Sucker Punch
Sucker Punch (2011)
Written/Directed by Zack Snyder
As a term, sucker punch suggests surprise and familiarity at the same time; surprise from the unexpectedness of the action, but familiarity of sensation. Or familiarity if the person has been punched before. And if action flicks are the cinematic equivalent of punches, every moviegoer has been knocked silly a time or two.
As a film, Sucker Punch is like a thousand action movie fists raining down upon the viewer at once. These fists, as the term implies, are both surprising and familiar.
This dichotomy provides a, sort of, diminished satisfaction for the viewer. The imagery presented is cobbled together from thirty or so of pop culture’s hottest avenues of the past couple of decades, including video games, anime, Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, Marilyn Manson, Maxim magazine, the Spice Girls, steam-punk, Killzone, Sin City, music videos, The Right Stuff, Moulin Rouge, and some of Zack Snyder’s former works, like 300 and Dawn of the Dead. Commonly, resubmitting images from past creations results in a malaise of the brain as it recognizes icons as “seen it before”. Ah, but the unexpected expected is what Sucker Punch is all about. For Snyder has compiled such a checklist of desires for the male viewer (and, lets be honest, he’s not fooling anyone into thinking this is a female empowerment vehicle) that they will find their eyes orgasming in forced delight. But the compounded shock wears off eventually and the viewer is left with the familiar sting of repetition.
What comes as a bit of a surprise in a movie of such unabashed escapism is that Scott Glenn’s Wise Man states, “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything”. Through this phrase, and a handful of visual and verbal tips of the cap, Snyder indicates that he does actually have a message in all this madness; that Sucker Punch does, in fact, stand for something. Escapism, in fact. No matter what level of reality the cadre of femme fighters exist in, they are locked in battle with oppressing forces. Asylum wards, brothel owners, zombie Nazis, or space robots, no matter the name, they are all symbols of power. And, though swords, rocket launchers, and mech-suits are utilized, creative freedom is the strongest weapon against these oppressors. It is dance and music that allow for Baby Doll to enter into her dream worlds, is it not?
In effect, Sucker Punch becomes Snyder’s 8 1/2 or The 400 Blows; it is his thesis on film. He postulates through his created reality(ies) that cinema is society’s ultimate escape from and weapon against our world’s various oppressions. One’s unrestrained imagination is the tool that is hardest to take away. Yes, the mind can be destroyed, as Jon Hamm’s Doctor displays with Baby Doll, but by passing creativity along from one mind to the next, everyone is given the tools to fight. Only a blank slate is deemed to be undesirable in Snyder’s world.
And, so, it is that very zig-zagy line of hyper-escapism and moderate message that Sucker Punch slow motion cartwheels across. Does Snyder’s film stand for something more than schoolgirl ninjas? Or has the viewing public fallen for another cinematic form of oppression via capitalistic medium mixing?
Either way, Zack Snyder has made sure you don’t see this punch coming.
