'Sucker Punch' lacks fighting spirit

"Sucker Punch"

Warner Brothers

2 stars (out of 4 stars) 

Director Zach Snyder's "Sucker Punch" throws viewers an unexpected blow. While his action films, such as "Dawn of the Dead," "300," and "Watchmen," were generally applauded, his most recent action and fantasy thriller is both a hit and a miss. Emily Browning, Vanessa Hudgens and Abbie Cornish star as Baby Doll, Sweet Pea and Blondie, heroines who try to escape a mental-hospital-turned-brothel in Vermont.

After Baby Doll's mother dies, her corrupt stepfather torments her and sends her to a female mental institution against her will. While there, Baby Doll learns the key to her survival—and to avoiding a lobotomy—is to satisfy High Roller (John Hamm ), a sex-crazed doctor who forces the girls to perform exotic dances. Those who refuse are beaten or threatened with death. The movie then follows Baby Doll's escapes into a fantasy world, where she battles monsters and galactic "soldiers" with the four girls she befriends at the hospital. 

"Sucker Punch," set in the 1950s, is an uncanny mix of erotica, boarding school movie clichés and Snyder's mash up of fantasy images. This film may appeal to lustful teenage boys, but anyone looking for a plot that has substance best search elsewhere. The majority of the movie is centered around providing the audience with extensive shots of Browning, Hudgens, and Cornish's bodies and the lap dances they give to the old men who come to watch them. In Baby Doll's fantasies, the girls are supposed fight in an alternative version of World War II, yet they are wearing belly shirts, mini skirts and army helmets that have their names written on them in pink. What is left of the plot is an imitation of every other twisted movie that portrays the horrors of a mental institution.

The stale acting wasn't entirely the fault of the actors and actresses. With what seemed like an hour of odd assortments of music and various clips of hot girls with swords in fighter jets, there was little time for dialogue. In fact, the entire action and fantasy half of the movie seemed unnecessary. Had the plot revolved around the girls' struggles in the asylum, the movie would have been fairly exciting and given the actresses a chance to show their skills in character development, rather than their bodies.

For someone seeking a movie with attractive girls and endless scenes of them battling metal space monsters, "Sucker Punch" is ideal. Unfortunately, if you are pursuing a unique plot, or decent acting, then this "thriller" just doesn't quite pack the punch.

—Christine Barba, cnbarba@udel.edu