"Sucker Punch" Is A Commentary On The Death Of Moviemaking

Sucker Punch is such a bad movie that it raises the bar for what counts as terrible. That’s because there’s a horrific genius in it. This film will crystallize for you all those half-formed thoughts about what’s wrong with Hollywood.

The thing is, director Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) has a feel for genre. He understands the crappiest aspects of it, anyway – the scenes of CGI-fluffed action interspersed with inexplicable infodumps and character development signaled by costume changes. And he’s ably demonstrated his mastery by pouring everything he knows into a single, assaultive genre mashup flick. The worst part? He decided to turn the whole cruddy package into an art flick that comments on itself. Which means that all the fighter planes and zombie soldiers and stylized strippers are intensely boring.

But wait – there’s more! That’s right: Sucker Punch is a message movie. If you like licking the goo out of a dormitory shower drain, you’re going to love the whack-a-mole subtlety of Snyder’s social critique.