But no, apparently, if your narrative has any complexity to it, you cannot make it so obvious that an American audience, even one made up of allegedly expert film critics, can't miss it. So let me outline the main plot of Sucker Punch (but only the main plot, and not any of the conclusions or outcomes, these are the least spoilers I can give, and nearly all of them are telegraphed in the trailer, but I apologize in advance).
- Reality: "Baby Doll" is a teenage girl in 1957 whose wealthy mother has died and disinherited her husband, Baby Doll's stepfather; in a rage, he gets drunk and tries to rape both of his step-daughters; the older girl, our lead, tries to shoot him to stop him and accidentally shoots her sister instead. So to ensure that he gets to keep the money and to shut her up he has her committed to an insane asylum ... where he then bribes a corrupt orderly to forge the paperwork necessary to get her lobotomized in 5 days, so she can't tell anyone what she knows. But on her way in, she is already planning her escape. The camera shows us, then reverses to a close-up on her face, then reverses again to a close-up on (so we can't possibly miss them) the following four things: a map of the whole facility with all exits labeled, hanging at the nurses' station; a fat orderly leaning against a sign that says "in the event of fire, all exits will unlock" while playing with a cigarette lighter; a chef chopping onions with a huge pointy knife; and the clearly-labeled master key hanging around the corrupt orderly's neck. Since she's drugged up, her stepfather and the orderly discuss their plot to have her lobotomized, openly, in front of her. She retreats into a fantasy world ...
- Outer Fantasy Layer:... where instead of in an insane asylum, she's in a mafia-run brothel where she and the other girls are made to dance for the customers; she is told she is being reserved for a wealthy man who's paid to rape her, for her virginity. She is also told that if she refuses to dance, between now and then, she will be killed. So to put herself in the mood to dance, her fantasy self retreats into a fantasy world where ...
- Inner Fantasy Layer: ... she encounters her first of several ridiculously over-the-top animé-style fantasy worlds in which she is a fantasy warrior, adept with sword and pistol and martial arts, advised by a wise old sensei to seek out "a map, a source of fire, a knife, a key, and a mystery that only you can find." When that fantasy ends, she blinks, and she is back in the outer fantasy layer where ...
- Outer Fantasy Layer: When she retreats into her inner-layer fantasy worlds, without her being aware of what she's doing, she turns into a hypnotically erotic dancer ... providing cover for her co-conspirators to help her find the elements of their quest (still in the outer fantasy layer). So she must repeatedly dance, and each time she does, she retreats into yet more ...
- Inner Fantasy Layers: a series of worlds where she, and the prostitutes who've agreed to escape with her, are transformed, in Baby Doll's imagination, into a crack covert-operations team, each with their own choice of blatantly anachronistic weapons and style of combat, pursuing (symbolically) each quest element. At the end of each quest, Baby Doll blinks again to return to ...
- Outer Fantasy Layer: the mafia-controlled brothel to find out whether or not, while she was dancing, her co-conspirators have successfully completed the next phase of their escape plan.
- Outer Fantasy Layer:... where instead of in an insane asylum, she's in a mafia-run brothel where she and the other girls are made to dance for the customers; she is told she is being reserved for a wealthy man who's paid to rape her, for her virginity. She is also told that if she refuses to dance, between now and then, she will be killed. So to put herself in the mood to dance, her fantasy self retreats into a fantasy world where ...
Personally, I loved it. Zack Snyder said, in an interview that was published yesterday morning, that he followed one rule when editing the inner fantasy layer segments: "The Rule of Awesome" -- if he could think of a way to cram more "awesome" into each sequence, he did so. I can't imagine how in the world anybody who can't enjoy a series of mini-movies about an anachronistic manga-style all-girl covert-ops squad dueling giant demon samurai in ancient Japan, then slaughtering steampunk Prussian zombies in the trenches of a ruined Paris of an alternate-universe 1917, then (with help of a Stratofortress!) battling orcs guarding the castle of a dragon in a fantasy-universe World War II, then fighting murderous androids in the narrow confines of a maglev monorail heading for a retro-sci-fi colony on a moon of Jupiter ... if you can't enjoy those things, each shot crammed with as much action and excitement and over-the-top art and insane fight choreography as Zack Snyder knows how to make, how did you end up at this movie? I can't predict whether you'll enjoy the outer fantasy layer, but I did. I can't predict how you'll enjoy (or even tolerate) the 1957-reality storyline, although it worked for me.
But if you found it incoherent? Either you were paying less than no attention, or I just don't get how you missed it.
March 25 2011, 13:57:47 UTC 9 years ago
I was going to skip Sucker Punch, but now I may need to check it out. Had the same trailers come with, say, Robert Rodriguez' name on them, I'd have been all over it. But I don't trust Snyder. He has managed to make an adaptation of 300 even more fascist than the source material while calling it a story about freedom, and the boneheaded adaptation of Watchmen that I would have made had someone been stupid enough to put me in the director's chair when I was fifteen. I respect his talented eye, but feel embarrassed for the entire geek cinema tribe at his willful stupidity about story; every indication has been that Punch is more of the same, only more so.
But perhaps I'm wrong?
March 25 2011, 18:36:57 UTC 9 years ago
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March 25 2011, 14:44:37 UTC 9 years ago
I saw 300 and the only problem I had was that well... the graphic novel twists history too much. If you take the story on its own and not try to connect the dots to reality it is great.
I am planning to see Sucker Punch. When I first heard the name I did not even pay attention because it sounds like a buddy movie. But when I found out who was doing it and what the plot was OMG... yeah going.
March 25 2011, 20:57:12 UTC 9 years ago
The inner fantasy sequences were indeed full of awesome. Best excuse for skinny scantily clad young women to be kicking ass EVER.
Loved Scott Glenn. "Oh, and one last thing ... " Hee!
I am not sure how one could find the plot line confusing, unless the whole concept of "fantasy sequences" was somehow alien. It'd be like being confused by Walter Mitty.
March 25 2011, 22:44:30 UTC 9 years ago
The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that what is causing male reviewers (and I've only seen it reviewed, so far, by male reviewers) to pile tons of hate onto Sucker Punch is that the framing stories were such a buzz-kill that it totally killed the erection they thought they were going to walk out of that movie with after seeing the movie posters.
March 25 2011, 23:58:03 UTC 9 years ago
I want to write about the gender themes in this movie, because there's kind of a surreality to it -- it's a movie that sexually exploits women with a theme that sexually exploiting women is horrible and dehumanizing. Yes, the framing stories are definitely buzzkill. This is not a criticism! It makes it more interesting than I expected, though.
March 26 2011, 00:50:29 UTC 9 years ago
I mean, that's a BIG tonal shift.
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March 26 2011, 02:47:44 UTC 9 years ago
There was a very definite plot. Not as deep as some movies, sure, but it was there. The only time in the entire movie I was confused was the first transition from reality to the brothel storyline. I quickly got what was going on, though, and it was plainly explained at the end.
As for the fantasy battles, I don't get how these anime fans can complain about unrealistic fantasy worlds. Number one, the scenes in this were no more unrealistic than any anime I have seen (and were better than most in my opinion). Second, the action sequences were all clearly advertised. It boggles my mind that the exact thing that was advertised to get you into the movie was also one of your biggest complaints.
All I know for certain is I am likely to see this again, and will definitely be adding it to my list of movies to buy when it comes out on dvd (something I do not do often anymore).
I did have one question though, what was your reason for leaving unhappy? You never really go into that and I am curious.
Anonymous
March 28 2011, 03:36:58 UTC 9 years ago
March 28 2011, 01:46:50 UTC 9 years ago
As for the work itself, I'm guessing most people will like it or not like it based on how much they keep the frame story in mind while exploring the other fantasy layers.
April 3 2011, 22:33:16 UTC 9 years ago
I had been looking forward to seeing this film since I saw the trailer last November. However when the reviews came out I almost decided not to go. After reading you review I decided to go, and saw it in the bigger of the two IMAX theaters in NYC.
I absolutely loved it. I loved all three layers, and I think it has potential to develop a following after it comes out on home video and people can watch it over and over and debate where the layers are, etc.
I enjoyed reading all the replies (I held off from reading them until after I saw it). The only thing I can add is, "If people thought the brief outer layer sunk the whole film I hate to hear what you think of Wizard of Oz."
July 9 2011, 09:26:01 UTC 9 years ago
I finally "get it"
Anonymous
November 22 2011, 17:26:42 UTC 9 years ago
I had to re-watch this movie a couple times to actually understand it. There are actually 4 levels of reality to this movie (not 3). I got the first 3 the first time around, but I was not prepared for the mind ass kicking of the (The Sucker Punch if you will)4th level.
1. Is the anime/fantasy/combat scenes
2. The Brothel
3. The 1957ish reality.
and the 4th wall
4. You, the audience goer. This is stated in the ending narration (plus the opening shot of the movie of the theater.) Thing are left open and vague for YOU to interpret them. This is such a foreign concept for a movie, most people just skim over it as an empowerment speech at the end. Once the credits roll this is YOUR movie, it is upto YOU to fill in the blanks.
Brilliant idea, just a flawed execution. The movie itself was not the greatest, and there were flaws and lack of emotional connection to the characters. But it is a much deeper movie than the critics give it credit for.
I give it a B+.