Tuesday 11 January 2011

SUCKER PUNCHED & RAISING HELL!

SUCKER PUNCH - April 1st

It's true, I didn't feature Zack Snyder's high octane, ramp-up-the-ultra-violence-and-sex-appeal, fantasy Sucker Punch in my 'Most Anticipated' post, as it isn't, but feel it's worth mentioning ahead of it's UK April release. Snyder (300, Watchmen) has never been one for holding back when it comes to explicit content and seems to follow trend with his latest picture.

I'll admit, I still can't decide whether this will be on par with 300 in terms of its awesome CGI fantasy epic-ness, or whether it will, in fact, turn out to be a somewhat extreme version of the mundane Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow...

However, if anyone can pull it off, it's Snyder. His Dawn of the Dead was a worthy remake. 300 was an entertaining, testosterone-filled epic, followed up by the impressive-in-parts; Watchmen (the graphic novel they said could never work as a film).

Snyder has always had his critics. Personally, I hold his last three films (as stated earlier) in high regard. The imagination and rich glossiness to the scenes and, indeed, mise-en-scene hit the mark for me visually. The same can be said with Sucker Punch. Regardless of it's plot, the settings are vibrant, rich and look beautiful. Whilst Snyder's environments ooze with character and style, the initial setting of Sucker Punch; a mental asylum, doesn't push the same visual boundaries as Leonidas and his Spartans, fighting Xerxes vast armies upon ancient Greece landscapes in 300, or the impressive Arctic lair of Ozymandias in Watchmen.

Baby Doll (Emily Browning) is imprisoned at a mental house, by her evil, abusive Step Father. She meets other girls of similar fate, Rocket (Jenna Malone), Amber (Jamie Chung), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens) and Sweet Pea (Abbey Cornish). BD plots to escape before she is inevitably lobotomised, and recruits her new girlfriends to begin a journey to break out (in her mind at least).

However, cometh the twist, when she begins her imaginary quest, the boundaries of reality and fantasy begin to merge, as the gang fight through the limitless nasties in their minds, the action inexplicably begins to spill out into reality... It's then that the visual concoction of fantastical imagery comes into play. Epic landscapes, torturous monsters and fire breathing dragons stand in the way of BD and her path to liberation. The legendary Scott Glenn plays her wise guide along her journey, whom goes simply by the name of Wiseman. He informs BD of the five objects she must attain to seek inner freedom, as well as in the real world.

Expect a fast paced, rollercoaster ride as Baby Doll et al battle samurai, serpents and... Gigantic robot monsters.


Sources : Internet Movie DataBase