I know I've talked about Zack Snyder's 2011 film 'Suckerpunch' a few times before on this blog. But since it's a movie that I can't seem to shut up about, maybe it's time I wrote down all of my thoughts on it.
*DISCLAIMER* This movie features a lot of adult themes that I'm not going to shy away from. At the end of the day it's basically a story about sex, sexual abuse, and sex in the media and I don't plan to just ignore that elephant in the room. The theatrical release may be rated PG13, but this story is clearly intended for mature audiences and I cannot in good conscious recommend seeing it if you are under the age of 18. Also, I'll be getting into spoilerville in this post.
Like all Zack Snyder's films, this one is rather divisive. Everyone tends to either love or hate it. I knew this was a love it or hate it type deal going in. I also knew the basic plot synopsis going in, so I didn't really find jumping between parallel worlds confusing and knew about the twist of a downer ending going in. And I still didn't know what to make of it the first time. Did I love it? Did I hate it? I honestly couldn't tell. It was an exhausting and emotionally draining movie to watch. But I had a sort of sick fascination with it and couldn't wait to see it again. What did that say about me? Was I a weirdo for 'enjoying' what may just be a horrible movie?
So I watched it again. And again a year or so later. After the third time I made up my mind. Suckerpunch was a work of art. It transcended storytelling and became something greater. It was a bit of a guilty pleasure for me though. I was a little afraid to tell people about the movie, thinking they might watch it, hate it, and think I was weird for liking it. So I had to hedge a little bit. "I just love this movie. But you'd probably hate it. Don't see it. And if you do and don't hate it outright, make sure you watch it more than once." That's right guys. The ol' Geekboy suffers from major self esteem issues when it comes to what he likes.
Suckerpunch is all about repeated and parallel themes shown to us in three different realities. In the 'real world' our nameless protagonist is having the worst day ever. Her mother has just died, her evil stepfather is sexually abusing her and her younger sister, and she accidentally shoots and kills her sister in an attempt to protect her from the stepfather. The stepfather takes heh- 'steps' to cover up what he's been doing. He has our heroine committed to the local sanitarium. Once there he bribes an orderly, who we'll come to know as 'Blue,' to forge an order to have our heroine lobotomized so she'll be an unreliable witness. He's effectively covering his tracks, and up until the end of the story we're led to believe he might just get away with it.
Pause the review for just a second: One of the things I like about Suckerpunch is how it can correct my perspective when I'm having a bad day. "You think you have it rough Geekboy? What you're going through is nothing compared to the main characters in Suckerpunch!"
Now, we're about to jump to the second world. Are you ready? 3, 2, 1, JUMP! Okay. We're now in a dance hall. The inmates of the asylum are now dancing girls, the staff of the asylum are sleazy mobsters who 'own' the girls. The inmates are given 'names' in this reality. Bond Girl style stage names such as Babydoll, Sweetpea, Rocket, Blondie, and Amber. Also, our heroine, Babydoll, gets her first line of spoken dialog in this reality. Interestingly enough, she's more 'real' in this imaginary world than she is in the 'real' world.
We are introduced to Sweatpea, 'the star of the show' and a bit of a diva. She resents everything about Babydoll. Sweatpea would be completely unlikable if not for her relationship with her younger sister Rocket. Rocket is a dreamer, a little flighty, and a little naive. She forms a bond with Babydoll early on. It's revealed later that Rocket was a runaway, and that Sweetpea followed her in order to protect her.
Babydoll rescues Rocket from an abusive cook in a scene that parallels the abuse scene at the beginning of the movie. This starts a sisterly relationship that is key to the entire rest of the movie.
Babydoll is ordered to 'dance' by Madame Gorski (Dr. Gorski in the 'real' world). Gorski delivers some pretty inspirational dialog in this scene. "You have all the weapons you need. Now fight!" This phrase is repeated throughout the movie. So Babydoll 'dances' and we enter the THIRD reality. This is a visually spectacular fantasy, science fiction, steam/dieselpunk world. Our first glimpse of this world is a Japanese Temple/Dojo.
Babydoll meets a wise old man who tells her how to find freedom. He gives her a list of items she needs to acquire in the 'real' world. A map of the asylum, a way to start a fire and open the automatic doors, a knife, a key, and a fifth thing 'a great sacrifice'. The old man takes on a mentor role, and in some ways he actually parallels Madam Gorski. After fighting some awesome mecha samurai Babydoll returns to the dance hall reality.
Blue and all of the other mobsters are entranced by the dance. Sweetpea, being the diva that she is, feels threatened by this and resents Babydoll even more. Babydoll reveals that she has a plan to escape the asylum/dance hall. Rocket and Amber are enthusiastic, Blondie is reluctant, and Sweetpea downright refuses to help. It's not until Rocket reveals to Sweetpea how Babydoll protected her that Sweetpea will even listen to the plan.
The plan is pretty simple: Babydoll will 'dance' to distract the mobsters, and the other girls will steal what they need to escape. Each time Babydoll 'dances' we switch to another fantasy world. The first fantasy was a Dojo, and each fantasy that follows is a war-zone. The first dance was practice, and all the ones that follow, Babydoll is fighting for freedom. In the war-zone reality the stage names take on a new meaning. What had been Bond Girl names now become feminine army nicknames. Also, each girl who is stealing the object while Babydoll is 'dancing' faces a special peril in the war-zone reality. In the first war-zone Sweetpea is surrounded by zombies while she's getting the map in real life. Amber is attacked by Orcs while she's stealing the cigarette lighter in real life.
Also, the first war-zone has another parallel to the attempted rape scenes earlier in the movie. Rocket is separated from the rest of the group and completely surrounded by zombies. Sweetpea goes completely berserk, mowing down zombies with her machine gun to save her sister. Sweetpea steps into Babydoll's shoes as Rocket's rescuer in this scene.
Unfortunately their actions don't go unnoticed. Blue is suspicious, and after he confronts our heroines, Sweetpea and Blondie are scared off. Babydoll, Rocket, and Amber decide to go through with the plan. Blondie spills her guts to Madam Gorski, and Blue overhears them. Sweetpea changes her mind about helping. "Somebody has to make sure you don't get yourself killed," She tells Rocket. Ouch. If you've seen the movie already you'll appreciate the tragic irony of that bit of dialog.
This time things go wrong. A short in the radio's wire causes the music to stop, breaking the spell of Babydoll's dance. The cook whom they are stealing the knife from realizes what's going on tries to stab Sweetpea, but Rocket jumps between her sister and the knife. This parallels not only the death of Babydoll's sister, but Babydoll's sacrifice that is still to come.
Rocket is pretty much my favorite part of this movie. She's the catalyst that makes the story work. She represents everything that Babydoll is fighting for, everything that she's lost, and everything that she will ultimately be willing to give up. And she brings the main characters together. Rocket, Babydoll, and Sweetpea form a sort of Freudian trio. Rocket, with her naivety, idealism, and knack for getting herself into trouble is an Id. Sweetpea, with her caution, protective nature and cynical realism is the Superego. And Babydoll is the Ego who moderates between the two and actually get things done.
So. Everything has fallen apart at this point in the story. Rocket is dead, Sweatpea is a hysterical mess, Amber and Blondie are murdered by Blue, and then Blue tries to rape Babydoll. Here we have another parallel to the attempted rape in the beginning. Only this is the first time that the victim fights back. In a fulfillment of those arc words "You have all the weapons you need!" Babydoll reaches for the knife they stole, stabs Blue in the shoulder, and steals the key around his neck. After everything she's been through already in this story this is so satisfying.
Babydoll rescues Sweetpea, and the two decide to escape. They start a fire to open the automatic doors, and use the map and key to find the exit. Even though they're still dressed like dancing girls, the building they're escaping from looks much more like the asylum then the dance hall. When they reach the gate they discover it's heavily guarded. Babydoll remembers what the old man said. A fifth thing is needed: a sacrifice. She distracts the guards so Sweetpea can escape. After all, Sweetpea is the only one with a family to go home to.
And now we come to the twist ending. After everything she's gone through to escape, Babydoll is lobotomized after all. You as an audience are left to believe that there's no hope for her at this point. But Dr. Gorski and the Lobotomy doctor realize that something is wrong. They discover that it was Blue who forged Dr. Gorski's signature, and the police arrive to arrest him just as he's about to abuse Babydoll one last time. Blue spills his guts to the police about Babydoll's stepfather. We are left knowing that justice will be done, and the wrongdoers will be punished appropriately. This wouldn't have happened if Babydoll hadn't allowed herself to be lobotomized.
Sweetpea is shown at the bus stop. She is stopped by the police just as she's about to board the bus. She is saved by the bus driver, who is the same old man who kept appearing in the fantasy world. This calls everything into question. What exactly was real in this movie? Everything? Nothing? Does the old man represent some higher power? A guardian angel? That seems the most likely answer given Sweetpea's opening narration: "Everyone has an angel. A guardian who watches over us. We can't now what form they'll take. One day an old man, the next day a little girl. But don't let appearances fool you, they can be a fierce as any dragon."
Now I mentioned at the beginning of this post that this movie is about sexual abuse and sex in the media. Zack Snyder has gone on record to say that he was trying to make a statement about how women are portrayed in popular culture. And what he does in this movie is compare sexual abuse, prostitution, and sex in the media. He's basically saying that
THEY ARE ALL BAD THINGS. I don't know what Zack Snyder's religious beliefs are, if any, but this reminds me of the Bible verse: "But I tell you, any man who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Matthew 5:28. A lot of people who don't like this movie completely misinterpreted Snyder's intentions and call the movie sexist. So how effective this movie is in conveying it's intended message is debatable. Frankly the family friendly sci fi comedy Galaxy Quest does a better job conveying the same idea with 2 seconds of humorous dialog from Sigourney Weaver's character.
I called Suckerpunch a work of art at the beginning of this post. Here's why I think that is. Zack Snyder doesn't give us the ending we expect or want. A happy ending in which everyone escapes would have compromised the story. He gives us the ending that fits the story even though it may upset the audience.
Also the story is so ambiguous as to what is real, and if everything we're shown happened or if it happened the way we were shown. This has led to countless fan theories. Is Babydoll real? Or is she a figment of Sweetpea's imagination? Did Rocket really die? Did she die before the story started? Is she actually the ghost of Babydoll's sister?
This ambiguity is another part of why some people hate Suckerpunch. They find it confusing. But it doesn't really matter what happened. 50% of art is what the artist brings to the table. The other 50% is audience interpretation. So any and all interpretations are valid.
Love or hate Suckerpunch, it will force you to think. And if you don't get anything more out of the story than gorgeous Zack Snyder visuals, that's fine. But you could get more out of it than that. And you may find something new each time you watch it. Suckerpunch is one of my all time favorite movies. That might make me a weirdo. But I'm okay with that.
-Geekboy.
