Sucker Punch
Mentions of sexual abuse and misogyny .
Summary
Zack Snyder has explored a assortment of genres in his movies , and while some have been decisive and commercial-grade successes , he also has some dissatisfactory movies in his filmography , such asSucker Punch – and here ’s why it was a corner part collapse . Back in 2011 , Zack Snyder broughtSucker Punch , a psychological action movie written by Snyder and Steve Shibuya , being Snyder ’s first movie ground on an original idea . position in a steampunk - mode world , Sucker Punchfollows a new woman name Babydoll ( Emily Browning ) , who is committed to a mental institution by her opprobrious stepfather .
As she is fix for a prefrontal leucotomy , Babydoll slips into a fantasy world in which the hospital is a brothel , the orderly who abuses her is a mobster running the bagnio , Dr. Vera Gorski is the girls ’ dance teacher , and the patients are sex slave . In her fantasies , Babydoll and her friends struggle against a variety of enemies to regain objective that will help them escape , with these battle mirror their real escape efforts . Sucker Punchmostly get minus reviews and massively underperformed at the box office , earning $ 89.8 million against an $ 82 million budget – and there are various element that contributed toSucker Punchbombing at the box office .
Related : All Three Versions Of Sucker Punch Explained
10Sucker Punch Prioritized Style Over Substance
One of the big literary criticism thatSucker Punchreceived was how Snyder favour way over substance . Sucker Punchis certainly visually telling , and the action scenes are elevated by the optic effect and the overall design of the scenes , but narratively , it ’s not at the same grade . Sucker Punchwas compared to video games due to its visuals , even though Snyder claimed ( viaThe Trades ) that he require his movie to be “ a coolheaded story ” and not “ like a video recording game where you ’re just idle and fail addict ” , but that ’s what it end up being . Sucker Punchsidelined character development in party favour of salient visuals , and while this aid the hearing plunge themselves into the fantasy worlds of Babydoll , in the end , that was n’t deserving much without a well - written story and character evolution .
9Sucker Punch’s Themes Were Controversial
Through Babydoll and her friends , Sucker Punchaddresses violence against woman , sexual vilification , contumely of business leader , and more . The waySucker Punchtreats and depicts women has been call misogynistic by many critics and viewers , glorifying misuse and captivity through its visuals . The waySucker Punchobjectified its distaff characters through both their history and their apparel was also criticize , with many critics arguing that it ’s not empowering at all , and or else , it perpetuate the violent actions of men against women under the disguise of reassuring the audience that these violent and abusive man will get what ’s coming to them … finally .
However , others contend thatSucker Punchwas actually an empowering story as it follow Babydoll ’s cause to regain her exemption and representation and help her friends retrieve theirs as well . The Los Angeles TimescalledSucker Punchin its reexamination a “ wonderfully raving mad provocation ” , arguing that it does n’t objectify or empower woman , whileAlternate Takescalled it a “ profoundly pessimistic analysis of female oppressiveness ” , testify how fair sex only have an conjuration of agency and men are the one in dominance . Still , Sucker Punch ’s themes were controversial enough to admonish mass from watching it .
8Sucker Punch Had To Be Edited To Avoid An R-Rating
Sucker Punchreceived a PG-13 evaluation prior to its release , and that was thanks to Snyder cutting a lot of material from the movie so as to avoid an R military rank . Among the scenes that had to be cut was one between Babydoll and The High Roller / The Doctor ( Jon Hamm ) , where according to Browning ( viaNylon ) , Babydoll “ had a very tame and mild love ” moment with Hamm ’s character . Browning explain that the MPAA did n’t wish that character of subject and so Snyder edited it to make it await less like Babydoll was into it , but instead , it looked like The High Roller was taking advantage of her . Ultimately , the conniption ( and many others ) was abridge soSucker Punchcould get a PG-13 rating , with Snyder sharing that the final cut is n’t his desired version .
7Sucker Punch Competed With Family-Friendly Releases
Sucker Punchisn’t a movie for all viewer , especially a young audience , and it shared its sacking appointment with an genuine family - well-disposed project : Diary of a Wimpy tyke : Rodrick Rules . Although it got mixed critique , Diary of a Wimpy Kidgathered all the attention , and while it ranked 2nd behindSucker Punchon its opening day , it ended up taking first place at the weekend box office . During its 2nd weekend , Sucker Punchdropped to 7th place , finally grossing $ 89 million , meaning it did n’t break even .
6Zack Snyder’s Bad Box Office Streak Impacted Sucker Punch
Sucker Punchwas Zack Snyder ’s fifth pic , and he already had a not - so - favorable loge office track record . His directorial first appearance , Dawn of the Dead , was a box - power strike , as was his second movie,300 , butWatchmenandLegend of the Guardians : The Owls of Ga’Hooleunderperformed . This ultimately affectedSucker Punch ’s box office performance , even if Snyder ’s first two projects were well - received – but then again , they were n’t original stories and they covered very different report .
5Sucker Punch Was Too Action Packed
Babydoll ’s fantasies are 100 % action tantrum , in contrast with the tense scenes between the girls and Blue at the bawdyhouse , but so much action was n’t well - receive by critic . As mentioned above , Sucker Punchwas more about visuals than marrow , meaning that there was a lot more activity than there was taradiddle and character exploitation . In add-on to that , many viewers were n’t so welcoming of a female action hero , which Legendary Pictures reportedly attributedSucker Punch ’s loser to ( viaThe Mary Sue ) .
4Sucker Punch Was Labeled As “Boring” By Critics
Even with all those action at law scene and impressive visuals , many critics foundSucker Punchto be wearisome as it does n’t put up anything beyond battle and a cluster of visual impression . In his review , Richard RoepersaidSucker Punchproved a movie can be “ loud , action mechanism - packed and filled with beautiful womanhood and still assume you to tears”,Mark Kermodedescribed it as “ the most boring , ploddingly put together , infantile , crass , teenage , stupid , flag-waving tarradiddle ” , and even Quentin Tarantino named it one of the worst moving-picture show of 2011 ( viaIndieWire ) .
32011’s Box Office Was Dominated By Franchises
Sucker Puncharrived at a difficult time for original stories , and the list of highest - grossing movies of 2011 proves it . 2011 was all about sequels from with child and popular franchise , with the top 5 highest - grossing movies that year beingHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2,Transformers : Dark of the Moon , Pirates of the Caribbean : On Stranger Tides , The Twilight Saga : Breaking Dawn – Part 1 , andMission Impossible – Ghost Protocol . This , in addition to the above - mentioned grounds , ledSucker Punchto not being the box position success Snyder and company were expecting .
2Sucker Punch Didn’t Have A Clear Target Audience
Sucker Punchis drama , action mechanism , and fantasy with hint of steampunk and lots of CGI , which does n’t make it clear which was its target audience . Parts ofSucker Punchmight invoke to a certain audience , but the rest period wo n’t , making it hard for the audience to plug in to it . Sucker Punchwasn’t a superhero motion-picture show , but it was n’t a dramatic event , nor a sci - fi movie , and not whole a fancy risky venture either , and this compounding of genre and styles not only made mode for an scratchy and crammed up film , but it also made it very unmanageable for it to chance its right audience .
1Sucker Punch’s Marketing Was A Failure
Sucker Punch ’s marketing was n’t precisely the best and did n’t do much to sell the movie and catch the audience ’s attention and interest . The first footage ofSucker Punchwas shown at Comic - Con 2010 , and the first trailer was release on July 27 , 2010 . The second preview was release in November 2010 and was attached toDue Date , Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 , andBlack Swan , but the trailer did n’t really help encourage the moving-picture show . The trailer focused on the action mechanism fit with Babydoll and company show their fight skills , but they never explain why these were happen , so they were chip in no reason for TV audience to manage about what they were doing .
source : The Trades , Los Angeles Times , Alternate Takes , Nylon , The Mary Sue , Richard Roeper , Mark Kermode , IndieWire
