Have you seen the 2011 film Sucker Punch? Sure, it’s a mind-bending film and might be a little difficult to understand during the first watch, but it’s totally worth a second, or even a third (personally, I’ve seen it about five times) round!
Director Zack Snyder, whose name is popularly attached to the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), says that his female-fronted film is his most misunderstood film.
View this post on Instagram
With films like 300 and Watchmen under his belt, Snyder jumped at the chance to write and direct an original concept with this film but received heavily negative reviews. It garnered a low rating of only 22% on Rotten Tomatoes! Critics blamed the film for hypersexualising the female characters and felt like the film gives very little in terms of plot.
You see, the film tells the story of a young girl named Babydoll who is forcefully institutionalised at a mental hospital by her stepfather. Desperate to escape the reality around her, she copes by imagining vivid and extremely creative alternate reality scenarios in her mind, while also hatching an escape plan for herself and the fellow girls.
Snyder said,
“It was really intense and scary, and it was really meant to – you know, it’s probably the movie that I feel like is the most misunderstood movie that I made.”
He added that,
“You’re like, ‘Wow, that feels…that feels like I must’ve miscommunicated the entire thing because that is the exact opposite.’”
Aside from directing, Snyder co-wrote the film with Steve Shibuya, and the cast featured Emily Browning, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Carla Gugino, and Jamie Chung. Sucker Punch also features performances from Jon Hamm and Oscar Isaac (before his Star Wars fame), who were just starting to make names for themselves at the time.
View this post on Instagram
There are plenty of layers upon layers in the film, and once you’ve made all the connections, it’s going to sucker punch you in the gut (pun very intended) with the bleakness and tragedy of it all.
*Cover image via Legendary Pictures
Post comments (0)