Sucker Punch - Movie Review

A young girl who has lost her family is institutionalized by her evil stepfather and set to be lomotomized in five days time. To cope with her desperate situation, she imagines a whole alternate reality where she is in control of her destiny.  The girl known as Baby Doll (Emily Browning) enlists the help of four other inmates - Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish), Rocket (Jena Malone), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens) and Amber (Jamie Chung) - to help her plan an escape from the hospital. The lines of reality and fantasy blur as the she and the girls gather the five items that they need to escape their prison.

Even though the movie screening was at 10pm, there was still quite a number of people who showed up. Even some of the costume designers were at the screening! I have to say WOW! It was a very interesting movie and it exceeded my expectations. It was way better than Watch Man which was also directed by Zach Snyder. The film was really surreal and had everything from evil Samurai warriors, Nazi zombies, dragons to robots. I LOVED the dragon. The special effects are stunning in this film. Everything was fast paced and you really get the sense of the desperation present in these girls. I think it will make a great video game with all the action! In Baby Doll's imagination, the mental hospital is a brothel and the costumes are very cool. All the racy dances the girls had to perform were cleverly overlapped by the missions that Baby Doll imagined them going on. The story could have been a little stronger; there are some minor loose ends that leave you unsatisfied and asking questions but overall I liked the film and was very impressed by the visuals.

Remember to stick around during the credits. According to the costume designers, that song and dance number costed a pretty million to make. Oh and get ready for the twist in the ending because you never see it coming.

If you want to see more of the costumes featured in Sucker Punch, and you are in Vancouver tonight, there is a Sucker Punch Ball being hosted at the Rio Theatre at 10pm followed by a midnight screening of the film. Tickets are $18 in advance and $20 on the night-of the event at Rio Theatre. Should be a fun evening!

Sucker Punch opens in theatres Friday, March 25, 2011.