''Sucker Punch'' is a 2011 American
psychological
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between t ...
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
action film
Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...
directed by
Zack Snyder
Zachary Edward Snyder (born March 1, 1966) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and cinematographer. He made his feature film debut in 2004 with '' Dawn of the Dead'', a remake of the 1978 horror film of the same name. Since t ...
and co-written by Snyder and
Steve Shibuya. It is Snyder's first film based on an original concept.
The film stars
Emily Browning
Emily Jane Browning
. Celebritywonder, retrieved 30 June 2011 (born 7 December 1988 as "Babydoll", a young woman who is committed to a mental institution. As she collects items she needs to escape, she enters a series of fantasy worlds where she and her fellow inmates are strong, experienced warriors.
Abbie Cornish
Abbie Cornish (born 7 August 1982) is an Australian actress. Cornish is best known for her film roles as Heidi in ''Somersault'' (2004), Fanny Brawne in '' Bright Star'' (2009), Sweet Pea in ''Sucker Punch'' (2011), Lindy in '' Limitless'' (201 ...
,
Jena Malone
Jena Laine Malone (; born November 21, 1984) is an American actress, musician, and photographer. Known for her roles in both independent films and mainstream blockbuster features, she has received numerous accolades, including nominations for a ...
,
Vanessa Hudgens
Vanessa Anne Hudgens (; born December 14, 1988) is an American actress and singer. After making her feature film debut in '' Thirteen'' (2003), Hudgens rose to fame portraying Gabriella Montez in the ''High School Musical'' film series (2006 ...
,
Jamie Chung
Jamie Jilynn Chung (born April 10, 1983) is an American actress and former reality television personality. She began her career in 2004 as a cast member on the MTV reality series '' The Real World: San Diego'' and subsequently through her appe ...
,
Carla Gugino
Carla Gugino (; born August 29, 1971) is an American actress. After appearing in ''Troop Beverly Hills'' (1989) and ''This Boy's Life'' (1993), she received recognition for her starring roles as Ingrid Cortez in the ''Spy Kids'' trilogy (2001â ...
, and
Oscar Isaac
Óscar Isaac Hernández Estrada (born March 9, 1979) is a Guatemalan-born American actor. Known for his versatility, he has been credited with breaking stereotypes about Latino characters in Hollywood. He was named the best actor of his gene ...
also star.
The film was released in both conventional and
IMAX
IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating.
Graeme F ...
theatres in the United States on March 25, 2011. The film received generally negative reviews and was a
box office bomb
A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...
, grossing just $89 million against its $82 million production budget.
Plot
A young woman named Babydoll is committed to a hospital for the mentally insane by her stepfather to stop her from talking to the police about how he murdered her sister. Prior to the murder, the stepfather had murdered the girls' mother and sexually abused them both. He bribes asylum orderly Blue Jones to forge psychiatrist Vera Gorski's signature to have Babydoll
lobotomized
A lobotomy, or leucotomy, is a form of neurosurgical treatment for psychiatric disorder or neurological disorder (e.g. epilepsy) that involves severing connections in the brain's prefrontal cortex. The surgery causes most of the connections t ...
. Babydoll takes note of four items she would need to escape.
Babydoll slips into a fantasy world in which she has newly arrived at a brothel owned by Blue, who in this world is a mobster, where she and the other patients are sex slaves. Babydoll befriends four other patients: Amber, Blondie, Rocket, and Rocket's sister and "star of the show", Sweet Pea. Dr. Gorski is the girls' dance instructor. Blue informs Babydoll her virginity will be sold to a client known as the High Roller, who is actually the doctor scheduled to perform her lobotomy. Gorski has Babydoll perform an erotic dance, during which Babydoll fantasizes she is in feudal Japan, meeting the Wise Man. The Wise Man presents Babydoll with weapons and tells her that she needs four items to escape: a map, fire, a knife and a key; other than the named items, there is also a fifth unrevealed item that only she can find, which would require "a deep sacrifice" and bring a "perfect victory". She fights three samurai giants, then finds herself back in the brothel having impressed Blue and other onlookers.
Babydoll convinces the four girls to join her preparations to escape, planning to use her dances as a distraction while the other girls obtain the necessary tools. During her dances, she fantasizes adventures that mirror the escape efforts. These adventures include infiltrating a bunker protected by World War I German soldiers to gain a map (mirrored by Sweet Pea copying a map of the brothel/institution from Blue's office), storming an
Orc
An Orc (or Ork) is a fictional humanoid monster like a goblin. Orcs were brought into modern usage by the fantasy writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, especially '' The Lord of the Rings''. In Tolkien's works, Orcs are a brutish, aggressive, ugl ...
-infested castle to retrieve two fire-producing crystals (mirrored by Amber stealing a lighter from the mayor's pocket), and fighting robotic guards onboard a train to disarm a bomb (mirrored by Sweet Pea stealing a kitchen knife from the Cook's belt). During the last fantasy, Rocket sacrifices herself to guarantee Sweet Pea's escape from the bomb's blast, paralleled by the Cook fatally stabbing Rocket as she tries to protect her sister.
Blue overhears Blondie relaying Babydoll's plan to Gorski. He locks Sweet Pea in a closet and confronts the other girls. He fatally shoots Amber and Blondie, and attempts to rape Babydoll, but she stabs him with the kitchen knife and steals his master key. Babydoll frees Sweet Pea and starts a fire to keep the orderlies occupied while they seek an exit. A throng of men blocks their way. Babydoll deduces that the fifth item she needs is actually her own sacrifice, and that this is actually Sweet Pea's story. Babydoll distracts the men long enough to allow Sweet Pea to slip away.
Back in the asylum, the surgeon has just performed Babydoll's lobotomy. Gorski notes that during her short stay, the girl stabbed an orderly, started a fire, and helped another girl escape the asylum. The surgeon asks Gorski why she authorized the procedure, and Gorski realizes that Blue has been forging her signature and summons the police, who apprehend Blue just as he attempts to rape Babydoll. As he is being arrested, Blue also incriminates the stepfather. Babydoll is shown smiling serenely.
Sweet Pea is stopped by police as she tries to board a bus, but the bus driver (the Wise Man) misleads the police and lets her board.
During the end credits, Dr. Gorski and Blue sing "Love Is the Drug" as the five female leads dance.
Cast
Production
Development
''Sucker Punch'' is described by Snyder as "''
Alice in Wonderland'' with machine guns". The film first gained attention in March 2007. Snyder put the project aside to work on ''
Watchmen
''Watchmen'' is an American comic book maxiseries by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 and 1987 before being collected in a single-vo ...
'' first. The film was co-written with Steve Shibuya, who authored the original script on which the story is based.
Snyder directed and produced with his wife and producing partner,
Deborah Snyder
Deborah Snyder ( née Johnson, born March 13, 1963) is an American producer of feature films and television commercials. She is married to filmmaker Zack Snyder, and has worked as his frequent producing partner on films such as ''Watchmen'' and ...
, through their
Cruel and Unusual Films
The Stone Quarry (formerly Cruel and Unusual Films, Inc.) is an American production company established in 2004 by filmmaker Zack Snyder, his wife Deborah Snyder and their producing partner Wesley Coller.
Establishment
Cruel and Unusual Films ...
banner. Wesley Coller served as executive producer.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
announced in early 2009 that they would distribute ''Sucker Punch'' due to the success of Snyder's previous film, ''Watchmen''.
"They've never said, 'Ahh, it could have been shorter', or, 'Too bad it's so R-ish.' And that's really cool. I'm challenging them again with ''Sucker Punch''."
In early interviews, Snyder stated that he would make ''Sucker Punch'' an R-rated film, but a later interview stated that he was aiming for it to be rated PG-13. In its theatrical release, the movie was ultimately rated PG-13. Snyder cut many crucial scenes before the film's release in order to satisfy the
MPAA
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...
's censors, but claimed that the home media release of the film will be a director's cut and closer to his original vision.
When Snyder was in San Diego hosting a
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
live screening of ''Watchmen'' for
Comic-Con
A comic book convention or comic-con is an event with a primary focus on comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book Fan (person), fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events ...
, he handed out T-shirts for ''Sucker Punch'' featuring the first art for the film. The art was designed by
Alex Pardee
Alex Pardee is an American freelance artist, apparel designer, and comics creator writer, best known for illustrating the Used's album artwork.
Career
He has also done works for Hurley International, Twenty Twenty Skateboards, Bay Area rapper T ...
of
Snafu Comics
''Snafu Comics'' is a webcomic
Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or ...
,
with title art work by Los Angeles graffiti artist
Galo Canote
Galo Canote (also known as "Make" or "MakeOne" and "LoveGalo") is an artist mainly known for his graffiti art. As a graffiti artist, he was born in Los Angeles. He also lived in Guadalajara in the mid 1980s.
Career
At an early age, it is said Galo ...
. Pre-production began in June 2009 in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. Snyder had also added that he enjoyed the freedom of filming his own original script.
Photographer Clay Enos was hired to take still pictures on set and to take portraits of the main actors.
Casting
![Sucker Punch Comic-Con Panel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Sucker_Punch_Comic-Con_Panel.jpg)
Before casting started in March 2009,
Snyder revealed his ideal cast for the feature film.
He chose to go with an all-female cast in this film saying that "I already did the all-male cast with ''
300'', so I'm doing the opposite end of the spectrum."
Snyder had tapped
Amanda Seyfried
Amanda Michelle Seyfried ( ; born December 3, 1985) is an American actress. Born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania, she began modeling at age 11 and ventured into acting at 15, with recurring roles as Lucy Montgomery on the CBS soap opera ...
first for the lead role, Babydoll.
When asked if Seyfried was up for the role, Snyder said, "We'll see. We're trying to, so ... She's great. It would be great if it worked out".
Snyder had also offered roles to
Abbie Cornish
Abbie Cornish (born 7 August 1982) is an Australian actress. Cornish is best known for her film roles as Heidi in ''Somersault'' (2004), Fanny Brawne in '' Bright Star'' (2009), Sweet Pea in ''Sucker Punch'' (2011), Lindy in '' Limitless'' (201 ...
,
Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood (born September 7, 1987) is an American actress and activist. She is the recipient of a Critics' Choice Television Award as well as three Primetime Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations for her work ...
,
Emma Stone, and
Vanessa Hudgens
Vanessa Anne Hudgens (; born December 14, 1988) is an American actress and singer. After making her feature film debut in '' Thirteen'' (2003), Hudgens rose to fame portraying Gabriella Montez in the ''High School Musical'' film series (2006 ...
. However, Seyfried turned it down due to a conflict in schedule with her
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
series ''
Big Love
''Big Love'' is an American drama television series that aired on HBO from March 12, 2006 to March 20, 2011. It stars Bill Paxton as the patriarch of a fundamentalist Mormon family in contemporary Utah that practices polygamy, with Jeanne Tri ...
''.
Browning agreed to replace Seyfried in the role. During the confirmation of her involvement, Hudgens, Wood, Cornish, and Stone were all still in talks.
According to
Brie Larson
Brianne Sidonie Desaulniers (born October 1, 1989), known professionally as Brie Larson, is an American actress. Known for her supporting roles in comedies as a teenager, she has since expanded to leading roles in independent films and blockb ...
in a 2020 video on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
, she mentioned that she auditioned for ''Sucker Punch''.
Wood dropped out of the project due to scheduling conflicts with her recurring role in HBO's ''
True Blood
''True Blood'' is an American fantasy horror drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. A reboot is currently in development.
The serie ...
'' and her stage production of ''
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark''. She was later replaced by Malone for the role of "Rocket". Chung was signed up to play "Amber";
Emma Stone had been offered the part but declined due schedule conflict with her film ''
Easy A
''Easy A'' (stylized as ''easy A'') is a 2010 American teen romantic
comedy film directed by Will Gluck, written by Bert V. Royal, starring Emma Stone, Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson, Thomas Haden Church, Dan Byrd, Amanda Bynes, Penn Bad ...
''.
Freida Pinto
Freida Selena Pinto (born 18 October 1984) is an Indian actress who has appeared mainly in American and British films. Born and raised in Mumbai, Maharashtra, she resolved at a young age to become an actress. As a student at St. Xavier's Coll ...
was also considered for the role of "Amber" before it went to
Jamie Chung
Jamie Jilynn Chung (born April 10, 1983) is an American actress and former reality television personality. She began her career in 2004 as a cast member on the MTV reality series '' The Real World: San Diego'' and subsequently through her appe ...
. Gugino, who was cast as "Madam Gorski", a psychiatrist in the asylum, previously worked with Snyder on ''Watchmen''. Hamm was confirmed in late August 2009 to play "The High Roller". Isaac was also tapped at around the same time.
Snyder confirmed that Glenn agreed to be involved in the project, portraying "The Wise Man".
Training
Prior to filming, the cast had twelve weeks of training and fight evaluations, beginning in June 2009 in Los Angeles and continuing through filming. The leads in the film were trained to
deadlift
The deadlift is a weight training exercise in which a loaded barbell or bar is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting exercises ...
up to for their roles. Damon Caro, the stunt coordinator and fight choreographer from ''
300'' and ''
Watchmen
''Watchmen'' is an American comic book maxiseries by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 and 1987 before being collected in a single-vo ...
'', Snyder's previous films, was hired for the action design, stunt training and fight choreography for the movie.
The other cast members started training without Hudgens while she was involved with other projects, including ''
Beastly''.
Abbie Cornish
Abbie Cornish (born 7 August 1982) is an Australian actress. Cornish is best known for her film roles as Heidi in ''Somersault'' (2004), Fanny Brawne in '' Bright Star'' (2009), Sweet Pea in ''Sucker Punch'' (2011), Lindy in '' Limitless'' (201 ...
said that the rest of the cast were training six hours a day, five days a week in martial arts, swords and empty hand choreography.
Jena Malone
Jena Laine Malone (; born November 21, 1984) is an American actress, musician, and photographer. Known for her roles in both independent films and mainstream blockbuster features, she has received numerous accolades, including nominations for a ...
has stated that her daily routine comprised four hours of warmups and mixed martial arts
wushu training, then three hours of weight training, then firearms training and tactical positioning, and then pole-dancing lessons. Snyder said that when the girls are fighting, "
ike
Ike or IKE may refer to:
People
* Ike (given name), a list of people with the name or nickname
* Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969), Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe during World War II and President of the United States Surname
...
they're on their way to kill a baby dragon, they've killed all of these orc-like creatures and they're entering a door
ndit's this classic, real
Navy SEAL
The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting sma ...
style room clearing. They have machine guns but they're fighting mythic creatures, impossible creatures. The hand to hand stuff is all brutal, because Damon
aro
ARO (short for Auto Romania) was a Romanian off-road vehicle manufacturer located in Câmpulung. The first ARO vehicles were produced in 1957, and the last in 2003. For a short while, Daihatsu-powered AROs were sold in Spain and produced in Portu ...
did all the
ightsin ''
Bourne
Bourne may refer to:
Places UK
* Bourne, Lincolnshire, a town
** Bourne Abbey
** Bourne railway station
* Bourne (electoral division), West Sussex
* Bourne SSSI, Avon, a Site of Special Scientific Interest near Burrington, North Somerset
* Bourne ...
'' and it has that vibe to it." Snyder remarks that in the girls' imaginations "they can do anything".
Production and design
Pre-production began in Los Angeles in June 2009 then moved to Vancouver in July.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
began in September 2009 in Vancouver, and concluded in January 2010. With an $82 million budget,
post-production began in September 2009 and was expected to last until January 2010 in Vancouver and Toronto.
Originally, production would have started in June 2009, but it was postponed. Production concluded on January 22, 2010. Snyder confirmed that prior to the set production date, he already shot some fantasy sequences for ''Sucker Punch''.
Snyder said the film is a "stylized motion picture about action and sort of landscapes of the imagination and things of that nature". Snyder had also been decided on the film's title for some time, stating it is a pop-culture reference. "It's about hopefully what the movie feels like when you watch it, more than a specific 'Oh, it's a story of this person.' It's all stylized."
The film includes an imaginary brothel that the five girls enter in the alternate reality, where singing and dancing take place. The fantasy sequences include dragons, aliens, and a
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
battle. Snyder expressed his interest in the film's content:
On the other hand, though it's fetishistic and personal, I like to think that my fetishes aren't that obscure. Who doesn't want to see girls running down the trenches of World War One wreaking havoc? I'd always had an interest in those worlds – comic books, fantasy art, animated films. I'd like to see this, that's how I approach everything, and then keep pushing it from there.
Rick Carter served as production designer while the visual effects of the film were done by
Animal Logic
Animal Logic is an Australian animation and visual effects digital studio based at Disney Studios in Sydney, New South Wales in Australia, Vancouver in Canada, and Rideback Ranch in Los Angeles, California. Established in 1991, Animal Logic has ...
with 75 visual effects specialists, and th
Moving Picture Company(MPC) who were awarded over 120 shots. ''Sucker Punch'' operates on three levels – a reality, then a sub-reality where the psych ward world shifts into a strange high-roller's brothel. The final level is made up of a dream world where more action sequences that are removed from time and space take place.
Warner Bros. announced earlier that ''Sucker Punch'' would be released in
3D format.
Snyder describes the conversion into 3D as a completely different process.
However, it was later announced that the film would not be presented in 3D. Snyder filmed a "Maximum Movie Mode" interactive Blu-ray commentary for the film's home media release.
Snyder wanted to design the film as something with no limits, considering that he co-wrote the script from an original idea. He added that he wanted it to "be a cool story and not just like a
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
where you're just loose and going nuts."
Snyder also noted the influence of Asian iconography, particularly Japanese elements such as
samurai
were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...
,
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
, and
mecha
In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines controlled by people, typically depicted as humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the mean ...
.
Title
The title ''Sucker Punch'' is not explained in the film. Snyder has said that there are two meanings:
Andrew O'Hehir, writing in ''
Salon
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments
* French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home
* Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment
Arts and entertainment
* Salon (P ...
'', sees the film's title as its essential theme:
Snyder has stated one interpretation of the film is that it is a critique of
geek culture
The word ''geek'' is a slang term originally used to describe eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit. In the past, it had a generall ...
's sexism and objectification of women.
Music and dance
Music plays an integral role in the film. "In the story, music is the thing that launches them into these fantasy worlds", Snyder explains.
Composer
Tyler Bates
Tyler Bates (born June 5, 1965) is an American musician, producer, and composer for film, television, and video game scores. Much of his work is in the action and horror film genres, with films like '' Dawn of the Dead, 300, Sucker Punch, H ...
said that the songs "function as the subconscious mind of Baby Doll and her journey", and musical producer
Marius de Vries
Marius de Vries (born 1961) is an English music producer and composer. He has won a Grammy Award from four nominations, two BAFTA Awards, and an Ivor Novello Award.
Education
Marius de Vries was educated at St Paul's Cathedral School, Bedfor ...
considered it "an important task of the songs to signplace which particular world you are inhabiting at a particular moment".
They used pre-existing songs for ''Sucker Punch'', covering them in a way that would create suitable moods. Music thus becomes the backbone of the film and is used as it was in ''
Moulin Rouge!
''Moulin Rouge!'' (, ) is a 2001 jukebox musical romantic drama film directed, co-produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. It follows a young English poet, Christian, who falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge, cabaret actress and cour ...
'', according to Snyder.
Dance choreography was spearheaded by
Paul Becker
Paul Becker is a Canadian director, choreographer, writer, and producer. He is best known for choreographing ''Deadpool 2'', ''Descendants (2015 film), Disney's Descendants'', ''Mirror Mirror (film), Mirror Mirror'', ''Twilight (2008 film), Twi ...
. Emily Browning did the vocals for the songs
Sweet Dreams,
Asleep
Sleep is a sedentary state of mind and body. It is characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefulness by a d ...
and
Where Is My Mind
"Where Is My Mind?" is a song by the American alternative rock band Pixies (band), Pixies, and it is the seventh track on the band's 1988 debut album ''Surfer Rosa''. It is one of the band's signature songs, and has inspired a multitude of Cover ...
that are played during the movie.
Carla Gugino
Carla Gugino (; born August 29, 1971) is an American actress. After appearing in ''Troop Beverly Hills'' (1989) and ''This Boy's Life'' (1993), she received recognition for her starring roles as Ingrid Cortez in the ''Spy Kids'' trilogy (2001â ...
had to take singing lessons for her scenes as a choreographer madam in the brothel.
The brothel scenario has "sexy" songs, as
Jamie Chung
Jamie Jilynn Chung (born April 10, 1983) is an American actress and former reality television personality. She began her career in 2004 as a cast member on the MTV reality series '' The Real World: San Diego'' and subsequently through her appe ...
described, and dance fantasy scenes. Due to time constraints, Snyder was forced to cut most of the dance sequences for the theatrical release of the film, but there is one during the credits. He did mention that for the home media release of the film's "director's cut", the dance scenes will be re-inserted.
In September 2009, Chung reported that they had begun recording tracks for ''Sucker Punch''.
Oscar Isaac said the songs used in the film are not original, but are new arrangements of existing music.
Tyler Bates
Tyler Bates (born June 5, 1965) is an American musician, producer, and composer for film, television, and video game scores. Much of his work is in the action and horror film genres, with films like '' Dawn of the Dead, 300, Sucker Punch, H ...
(who composed all of Snyder's previous live-action films) and
Marius de Vries
Marius de Vries (born 1961) is an English music producer and composer. He has won a Grammy Award from four nominations, two BAFTA Awards, and an Ivor Novello Award.
Education
Marius de Vries was educated at St Paul's Cathedral School, Bedfor ...
(who composed the score for the film ''
Moulin Rouge!
''Moulin Rouge!'' (, ) is a 2001 jukebox musical romantic drama film directed, co-produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. It follows a young English poet, Christian, who falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge, cabaret actress and cour ...
'') co-wrote the
film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...
. The official trailers contain samples from the songs "Prologue" by
Immediate Music
BMG Production Music is an American production music company based in Santa Monica, California owned by BMG Rights Management, a subsidiary of German conglomerate Bertelsmann. Founded in 1993 as Immediate Music, it is best known for specializi ...
, "Crablouse" by
Lords of Acid, "
When the Levee Breaks
"When the Levee Breaks" is a country blues song written and first recorded by Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy in 1929. The lyrics reflect experiences during the upheaval caused by the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927.
"When the Levee Breaks ...
" by
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
, "
Tomorrow Never Knows
"Tomorrow Never Knows" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written primarily by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released in August 1966 as the final track on their album ''Revolver'', although it was the firs ...
" by
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
, "And Your World Will Burn" by Cliff Lin, "
Panic Switch
"Panic Switch" is a song by the American alternative rock band Silversun Pickups. It was the first single released from the group's second album, '' Swoon'' (2009), on March 17, 2009. The song reached number one on the '' Billboard'' Alternative ...
" by the
Silversun Pickups
Silversun Pickups is an American alternative rock band from Los Angeles that was formed in 2000. The band is composed of Brian Aubert, Nikki Monninger, Christopher Guanlao, and Joe Lester.
The band released their debut EP, '' Pikul'', in July ...
, and "Illusion of Love" (
Fred Falke remix) by
Uffie
Anna-Catherine Hartley (born December 9, 1987), known professionally as Uffie (), is an American-French singer, songwriter, rapper, DJ, and fashion designer formerly signed to French electronic music record label Ed Banger Records.
Uffie's musi ...
.
''Sucker Punch: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' was released on March 22, 2011 by
WaterTower Music
WaterTower Music (formerly New Line Records from 2000 to 2010) is an American record label serving as the in-house music label and run by entertainment company Warner Bros., ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The name and logo are based ...
. It contained nine tracks, all covers, remixes, and mash-ups (as the label website says, "wildly re-imagined versions of classic songs") of tracks by
Alison Mosshart
Alison Nicole Mosshart (born November 23, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, artist, and the lead vocalist for the rock bands The Kills and The Dead Weather. She started her musical career in 1995 with the Florida punk rock band Dis ...
,
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...
,
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
, and performances from stars Emily Browning, Carla Gugino, and Oscar Isaac. The album was praised by music and film critics, as were Browning's vocals.
Release
Marketing
''Sucker Punch'' participated in the
Comic-Con
A comic book convention or comic-con is an event with a primary focus on comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book Fan (person), fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events ...
2010 and showed the first footage of the film, featuring the songs "Prologue" by
Immediate Music
BMG Production Music is an American production music company based in Santa Monica, California owned by BMG Rights Management, a subsidiary of German conglomerate Bertelsmann. Founded in 1993 as Immediate Music, it is best known for specializi ...
and "The Crablouse" by
Lords of Acid. The trailer was released on July 27 on Apple Trailers. The second official trailer was released on November 3 and was attached to ''
Due Date
''Due Date'' is a 2010 American black comedy road film directed by Todd Phillips, who wrote the screenplay with Alan R. Cohen, Alan Freedland, and Adam Sztykiel. The film follows a man (Robert Downey Jr.) who must get across the country to Los An ...
'', ''
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1
''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1'' is a 2010 fantasy film directed by David Yates from a screenplay by Steve Kloves. The film is the first of two cinematic parts based on the 2007 novel ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow ...
'', and ''
Black Swan''.
On February 15, Titan Books released the official ''Art of the Film'' book full of pictures, to mark the film's release in the following month.
The film received a PG-13 rating. To avoid an R rating, a scene that implied sex was cut. Browning said, "I had a very tame and mild love scene with John
'sic''Hamm ... I think it's great for this young girl to actually take control of her own sexuality. Well, the MPAA doesn't like that. They don't think a girl should ever be in control of her own sexuality because they're from the Stone Age... they got Zack to edit the scene and make it look less like she's into it. And Zack said he edited it down to the point where it looked like he was taking advantage of her. That's the only way he could get a PG-13
atingand he said, 'I don't want to send that message.' So they cut the scene!"
In the United Kingdom, the film received a 12A certificate for "moderate violence, threat, language and sexual references". The film was passed with no additional cuts required.
The extended cut was given a 12.
Box office
''Sucker Punch'' grossed $19,058,199 in its first weekend, an opening that placed it second behind ''
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules''.
[ Brandon Gray]
Weekend Report: 'Wimpy Kid' Blindsides 'Sucker Punch'
''Box Office Mojo'', March 28, 2011, retrieved 2011-04-01 It also opened in 23 markets that weekend, standing at sixth in the overseas box office with $6.5 million. The following weekend, it dropped to seventh place in North America with $6 million, but fared better overseas, where an expansion to 16 more countries led to a $11.5 million gross which topped the international ranking. ''Sucker Punch'' eventually grossed $36,392,502 domestically and $53,400,000 abroad, leading to a worldwide total of $89,792,502.
''Box Office Mojo'', retrieved 2011-06-18
Home media
''Sucker Punch'' was released on DVD and in a
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
combo pack on June 28, 2011. The film reached #1 best-selling DVD for four weeks in a row, selling over a million copies in America on its premiere day. An R-rated
extended cut was included on the Blu-ray release, which adds 18 minutes to the film.
The bonus features include four animated shorts based on the four fantasy scenarios.
Unreleased director's cut
Snyder has stated that the extended cut of ''Sucker Punch'' isn't his desired version of the film, but complications over film rights make it uncertain as to whether or not his director's cut could ever be released.
Reception
Critical response
Review aggregate website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
reports that 22% of 218 critics have given ''Sucker Punch'' a positive review, with an average rating of 4.2/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "It's technically impressive and loaded with eye-catching images, but without characters or a plot to support them, all of ''Sucker Punch''s visual thrills are for naught."
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
assigned the film a weighted average score of 33 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.
Although Snyder had claimed that he wanted the film to "be a cool story and not just like a video game where you're just loose and going nuts",
some critics compared the film unfavorably to a video game in their reviews.
Richard Roeper
Richard E. Roeper (born October 17, 1959) is an American columnist and film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times''. He co-hosted the television series '' At the Movies'' with Roger Ebert from 2000 to 2008, serving as the late Gene Siskel's success ...
gave the film a D, saying that it "proves a movie can be loud, action-packed and filled with beautiful young women – and still bore you to tears." The ''
Orlando Sentinel
The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company.
The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by parent company, '' Tribune P ...
'' gave the movie one out of four stars calling it "an unerotic unthrilling erotic thriller in the video game mold". ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
s
Nathan Rabin
Nathan Rabin (; born April 24, 1976) is an American film and music critic. Rabin was the first head writer for '' The A.V. Club'', a position he held until he left the ''Onion'' organization in 2013. wrote, "with its quests to retrieve magical totems, clearly demarcated levels, and non-stop action, Snyder's clattering concoction sometimes feels less like a movie than an extended, elaborate trailer for its redundant videogame adaptation." Reviewing it for ''
The Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
'',
Giles Hardie called the film "incredibly ambitious", and explained that while "traditional depths of character development and motivation are sidelined,
..this is intentional, allowing the audience to immerse in the layers of dreams and later piece together what actually happened".
British film critic
Mark Kermode
Mark James Patrick Kermode (, ; ; born 2 July 1963) is an English film critic, musician, radio presenter, television presenter and podcaster. He is the chief film critic for ''The Observer'', contributes to the magazine ''Sight & Sound'', prese ...
described the film as "the most boring, ploddingly put together, infantile, crass, adolescent, stupid, chauvinistic twaddle that I've sat through in a very, very long time." Filmmaker
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...
named it one of the worst movies he had ever seen in 2011.
Legendary Pictures
Legendary Pictures Productions, LLC (doing business as Legendary Entertainment or simply Legendary) is an American film production and mass media company based in Burbank, California, founded by Thomas Tull in 2000. The company has collaborated ...
reportedly attributed the movie's failure to become a box office hit to movie audiences not accepting a female action hero.
Not all reviews were negative, however. Keith Uhlich of
''Time Out New York'' named ''Sucker Punch'' the tenth-best title of 2011: "This excessive digi-satire spits in the face of fanboys-'n'-their-franchises." Sonny Bunch hailed the movie as an "exciting, entertaining piece of work, one that subverts your expectations even as it plays to your presumptions." In a 2018 article for
Oscilloscope Laboratories
Oscilloscope Laboratories is an independent film company and distributor founded by Adam Yauch and former TH!NKFilm executive David Fenkel. It also has a recording studio and film production facilities. Fenkel returned to the company on May 4, 2 ...
, Sheila O'Malley wrote favorably of ''Sucker Punch'' and described its similarities with the Depression-era musical ''
Gold Diggers of 1933
''Gold Diggers of 1933'' is a pre-Code Warner Bros. musical film directed by Mervyn LeRoy with songs by Harry Warren (music) and Al Dubin (lyrics), staged and choreographed by Busby Berkeley. It stars Warren William, Joan Blondell, Aline ...
''.
Depiction of women
''Sucker Punch'' also drew criticism for its depiction of women. Several critics described the film as
misogynistic
Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced f ...
and others expressed concern over its treatment of sexual violence. Monika Bartyzel of
Moviefone
Moviefone is an American-based moving pictures listing and information service. Moviegoers can obtain local showtimes, cinema information, film reviews, and advance tickets, as well as TV content and a comprehensive search tool that allows users ...
writes: "The women of Zack Snyder's ''Sucker Punch'' are not empowered. Though they are given vicious snarls, swords and guns, the leading ladies of Snyder's latest are nothing more than cinematic figures of enslavement given only the most minimal fight. Their rebellion is one of imaginative whimsy in a heavily misogynistic world that is barely questioned or truly challenged."
Michael Phillips of ''
The Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' stated that "Zack Snyder must have known in preproduction that his greasy collection of near-rape fantasies and violent revenge scenarios disguised as a female-empowerment fairy tale wasn't going to satisfy anyone but himself."
''
St. Petersburg Times
The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...
'' critic Steve Persall found that the most offensive fact about the film was that it "suggests that all this
objectification of women
Sexual objectification is the act of treating a person solely as an Object (philosophy), object of sexual desire. Objectification more broadly means treating a person as a commodity or an object without regard to their personality or dignity. Ob ...
makes them stronger. It's supposed to be reassuring that men who beat, berate, molest and kill these women will get what's coming to them. Just wait, Snyder says, but in the meantime here's another femininity insult to keep you occupied."
A.O. Scott
Anthony Oliver Scott (born July 10, 1966) is an American journalist and cultural critic. He has been chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' since 2004, a title he shares with Manohla Dargis.
Early life
Scott was born on July 10, 1966 in ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' described the film as a "fantasia of misogyny" that pretends to be a "
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
fable of empowerment" and found that the film's treatment of sexual violence was problematic and believes the target audience as a whole is in favour of it. Peter Debruge of ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' argued that the film is "misleadingly positioned as female empowerment despite clearly having been hatched as fantasy fodder for 13-year-old guys" and that the fact that the young women in the movie are "under constant threat of being raped or murdered" makes the film "highly inappropriate for young viewers."
However, Betsy Sharkey of ''
The Los Angeles Times
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' suggested that the film neither objectifies nor empowers women, and is instead a "wonderfully wild provocation – an imperfect, overlong, intemperate and utterly absorbing romp through the id that I wouldn't have missed for the world." In a retrospective article about the critical reception of ''Sucker Punch'', James MacDowell questioned the alleged misogyny of the film, arguing that it does not in fact aim to offer female empowerment, but is instead "a deeply ''pessimistic'' analysis of female oppression", because it makes clear that, "just as men organize the dances, so do they control the terms of the fight scenes; in neither do the women have true agency, only an illusion of it."
Writing in a separate piece for ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' months after giving the film a "C−" grade, Nathan Rabin concluded, "Depending on whom you ask, Snyder set out to make either the ultimate sexist masturbatory fanboy fantasy or the ultimate critique of sexist masturbatory fanboy fantasies. He failed spectacularly on both counts, but in true Fiasco form, there's something fascinating and even strangely majestic about that failure."
Scott Mendelsohn of ''
The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' called the film a "bitterly sad and angrily feminist mini-epic", and said that while it presents scenes of "matter-of-fact lechery from men towards women that is an accepted norm in our society, both then and now", it "earns kudos for daring to actually be about something relevant and interesting. It is actually very much about the sexualization of women in popular culture, rather than just using those tools to make pointless exploitation fare." Patrick Bromley of
DVD Verdict posited that ''Sucker Punch'' uses the "prism of popular culture to say something about the roles that women find themselves forced into—and not just in the fantasies of geeks and fanboys". Bromley further judged that the film is "about fighting a losing battle. About using every tool at your disposal, be it sexuality or physical strength or wit or the ability to band together to fight a common enemy—the tool of Sisterhood—and about how that still isn't enough."
In retrospect, Snyder said: "I'm always shocked that it was so badly misunderstood. I always said that it was a commentary on sexism and geek culture. Someone would ask me, "Why did you film the girls this way?" And I'd say, "Well you did!" Sucker Punch is a fuck you to a lot of people who will watch it."
Double Toasted
Double Toasted is an entertainment website based in Austin, Texas. The site hosts weekly podcasts covering current events, pop culture, movie reviews and video games.
History
After the closure of Spill.com in 2013, Korey Coleman was encoura ...
criticized this statement in a retrospective review, claiming the film had not aged well in recent years.
Accolades
Though the film's content was derided, the film received some recognition for the visual effects of the fantasy sequences. ''Sucker Punch'' received a nomination at the
2011 Scream Awards for Best F/X, and its stunt work was nominated for a
Taurus Award. The film was also pre-nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Visual Effects
The Academy Award for Best Visual Effects is an Academy Award given for the best achievement in visual effects.
History of the award
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences first recognized the technical contributions of special effects ...
.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sucker Punch (2011 Film)
2011 films
2011 action films
2010s fantasy action films
American fantasy action films
2010s English-language films
The Stone Quarry films
Films directed by Zack Snyder
Films produced by Deborah Snyder
Films produced by Zack Snyder
Films scored by Tyler Bates
Films scored by Marius de Vries
Films set in psychiatric hospitals
Films set in the 1960s
Films set in Vermont
Films shot in Toronto
Films shot in Vancouver
Films with screenplays by Zack Snyder
Girls with guns films
IMAX films
Legendary Pictures films
Magic realism films
Steampunk films
2010s American films