Not signed in (Sign In)

Culturegasm: Sucker Punch

Bottom of Page

21 to 40 of 98

  1. <
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. >
    • CommentAuthorThe Brad
    • CommentTimeAug 2nd 2010
     (8644.21)
    I enjoyed 300. Watchmen was a disappointment, especially since it was all in the little details and nuance of emotion and irony where I feel Zach Snyder failed. His big glossy stylized karate film sort of missed the point, and just got off on all the fetishy violence and 'oh Batman has ED' stuff without actually approaching it in a mature way. Its a movie about what drew me to Watchmen as a young teen, Rorshach being badass and breaking peoples bones and all this crazy 'adult' stuff, its later that I realize what the adult parts of Watchmen really are. Oh well.

    This, however, is exactly what Zach Snyder should be doing. Big dumb awesome escapism. Doesn't really look up my alley, but it might be fun. I imagine you could have given Snyder something like, say, the Transfomers franchise and he would have made a big loud coherent spectacle out of it that was actually fun and entertaining.
  2.  (8644.22)
    Looks big and cool and dumb, but MAN do I get tired of too much computer effects really fast. I'll admit that when I heard Snyder describe it as "Alice in Wonderland set in an insane asylum" back before he had started filming it, I was hoping for a grittier, batshit-crazy movie that was a little more Dawn of the Dead than 300... Oh well. It does look very slick, but that may be sort of the problem. Lot of cuties in it, though; Jena Malone is a fun actress.
  3.  (8644.23)
    Oh, I will say that I love that logo, though, as a really attractive bit of type-design.

    And what if Jean-Pierre Jeunet had directed this, instead?
  4.  (8644.24)
    Hmm. First reviews havent been too favourable.
    I'll wait to make up my own mind though.

    I hope they make the fantasy scenes have actual consequence... that they are clearly related to whats going on the real world.
    • CommentAuthormanglr
    • CommentTimeMar 25th 2011
     (8644.25)
    I'm sad to have seen no less than four reviews that all use variants of the phrase 'fanboy wank'. I wish Snyder could come up with a narrative to match his art direction skills. I'll probably just rent this one once it hits Netflix.
    • CommentAuthoralmond
    • CommentTimeMar 25th 2011
     (8644.26)
    I reckon this is going to be a disaster. He should not be writing. Zach's big loud and dumb, which is why I liked 300 and disliked Watchmen. He is obvious. He has no subtlety. I cringed at his song choices in Watchmen.
    • CommentAuthorOddcult
    • CommentTimeMar 25th 2011
     (8644.27)
    Guys, if you don't like it, can't you just... you know... ignore it?

    Just because it's a genre film of sorts, that doesn't mean it owes anything whatsoever to people who class themselves as genre fans.
  8.  (8644.28)
    it looks interesting in a big dumb fun kinda way, my opinion of synder as a film maker is that after a remake and two very close to their source adaptations that as it's his first live action (some what) original idea, i'll judge him by this more then his previous input, and the early reviews ain't good but after i seen the trailer last year and knowing this is the guy that cut out the death of hollis mason, and some good characterisation of nite owl for a way too long sex scene with a terrible soundtrack choice, i'm not expecting it to be brilliant just visually pleasing with some good action, so far the best thing about it is the art book.
    • CommentAuthorOddcult
    • CommentTimeMar 25th 2011
     (8644.29)
    If you're talking about the use of Hallelujah in Watchmen, come on, that was funny. There's no way that was meant to be taken seriously and it turned the scene from fanboy fap fuel into a character moment.

    But yeah, I fully intend to steal a copy of Sucker Punch as soon as I can and buy it on DVD when it's released, if I enjoy it even slightly the first time around.
    • CommentAuthormanglr
    • CommentTimeMar 25th 2011
     (8644.30)
    You know, I had no problems with the sex scene in Watchmen...I thought it was well in keeping with the way Moore played it in the comic. Ackward and messy was just fine in that case...the soundtrack choice just built upon that uncomfortable feeling. My area of disapointment with Watchmen had a lot more to do with how badly Snyder seemed to have interpreted the ending.

    As for why to pay attention to him as a director...I just wish that a narrative could be grafted onto his sense of visual style. I love seeing things on screen that I've never seen before. Sucker Punch seems to fit that bill...but unfortunately I get the feeling that a two minute trailer is sufficient for getting the gist of the entire movie.
  11.  (8644.31)
    I really don't understand the hatred directed at Zach Snyder.

    He is a genius visual artist who works in a field that emphasizes visual artistry. The most popular and well received movies are always strong on the visuals and lacking in subtlety and story complexity.

    People who go see a Zach Snyder movie and then complain of lack of characterization, and little plot sort of miss the point.

    As for Watchmen, come on, he was a fanboy given the opportunity to film one of the best graphic novels around, no fanboy in existence would have said no to that opportunity. Its clear to me, that he gave his best effort to make the best Watchmen movie he could muster, and failed.I think his biggest mistake was trying too hard to follow the comic instead of focusing on making the best movie possible. I don't hate someone for putting himself out there, doing the best effort he can, and failing. Thats commendable as far as Im concerned. And yes, the film clearly showed Zach Snyders strengths and weaknesses as a director, but lest face it, he was doomed to failure no matter how the movie turned out.
    If Stanley Kubrick was still alive, and he agreed to make the Watchmen movie, in the end, he would have made an excellent movie, but there would have been a lot of fans who would have hated the movie because he would have taken liberties with the story. In the end you can't please everybody.

    For me, as a fan, I'm glad I have another option. I can now see a quentin movie, Jackson movie, Del Toro movie, Rodriquez movie, and Snyder movies. I remember when my options for the types of movies I enjoyed were rare, and usually those were low budget and amateurish. We're in the golden age of fandom when we have so many options now, and all i'm hearing is the modern Fanboy's ignorant bitching(no one from here, obviusly).

    That's why I think he was the perfect choice to do a Superman Movie. So far, in movies, We've only had the Aw Shucks, nice guy, aging boy scout persona that started with the first, excellent Superman movie, but has remained prevalent to this day. The last movie didn't exactly improve this persona.

    But with Zach Snyder, we're gonna get a more Man of Action, Max Fleischer Superman going around punching Giang Samurai Robots and Stopping alien invasions, and we know Zach Snyder can deliver this. I am looking forward to His Superman Movie.
  12.  (8644.32)
    My personal fav Zach Snyder film is Legend of the Guardians of the Owls of Ga'Hoole and that was pure fun. I'm in for this.
    •  
      CommentAuthorjohnjones
    • CommentTimeMar 26th 2011 edited
     (8644.33)
    So finally saw the movie yesterday and I didn't quite like it. I wanted to, and there were several sequences that I greatly enjoyed, but overall the movie just didn't quite hang together because it had one too many layers of unreality. The central concept was that the women in the movie were in a mental hospital (though none of them at any point strike the viewer as "crazy" or even all that troubled). The biggest problem is that one never gets to see what's going on in the "real world" except at the beginning and end of the movie. Aside from the set-piece ultra-fantasy action sequences, most of the movie is set in some sort of burlesque dance club run by the tyrannical gangster, Blue, who apparently functions as the fantasy analogue of a corrupt orderly in the real mental institution.

    And therein lies the problem. Instead of a division between the harsh, squalid world of the mental institution and the glorious action fantasy sequences, you have this other layer of unreality between the two that makes it difficult if not impossible to tell what is actually real. So, if a character dies in the burlesque club, did that happen in the real world? We don't know. In fact, it's really difficult to know which characters are real and which aren't, which makes it difficult to care about them or invest in their relationships. Which is a problem, because the movie requires you to care about the girls and their relationships.
    •  
      CommentAuthorFinagle
    • CommentTimeMar 26th 2011 edited
     (8644.34)
    Based on the above, I'm afraid it would suffer in comparison to /I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK/, a movie I truly loved, although I'd say that was much more cerebral from the start.
    •  
      CommentAuthorJay Kay
    • CommentTimeMar 26th 2011
     (8644.35)
    I don't hate Snyder's previous work--Dawn of the Dead was a good mix of fun and dread, 300 was a well-put together action flick, and Watchmen was absolutely the best, most faithful adaptation of the book that they could do as a movie, IMO.

    I haven't seen the movie yet, but I fully intend to.

    Also:

    @BOODOFFSTAGE:
    But with Zach Snyder, we're gonna get a more Man of Action, Max Fleischer Superman going around punching Giang Samurai Robots and Stopping alien invasions, and we know Zach Snyder can deliver this. I am looking forward to His Superman Movie.


    Snyder's said that he wants to make it more "real-world," and show why our would would need a Superman, so probably no Giant Samurai Robots, sadly. He'll definitely be a Man of Action, though.

    @johnjones:
    The central concept was that the women in the movie were in a mental hospital (though none of them at any point strike the viewer as "crazy" or even all that troubled)


    That makes a lot of sense, actually--from what I understand, the reality of the movie takes place around the 40s/50s, and during that time, most girls that were put in mental hospitals for very petty stuff, like saying no when the cop keeps asking to get his hands dirty, if you catch my drift.
    • CommentAuthorRedwynd
    • CommentTimeMar 26th 2011 edited
     (8644.36)
    @johnjones,

    While I agree with everything you're saying in way of criticism, I'd actually add a few things.

    The core problem with the burlesque theatre was that with a very, VERY simple change, it could have been fantastically wonderful: just make it the reality. Don't bugger about with the "this is a fantasy within a fantasy within...." bullshit, it wrecks the tension between the Blue and the female cast, because you know its all in Baby Doll's head. The stepfather seems like enough of a bastard to have done it, and none of the rest of the cast has a backstory, so why bother?

    Which brings up the second major flaw in the movie: suspension of disbelief. Having the burlesque fantasy thing going on, I kept trying to figure out how all of those scenes arose in her mind from what was going on in the real world, and it kept pulling me out of the movie, so to speak, because everything I came up with was just so banal. If Snyder is going for pure visual spectacle, the last thing he wants is to have the audience questioning what it actually happening, but I spend every (non-action) scene doing just that.

    Last major complaint: the ending. It was weak, and there was no climax. There's all these great action sequences, with fantastic composition and a unique visual style (even if it was 90% CGI), and then it just went....nowhere. It just hangs about in the burlesque pseudo-reality, humiliates and kills the two secondary characters for no particular reason, then only one of them escapes. How is this better than having them, I dunno, succeed in some gloriously over-CGI-ed battle sequence? 'Cause that's what was promised by the marketing, and I got a whole lot of that, which was awesome, but the ending felt like a let-down, and there was no reason for it to be.

    Also, one minor complaint: did anyone else notice that the camera bounced around a lot during the fight with the clockwork Nazis? Maybe it was just me, but I spent half that sequence thinking "oh god no, not the shaky cam, not now!"

    ETA: some grammer, and to mention that I actually really enjoyed the movie. Don't think that came through, but for the main part it was an enjoyable romp through the hero-fantasies of a broken-headed little girl, and very pretty to look at.
  17.  (8644.37)
    It's a visually spectacular fairy tale and worth seeing repeatedly by anyone the least bit interested in any visual medium.

    So far I can't take any of the criticism I've read very seriously as it all seems to want things that would get in the way of this film being this film.

    ~R
  18.  (8644.38)
    I really didn't care for it, and I don't usually have any kind of hate-on for Zack Snyder.

    The multiple layers of fantasy were pretty irritating. My wife and I had a long conversation after seeing this where we tried to figure out if there had been two girls killed in the real world or not, and were not able to make any kind of sense of it. I figure they weren't, because then they probably would have already arrested that orderly before the end. Did those girls even exist? Who knows? How are we supposed to care about them now?

    Most of the soundtrack has been used in better movies before. I don't care if it's a cover in your film, but I'm still always going to associate Where Is My Mind? with Fight Club. Also, We Will Rock You was used in the Mighty Ducks, so, I started thinking about hockey partway through.

    I think my main problem was how completely, totally, and aggressively humorless it was. I'm not expecting a laugh a minute, but if you're movie has three girl attacking a giant dragon with assault rifles, there really should be a joke in there somewhere.
  19.  (8644.39)
    The good: The trenches and the train were really well staged fight sequences.

    The bad: Essentially everything else.

    I personally found it kind of baffling that Snyder would think two hours of meaningless random sequences would impress anyone?

    It was a sequence of bad music videos all strung together.
    • CommentAuthorDrew_badly
    • CommentTimeMar 27th 2011 edited
     (8644.40)
    Not seen it yet, it's on my "maybe" list. Article in the Guardian suggested the PKD influence in this and Source Code.

    guardian link

    I might just go and see it for the production design, we've all bought a comic just for the art sometime.

21 to 40 of 98

  1. <
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. >