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Rashid Irani's Review: Sucker Punch
It's a visual feast all right. Director Snyder, who helmed such techno-thrill adventures as Watchmen, lets his imagination run riot again in this ultra-violent potboiler that unravels like an expensive videogame.
Fantasy fever
Sucker Punch
Direction: Zack Snyder
Cast: Emily Browning, Carla Gugino
Rating: ***
It's a visual feast all right. Director Snyder, who helmed such techno-thrill adventures as Watchmen, lets his imagination run riot again in this ultra-violent potboiler that unravels like an expensive videogame.
He wrings every last cent out of his lavish $85 million budget to narrate a preposterous plot revolving around a gang of five hoofers incarcerated in an all-girls mental institution.
The quintet, led by the aptly named Baby Doll (Browning) hew their way through hordes of baddies every time she retreats inside a vividly imagined alternate universe. It goes without saying that the dreamscapes become dense to the point of incomprehension.
The oestrogen-fuelled action demands a total suspension of disbelief. And despite their larger-than-life posturing, we don't really care about the fate of any of the characters.
With her whipcord physique, the acting skills of Emily Browning are hardly tapped here. Of the rest, only Carla Gugino makes an impression as the dominatrix dance instructor.
Don't expect a smidgen of sense or substance from Sucker Punch. Just sit back, relax and enjoy this chick-flick fantasy.
