SUCKER PUNCH

[X-SOLDIER]

Anyways - my friend and I described this movie as such:
"Scott Pilgrim is to Nintendo as Sucker Punch is to Playstation."

Nothing. NOTHING could have sold me on the film more than this quote right there. I'm already super excited, but this puts my expectations EXACTLY where I was hoping. I can hardly wait to get off work.


X

 

[Max Payne]

Meh, Scott Pilgrim.

 

[DrakeClawfang]

Judging from the previews, which seem to show a samurai zombie firing a gatling gun at a ninja schoolgirl while the Hindenburg crashes in the background, this movie will either be incredibly awesome or supremely stupid. Perhaps both? Either way, I'll wait to download it.

 

[Tetsujin]

Judging from the previews, which seem to show a samurai zombie firing a gatling gun at a ninja schoolgirl while the Hindenburg crashes in the background, this movie will either be incredibly awesome or supremely stupid.

This, though I'm leaning more towards incredibly awesome.

Definitely want to see this one and judge for myself.

 

[Mitch Connor]

Well have any of you guys seen it yet? I wanna know if its worth paying for in imax or if i should just download it, and critics reviews really do piss me off sometimes. I try not reading them until after i've seen a movie

btw. didn't scott pilgrim get good reviews?

 

[Interslicery]

It got mixed reviews. Just the ones dogging on it got the most publicity since they attacked both it and the fans/what they saw as the potential audience.

And to those people who complain about movie critics, look for better ones. There's plenty of good movie critics out there, just not the ones who work for your local paper, or who review for the sun times (derp).

 

[Max Payne]

There are FEW good critics out there. We wouldn't feel the way we do if we felt that there were that many good ones. I'm not going hunting through the infinity that is the web looking through every shitty blog review or internet personality looking for a good review, it's ridiculous.

I'd rather form my own opinion.

 

[Alessa Gillespie]

so i just went and saw it

the beginning is SUPER AWESOME and i enjoyed it

the middle is a little meh, it sort of plateaus here for no real reason

and the ending is also pretty satisfying if not a bit bittersweet

so yais

 

[Mitch Connor]

It got mixed reviews. Just the ones dogging on it got the most publicity since they attacked both it and the fans/what they saw as the potential audience.

And to those people who complain about movie critics, look for better ones. There's plenty of good movie critics out there, just not the ones who work for your local paper, or who review for the sun times (derp).

Ya, like Dacon said, there's simply too many movie critics on the internet to sift through, but if you have a good one plz link it

 

[X-SOLDIER]

Just saw it, and really liked it. I'll post a more full spoiler review tomorrow or something.


X

 

[Interslicery]

Ya, like Dacon said, there's simply too many movie critics on the internet to sift through, but if you have a good one plz link it

Well moviebob for one. I like the guys at spill.com. But mainly I just know how my regular reviewers think, so I know why they like or dislike something and can formulate my own opinion based off of all of them.

 

[Alex]

moviebob

seconded.

 

[Super Mario]

NEGATIVE reviews? madness. I'll go see it myself. Who knows? maybe it'll surprise me 8)

 

[Xelazander]

Oh Vanessa Hudgens, you highschool musical hoebag <3

 

[Zee]

saw it, LOVED IT

NEED THE SOUNDTRACK IN MY LIFE NOW

 

[Sheva Alomar]

seconded.

Thirded.

 

[Interslicery]

The acting was bad, (aside from the warden, he was awesome) and I didnt give a shit about any of the characters.
When the last "mission" started up I was getting pretty worn out on them. Maybe because the main character looked like she hadn't been trained in how to use her sword at all it seemed, combined with the fact she's a twig didnt make me believe she was actually capable of doing any of it (she looked like a thin girl trying to look cool using a sword, without actually knowing how to use a sword). Or not, I'm not sure. The slow mo wore on me a bit too.

Don't get where you're all getting this awesomeness from.

 

[looneymoon]

asdfghjkl;

Spoiler: TLDR RANT ON MISOGYNY c/p'ed from tumblr SOME SPOILERS AHEAD

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
I honestly think it&#8217;s misogynistic in itself to accuse this movie to be anti-feminist.

Why do I say this? The movie is very sexually charged, but the nature of the girl&#8217;s sexuality is not titillation for titillation&#8217;s sake. One of the less pronounced themes of the film is the women&#8217;s attempt to take charge of their lives - with lots of sexual emphasis. As the fantasy layers go deeper, their ownership of themselves gets stronger (I feel as though that is too obvious to be even worth mentioning, but it seems like much of the movie went right over so many people&#8217;s heads). You have to remember - the entire film is essentially a female fantasy. The girls aren&#8217;t like this way for the sake of a male character. Hell, they&#8217;re not even like this for the sake of a male audience. They do impossible things and they look cool while doing it. How is that any different than any other adrenaline-charged, fist-pumping, gun-toting action film?

In fact, I would argue that the film would appeal to girls more than it would for guys. Why? Because the characters are the female avatars on whom we would project ourselves onto. Much like any video game, these girls are the avatars we use to escape from our lives and blow off some steam. This is explicitly emphasized in the film&#8217;s narrative.

In fact, the fact that the sex scene between Browning and Hamm was a very disappointing cut. I don&#8217;t mean this in a OMG GRATUITOUS SEX SCENE FAP FAP FAP sort of way. Just thematically, it would have worked so perfectly with Baby Doll finally taking full control of her destiny by DOING WHAT SHE HAD TO DO for the sake of another. This comes FULL CIRCLE with the beginning of the film where her sister dies because of her. She&#8217;s essentially a female Christ figure.

I man, the film wasn&#8217;t exactly subtle but yeah, the layers are there when you look for them. This is far better story telling that the drivel of the likes of Tron or Avatar. I feel as though the fact that the film is over the top, and because it&#8217;s catered to a very specific type of crowd, it won&#8217;t be taken seriously. Which is such a goddamn shame.

So yes I am reblogging + writing this because it&#8217;s the fucking truth. I can understand not liking the movie. I can understand even hating the movie. It doesn&#8217;t appeal to everybody. But once you call it misogynistic/anti-feminist, then I&#8217;m going to have an issue

Spoiler: more tldr that wasn't cped from tumblr

in response to this article. Not repeating stuff I mentioned above.

And make no mistake: Sucker Punch may star five beautiful actresses, but in actuality, it&#8217;s all about the men. Men are the audience, both in real life and in the bordello fantasy universe where most of the film takes place. Men set the plot in motion, and act as villains and leaders. The girls look and act like walking male fantasies, and the movie makes sure we see them that way &#8211; by dressing them up in skin-baring outfits, lingering on their conventionally hot bodies, and oh yeah, making their attractiveness to men a huge plot point. In fact, the girls&#8217; entire escape plan hinges on one character&#8217;s ability to mesmerize men with her sexy dancing.

As mentioned above - the personas the girls take on are a product of their own imagination. They are female avatars. Even IF they appeal to the male audience in a purely superficial way, it is the female audience that is encouraged to project onto the characters. Not to say that male audience can't project either!

The girls really only kick ass in their dreams &#8212; or rather, in a dream within their dream &#8212; and even there, a man is calling the shots.

asdfghjkl; spirit guide =/= CALLING THE SHOTS. He's a GUIDE that helps the women fulfill THEIR plans. There is a distinct difference. Also his presence was SORELY NEEDED in the film because honestly, with him, the film toes the line of misandry. His presence represents positive relationships between genders.

Sexuality is treated as a weapon from the very beginning, for both genders... The girls are never seen as enjoying their sexuality on their own terms.

I concede this point. Hence why I am so upset at the Browning/Hamm sex scene being cut from the final film. Having that scene would have rendered this assessment invalid.

MENTIONS BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER/COWBOY BEBOP

Yes, because comparing a 2-hour action film to character-driven television series (one of which spans more than 100 hours) is really fair. Granted the girl's personalities weren't developed to the fullest, but that really isn't the type of movie it's trying to be. The amount of characterization was appropriate for what the film sought out to do.

You give her an inner life, and you prioritize that inner life over her outer appearance.

Someone wasn't paying attention :/ Everything that happens in the fantasy relates directly to the opening sequence of the film. The whole thing was about Baby Doll trying to find redemption.

As I pointed out earlier, Sucker Punch is only comfortable showing girls fighting when it&#8217;s in a second-level fantasy, and even then they have to look hot the whole time.

And what of the Carla Gugino character in the ending reality sequence? The movie ends with her essentially asserting her dominance over the corrupt establishment - represented in the Blue character. Not to say she didn't look attractive... but the point being she could fight in the realm of the real world.

I am super tired at this point and might rant more after I've had some rest but yes I AM SERIOUSLY VERY BUTTMAD RIGHT NOW.

Mostly because I fucking love this movie and people ragging on it are making me a sadpanda

 

[Cthulhu]

Why IS that anyway? It has always baffled me how utterly worthless critics are. Music critics are exactly the same way. They always seem far more interested in clever turns of phrases and sounding witty rather than actually reviewing the damn film/album.

But is the movie depressing and never comes up for air? Is it so slow snails are getting bored? The critics will just eat that up, I don't get it.

The problem with critics is that they've seen too much already, and can only compare things to the things they've seen (in this case) that made them fall in love with the profession. I only know this about game critics, mind. All game critics are in their late twenties / early thirties, and love games like Mario and shit, you know, from when games were first invented. Critics only get excited when they see something they haven't seen before, and thus fap all over games like Minecraft (although that one mainly because it's indie! OMG INDIE! I MUST FAP!) and Portal.

anyways. Critics suck, they've seen too much and can't judge a movie according to your own standards and preferences.

The critics most of you people like are the newer ones, those that haven't been doing the job for twenty+ years already. You know, the people that just open up a Youtube channel and end up with million-times-watched clips a year later.

@thread, I dunno about this movie, seems like dumb gratutious spamming of hot chicks, slow motion action scenes wrapped in a very thin story. Which is entertaining to see once, but little more.

 

[Joker]

I found this to be a really good movie. Everything from the choreography to the art style to the way it was filmed was amazing. The actions scenes were intense enough that I actually felt my heart rate speed up a bit - which is unusual for me, being desensitized to it and all - and the actual story was good. It wasn't until a...certain point in the movie...where I figured out where things were likely to go, and even then, it left me and my group with enough questions to discuss it for a solid two+ hours afterward.

It was sort of like Black Swan for me, in that I know I'm going to buy it when it is released on DVD, and it had an effect on me. Blue (the warden-type guy) actually made me kind of ill - not ACTUALLY ill, but the phrase "you make me sick/you're so disgusting" is a great way to describe it. And at certain points, my eyes were wide with some shit that I didn't think would actually happen.

DEFINITELY recommend this. Don't expect it to win an Oscar (because lol look at how many Black Swan won), but it is ABSOLUTELY worth seeing at least twice.

Also...fucking dibs on Amber. hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngh

Although I think I liked Sweet Pea almost as much - she looks really good in her outfit, man. gd

 

[Hisako]

Australia doesn't get this in cinemas until April 7.



:/

 

[X-SOLDIER]

Spoiler: X's Sucker Punch Spoiler Review

So things start off with Baby Doll's mother dying, their step fater abusing, and killing her little sister before Baby Doll can stop him, and then him breaking down. She gets shipped off to the Asylum. On her way in she sees a map, the notice about fire policy, and Blue's Key. They enter the Theater, where Dr. Gorski is teaching them how to use music to escape and create a world where they're in control. There, her step father pays money to get her lobotomized before the police can get an investigation in place, which takes place in 5 days. You also see Baby Doll lying down, and talking with Dr. Gorski (though I don't remember where this scene falls). These are just about all the events that you see in the real world. To break down the worlds, that are used:

• Real World: Insane Asylum
• Coping World: Brothel/Burlesque
• Escapism World(s): Oriental/Nazi/Fantasy/Sci-fi

From here on, almost everything that you see takes place from within Baby Doll's Coping World. Suffering through massive PTSD, this is her vision of the world, but in a brighter, slightly more positive outlook of her real situation. It's basically a set of rose colored glasses. Rather than just a prisoner, she's got some semblance of control here, and everything is a little less bleak in outlook, which is also represented by the color scheme. I think that this is the main point of difficulty with some audiences. The movie could have been done without the additional disconnect, but the problem is that I think it would be a much larger stretch for Baby Doll to jump directly from the real world into the Escapism World(s), in addition to the fact that those sequences would then feel too much like her imagination, and not hold as much tension. The Coping world sets up the slightly surreal platform that allows the Escapism world to still feel real, and not just be Baby Doll closing her eyes and hiding in her imagination.

I'm assuming that the dance warmups with Dr. Gorski are some combination between their activities that see in the theater and group therapy. It's here that Baby Doll first enters her Escapism world. It's the Oriental world with the Wiseman. As best as I can tell, the Wiseman, is Baby Doll's internal representation of the things that she's been taught by Dr. Gorski. This place is somewhere that she has complete and full control over. Her representation of herself is one that isn't afraid of anything. She's represented sexually, but it's not in an exploitive way, because it's not for anything or anyone else aside from her. It's her avatar. She's teaching herself how to fight against the situation that she's in, both mentally and physically, by creating a world where she's badass and in control. She already has all the weapons she needs to overcome her situation, she just needs to fight.

Sweetpea & Rocket very much mirror Baby Doll & her little sister. If there's one thing that I wish the film would have done more, it's focus on Connecting Baby Doll's feelings, and situation towards the two of them, especially when we learn that Sweetpea followed her little sister to protect her, and doesn't deserve to be here. Doing this too much, might've softened the "sucker punch" aspect of the film later on, but I still think it could've been better detailed, because it was an important aspect of the film.

From here on we move between the Coping World, and Baby Doll & crew's missions in the Escapism World, obtaining the Map, Lighter, & Knife. It's on the last of these that Rocket get stabbed. As I said before, it would have been nice to have Baby Doll have a brief flashback of her own sister and the real world, showing her perception start to falter beyond just the music cutting out.

When things start wrapping up, some questions got raised that I didn't have during the film, but did later on in the evening. Blue shoots and presumably kills Blondie & Amber. While this happens in the Coping World, I'm having a difficult time figuring out how that was supposed to have happened in the Real World, without significant consequences to Blue, since I'm assuming he couldn't just kill the two of them, but if they were locked up, Baby Doll would have let them go, when she stabs blue, grabs his key, and frees Sweetpea.

It's here that the one, two sucker punch hits are dropped. One by Baby Doll Staying behind so that Sweetpea can get home to her parents, because this is Sweetpea's story and not her's, and two Baby Doll getting lobotomized. In reading the thread, there was supposedly going to be an additional scene between Baby Doll & the High Roller, which would have worked well, but I wonder if the lobotomization scene would have been as abrupt. (Still hoping to see an uncut version of the film at some point). With that, and the forged signature, Dr. Gorski has the proof that she needs to get Blue taken away. (More fridge logic wondering what their relationship was like in the Real World, and if it mirrored that in the Coping World, where he was abusive to her as well, why she wouldn't have been able to get him in trouble with the police before then). It ends showing Sweetpea getting onto a bus and managing to get away from everything, and that Baby Doll's sacrifice accomplished saving more than just herself, and then the brief message to the audience, that you already have all the weapons you need, all you have to do it fight.


While some parts of the movie didn't work well for me personally: the opening, music video aspect was tough for me to get into, and some of the story elements could have been stronger. That being said, while the film does have its faults, I still feel that it was quite good, and it most certainly wasn't a bad. I did absolutely enjoy it, as soon as I managed to get into the flow of the film. What annoys me most is how something with such a simple theme manages to be horribly misinterprited by critics, as mysognistic, not empowering to women, and/or that somehow Baby Doll's lobotomization was a liberation for her to live in a fantasy world, and not a tragedy that brought about greater good. They're desperately looking for meaning in all the wrong places and all the wrong ways, and the movie's getting slandered for their short sighted misobservations.

I saw the movie with my best friend, my little sister, and my girlfriend: all girls. I'm absolutely positive that this film was far more meaningful for them than it was for me. My girlfriend has recently relapsed into PTSD-related breakdowns as of about a week ago, and I'm pretty sure she was teary-eyed or crying through the entire film (it's also the only film that I can think of where she's voluntarily sat through the movie credits). Both her & my best friend picked up the soundtrack as well. That being said, I hope that the movie does well, despite the terribly conceived criticisms its receiving.

Also, here's a few people's comments on the shitty review from io9 that I linked to that mirror my sentiments of the misinterpritation, and give some other interesting perceptions and ideas about the film.

•

Spoiler: The Devil's Advocate

I think you missed the "message" of the movie. The opening dialogue about angels wasn't referring to just BabyDoll. It stated something along the lines of "Whether or not you believe angels exist, they do. Sometimes the come in different forms. One day a woman, another an old man (*this part is important later to the story, and also what helps make it a good story). If they have to, angels will SCREAM from inside a demon to get you to fight back".

BabyDoll had to be given a reason to fight. Had she not feared the highroller/lobotomist she would have remained in the asylum forever. "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."

A note on the different levels. Y, the fanatasy
Level 1: You have the real world/insane asylum set in I'm guessing the 1930s
Level 2: Brothel also set in same time period
Level 3: Fantasy worlds

Each character existed in all three levels in somewhat different incarnations. BabyDoll remained the same throughout for the most part. The fat orderly with the dragon zippo in the real world, became the Mayor in the brothel and was represented by the dragon in fantasy. Blue the orderly, became Blue the pimp/club manager, and was represented by the steam powered/steampunk quazi nazi zombie. Did you figure out who you didn't see in each level? It was the doctor lady! Who became the madame, who I believe became Scott Glenns character. It makes perfect sense when you think about how the doctor was telling them in therapy that they were safe, nothing can hurt you, you have all the weapons you need. And then in the fantasy this is where she became Glenn and literally gave them "all the weapons and plan they need".

So at the end of the day the movies message was "Stand up and fight for what you believe in, those who do not act, have chosen to help the enemies". All it takes for evil to succeed is for good men/women to stand by and do nothing.

Plus is was hella entertaining =)

•

Spoiler: Pinkie

Like so many reviewers . . . this one missed the point. ***SPOILERS***

I'll forego a general point-by-point, and just hit a couple of particular issues. Her first exposure to the Asylum is The Theater, which becomes the basis of the fantasies that she uses as a psychological buffer from her brutally cruel situation. It's not that a cabaret/brothel is more empowering; it's that it's a more explicit representation of her situation, since it's implied that Blue is pimping the inmates out on the side.

Her combat fantasies within the cabaret fantasy are not one-for-one parallels, which is why everyone thinks there's nothing at stake, but her actions do have an impact. First, she's accomplishing the steps in her escape plan (which, frankly, are made fairly obvious before she even gets to the Theater). Second, once she has the tools, she gets Sweetpea out of the asylum but chooses to stay behind herself, because . . . Third, the aftermath of the lobotomy procedure exposes Blue for having forged the dr's signature and leads to Blue's arrest for his mistreatment and profiteering off the inmates, whereupon . . . Fourth, Blue spills his guts to the cops, implicating the step-father who had her institutionalized and paid to arrange the lobotomy.

So she sacrifices herself to get Sweetpea out and destroys those who planned to destroy her. Seems reasonably effective to me. The lobotomy is not her escape in any way, it's her sacrifice to get revenge and to protect others from the bad men.

I suspect the problem is that so many people go into this looking for a larger allegory and miss that it's a more narrowly allusive of the narrative structure.

Yes, the movie ran a bit long, it had some narrative problems, etc etc etc. I didn't LOVE it.

But I liked it a helluva lot.

•

Spoiler: Garro

I think the criticisms you have of the movie are completely petty and unfair. If you walk into the movie expecting a fun action film with characters and plots that pass for decent, then yeah, you're going to be dissapointed. Sucker Punch isn't a movoie that works off of character interest, I'm not sure why so many people hold that as a the end-all be-all standard of storytelling when the story is quite clearly operating under different pretenses.
*spoilers*

The movies themes cross multiple subjects, but I'd argue that one of the primaries is storytelling itself. The intro. logo is a theater stage with the curtain rising, forcing you to consider the fact that you are watching something constructed rather than letting you slip into movie-immersion which most try to do. Furthermore, the introductory and end dialogue speak at length about storytelling as a metaphor for one's personal life. Sucker Punch isn't slapping together cheesy action so you can turn your brain off and enjoy it for it's own sake, it's taking some of the most popular over-the-top fictional settings so we think about how we've used fiction in our own lives in a proactive sense rather than for escapism.

You completely ignored the fact that the movie purposely screws with what you percieve is the main character of the film. Even though the movie begins with Babydoll and she takes up the majority of the screen time, Rocket and Sweetpea are the only ones that create any sort of practical emotional hook. Babydoll even says, "This was your story anyway," at the end. Baby Doll is the fantastic heroine who paves the way for the one who has, "the only real chance of making it." Her "perfect victory" isn't the mundane sense of freedom, it's the emotional and psychological freedom of choosing a benevolant, though painful, end that ultimately brings justice.

I'd even go as far as to argue that Babydoll was supposed to represent modern low-brow entertainment while Sweetpea was traditional high-brow storytelling. Babydoll is fresh, young, and has, as you said, the ability to mesmorize anyone watching her dance (not strip...). Her dancing is described as too raw, and Sweetpea says she was moaning and gyrating too much whereas her dancing was personal and formed. These two descriptions could also be applied to the cracked-out energy of video games, comics, and pulp fiction in general versus canonized literature that is considered to comment and explore truths about human nature etc. Furthermore, Babydoll's fantasy character is the epitome mushing of sex and action (blonde schoolgirl with katana and dual handgun), which again I think indicates she's meant to represent over-the-top heroines and over-the-top storytelling. Even though Sweetpea has a sword, she never pulls her our - Babydoll is the one who's in your face and stylized whereas Sweetpea is tactical, thoughtful, and practical during the entire movie. Hell, she's dressed in Medieval themed clothing which could indicate her status as representing older, traditional forms of storytelling.

I'd go on, but I'd be amazed if anyone actually reads to this point.

& follow up to some responses on the original post.

I'm referring to things like postmodernist art such as Gertrude Stein, but that's an extreme which I disagree with. The point I was trying to make is that there are circles of art and entertainment where the story and the plot are not as highly valued as they traditionally are.

I never said the story was grade A top notch, or that it shouldn't be criticized in any fashion, I said that I don't agree with Analees 100% dismissal of how the film, I believe, works well in other areas. Sure, critique the hell out of it, but I'm going to disagree and argue my point just fervently as you will. This movie is catching a ton of flack, so it's natural for people to step up to defend it. It's called conversation and debate; some people are presenting their criticisms and other people are talking about how they disagree. What's wrong with that?

I didn't say this was avant garde European experimentalism, I said the movie was placing its themes and messages above its plot and character development, and I believe that it was done on purpose for a variety of reasons. It is 100% possible that Snyder didn't do it on purpose and just missed the mark, but I just don't see it that way.

And furthermore, I again really don't particularly enjoy cubist art or things in that vein, but a lot of those artists are actually capable of doing very realistic stuff. No, that's not an assumption I'm making, if you look at some of the other works of different artists you can see quite clearly that they chose to specifically paint abstractly. But again, that's not my cup of tea.

I disagree that you should judge a movie solely on what it is versus what it was marketed as. Firstly, the nature of Hollywood and capitalist society in general means that things are going to be lost in translation. Secondly, I do believe the trailers made the movie seem a lot more energetic than it was but that wasn't a part of my response to Analee so it wasn't necessary to include. I'm not saying you should never judge something by its representation during marketing, but I am definitely looking at what the film does in and of itself, we just happen to disagree.

Show me documentation that anyone involved with the production of the film were trying to make a narrative based movie. It's not fair to judge something by whether or not it fits the bill of what's usually produced by the same general machine. And frankly the trailers if anything made it seem like a bubblegum action movie and people hardly expect decent narrative in the first place, and only people who picked out certain lines of dialogue thought there would be more to it. Why is it impossible for Hollywood to produce something that focuses on theory over narrative? Does that type of filmmaking NEED to come from Europe with "avant garde" pasted all over it?

If a piece of entertainment turns out to be different from what it was it was represented to be, then it's a problem with the representation. But if a film fails at what it's trying to be, then you're dealing with something else entirely. But, I don't believe Sucker Punch was trying to be a narrative-based film, I think it was trying to present a few messages and explore a few themes by toying with how narrative usually works.

But I could be incredibly wrong, I'm just analyzing the best my poor little brain knows how, and you should probably pop a few blood pressure pills.

X

 

[looneymoon]

Spoiler

When things start wrapping up, some questions got raised that I didn't have during the film, but did later on in the evening. Blue shoots and presumably kills Blondie & Amber. While this happens in the Coping World, I'm having a difficult time figuring out how that was supposed to have happened in the Real World, without significant consequences to Blue, since I'm assuming he couldn't just kill the two of them, but if they were locked up, Baby Doll would have let them go, when she stabs blue, grabs his key, and frees Sweetpea.

I assumed that all the other girls were lobotomized, or something similar. I don't think they died in the real world.

(More fridge logic wondering what their relationship was like in the Real World, and if it mirrored that in the Coping World, where he was abusive to her as well, why she wouldn't have been able to get him in trouble with the police before then).

I think in this instance the dream world shifted the roles. In the real world the asylum is a well-respected establishment headed by Dr. Gorski. In truth however, it is a corrupt organization where Blue is really the one in charge. This correlates directly with the brothel that fronts as a theater.

The end where Gorski finally puts Blue away thus reasserts where the control actually lies. The tragedy is that it could not be manifested in the fantasy because Baby Doll couldn't/never had the chance to see it that way.

I saw the movie with my best friend, my little sister, and my girlfriend: all girls. I'm absolutely positive that this film was far more meaningful for them than it was for me. My girlfriend has recently relapsed into PTSD-related breakdowns as of about a week ago, and I'm pretty sure she was teary-eyed or crying through the entire film (it's also the only film that I can think of where she's voluntarily sat through the movie credits). Both her & my best friend picked up the soundtrack as well. That being said, I hope that the movie does well, despite the terribly conceived criticisms its receiving.

I think what annoys me most about these negative reviews is that they are hammering down this idea that the movie is made exclusively for a male audience, describing it as "teenage boy fantasy" and whatnot. Its something I find personally really offensive. Girls like action movies. Girls play video games. Girls like to escape/imagine themselves as doing impossible things while looking cool too. It's just so depressing that all these reviews seem to miss the fact that that this was what the movie was about.

To quote this awesome person and prove how nerdy I actually am - it's like in that Buffy episode Becoming Part 2 where Buffy is fighting Angelus. All her friends are gone and she has no weapons. Then Angelus is like "no friends, no weapons, no hope. Take all that away and what's left?" then he tries to stab her and Buffy catches the sword between her palms and is like "ME." THAT is what Sucker Punch is like.

And just for the hell of it, here's a really awesome neutral review of the movie that totally agrees with me

Some may find that to be a mixed message, and it&#8217;s easy to understand why: It&#8217;s almost impossible for depictions in pop culture to operate free from their social context, since their relation to reality is always lingering over them. But consider: Nobody complained when 300 similarly objectified the male form for the purposes of substance-free, popcorn entertainment. Why? Because men don&#8217;t live in fear of being objectified. And if Zack Snyder had his way, the same would be true of women. But it&#8217;s not. So, through Sucker Punch, Snyder has drawn the line as he sees fit, fighting for a world where take-charge female badasses are allowed to be empowered by their sexuality without running the risk of being seen exclusively as fuck objects for men.


The problem lies with the world we live in, not with Sucker Punch&#8216;s depiction of feisty, leather-clad heroines. We choose how we want to perceive people of either sex, regardless of the clothes they wear. It shouldn&#8217;t be necessary for women to fear and abandon their inherent eroticism to make progress in the world. They should be free to embrace it, without worry of being labeled a whore or a victim of rape. You want true equality? There it is.

 

[Alessa Gillespie]

Spoiler

I assumed that all the other girls were lobotomized, or something similar. I don't think they died in the real world.

I assume that Blue may have arranged for the guards to take them to the 'rape room'. The guards did mention they 'didn't want to hurt the girls' anymore at the end with Baby, and I think that after that sort of thing would happen to the other girls they'd probably stop caring about anything BD suggested. Plus, if they already had the lobotomy doctor there earlier, why would Blue have to wait on BD?

I think what annoys me most about these negative reviews is that they are hammering down this idea that the movie is made exclusively for a male audience, describing it as "teenage boy fantasy" and whatnot. Its something I find personally really offensive. Girls like action movies. Girls play video games. Girls like to escape/imagine themselves as doing impossible things while looking cool too. It's just so depressing that all these reviews seem to miss the fact that that this was what the movie was about..

I can understand the idea that it's really focused on males in this film though. Let's be honest, why the hell else would the girls wear those titillating outfits except to remind any males in the audience that they are, in fact, female? On the other hand, I don't think it was specifically made to be anti-feminist or anything, since the girls do kick a lot of ass and Baby is able to save Sweet Pea and can probably even get back at her stepfather, even though she's lobotomized. (Blue already mentioned the money, obviously they'll trace it back to her dad.)

But yeah, I liked the movie, there were just bits that upset me (like Blue being fucking creepy. All the time. All of it.) but overall it wasn't a bad film.

 

[Joker]

Spoiler

Blue being fucking creepy. All the time. All of it.

THIS

THIS SO MUCH