skirts, garters, leggings, pigtails, full makeup and heels. The film's characters want to be taken seriously but are only taken so via a depressing fantasy world created in the mind of main character, Babydoll (adequately portrayed by a bored Emily Browning). It is a world that is equally, if not, more violent than the “real” world it masks and where a woman’s skill with a gun, sword and a kick carry more weight than any actual communication of importance. Director Zack Snyder has proven yet again that he would prefer to die artistically via his narrative convictions (see Watchmen (2009), the original graphic-novel is almost filmed in its entirity via the "Director's Cut") then to see them through with sensitivity and intuition. Snyder knows exactly where he
wants to go with Sucker Punch but doesn’t know how to get there, lacking the proper tone the film desperately needs. Sadly, many of Snyder’s great ideas evaporate as soon as they hit the screen, leaving the viewer with an empty feeling and a face as blank as Babydoll’s. Visually, the film looks like a Gamestop AAA rental and but the story goes nowhere fast after a simple but emotionally forced introduction.
