Sucker Punch (2011)

March 24, 2011 (US) • Action, Fantasy, Thriller • 110m

Overview

A young woman, institutionalized by her abusive stepfather, retreats into a vivid fantasy world where she envisions a plan to escape. Gathering a group of fellow inmates, she embarks on a quest to collect five mystical items, blurring the lines between reality and imagination.

Director

Zack Snyder

Writers

Zack Snyder, Steve Shibuya, Zack Snyder

Top Billed

Emily Browning

Keywords

samurai escape asylum brothel surreal surrealism sword fight dragon robot inmate alternative reality lobotomy war zone thoughtful abusive stepfather rape culture inspirational tragic

Where to watch

Free / Included

HBO Max Amazon Channel

Rent

Buy

Top Billed Cast

Emily Browning

Babydoll

Abbie Cornish

Sweet Pea

Jena Malone

Rocket

Vanessa Hudgens

Blondie

Jamie Chung

Amber

Carla Gugino

Dr. Vera Gorski

Oscar Isaac

Blue Jones

Jon Hamm

High Roller / Doctor

Scott Glenn

Wise Man

Richard Cetrone

Gerard Plunkett

Stepfather

Malcolm Scott

The Cook

Ron Selmour

Danforth

A.C. Peterson

Mayor / Lighter Orderly

Revard Dufresne

Big Boss Thug / Orderly #3

Kelora Clingwall

Babydoll's Mother

Frederique De Raucourt

Babydoll's Sister

Monique Ganderton

Lobotomy Nurse / High Roller Girl #1

Lee Tomaschefski

Lobotomy Nurse / High Roller Girl #2

Eli Snyder

Tommy Soldier #1

Cainan Wiebe

Tommy Soldier #2

Danny Bristol

Tommy Soldier #3

Brad Kelly

Guard / Chauffeur #1

Peter Bryant

Guard / Chauffeur #2

Patrick Sabongui

Earl

John R. Taylor

Grim Doctor

Chris Nowland

Cemetary Cop

Christine Willes

Reception Nurse / Designer

Gina Garenkooper

Bitter Clipboard Nurse

Michael Adamthwaite

State Trooper #1

Phillip Mitchell

State Trooper #2

Ian Tracey

Police Officer #1

Sean Campbell

Police Officer #2

Arassay Reyes

Dancer

Danielle Benton

Dancer

Caitlin Goguen

Dancer

Maiko Miyauchi

Dancer

Paula Giroday

Dancer

Louise Hradsky

Dancer

Juliana Semenova

Dancer

Allie Bertram

Dancer

Vicky Lambert

Dancer

Caroline Torti

Dancer

Chantal Hunt

Dancer

Carla Catherwood

Dancer

Stephanie Sy

Dancer

Kathryn Schellenberg

Dancer

Geneen Georgiev

Dancer

Annie Au

Dancer

Tia Haraga

Dancer

Hailley Caulfield

Dancer

Daniela Dib

Dancer

Jeff Dimitriou

'Emilio' Gangster Dancer

John Howard

Band Member #1

Thomas Fornataro

Band Member #2

Antoine Baby Harry Calaway

Band Member #3

G! Force

Band Member #4

Nii Nortey Engmann

Band Member #5

Gary A. Hecker

Special Creature Vocals (voice)

Crew

Zack Snyder

Screenplay

Steve Shibuya

Screenplay

Zack Snyder

Director

Lora Kennedy

Casting

Michael Wilkinson

Costume Design

Zack Snyder

Producer

Jana MacDonald

Costume Supervisor

Rick Carter

Production Design

Kristy Carlson

Casting

Deborah Snyder

Producer

Michelle Allen

Casting

William Hoy

Editor

Anthony Di Ninno

Animation

Shauna Duggins

Stunt Double

Jeremy Stewart

Digital Effects Supervisor

David Werntz

Sound Effects Editor

Scott Hecker

Supervising Sound Editor

Chris Jenkins

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Wesley Coller

Executive Producer

Kimi Webber

Script Supervisor

William Fay

Executive Producer

Christopher DeFaria

Executive Producer

Jon Title

Sound Effects Editor

Andrea Wertheim

Post Production Supervisor

Brendan Ferguson

Production Manager

Lee Gilmore

Sound Effects Editor

Tyler Bates

Original Music Composer

Nicole Oguchi

Production Coordinator

Thomas Tull

Executive Producer

Joel Whist

Special Effects Coordinator

Michael McGee

Production Sound Mixer

Patrick Banister

Art Direction

Paul Pirola

Sound Effects Editor

Frank A. Montaño

Sound Re-Recording Mixer

Marius de Vries

Original Music Composer

Zack Snyder

Story

Andrea Wertheim

Associate Producer

Jim Rowe

Executive Producer

Melissa Remenarich

First Assistant Editor

Clay Enos

Still Photographer

Jim Erickson

Set Decoration

Larry Fong

Director of Photography

Jon Jashni

Executive Producer

Todd Cherniawsky

Art Direction

Heidi Moneymaker

Stunt Double

John Norris

Visual Effects Producer

Wayne Dalglish

Stunts

Stefan Dechant

Supervising Art Director

Michael Ezell

Makeup Effects

Carie Wallis

Art Department Coordinator

Geoff Redknap

Makeup Effects

Bill Fesh

Makeup Effects

William O. Hunter

Set Designer

Rick Hromadka

Sound Designer

Geoffrey G. Rubay

Sound Effects Designer

Grant Van Der Slagt

Supervising Art Director

Harlow MacFarlane

Makeup Effects

Carl Johansen

Greensman

Derek Pippert

Foley Editor

John Dale

Construction Coordinator

Rohan Lyal

Greensman

Bill Meadows

Sound Recordist

Thomas Floutz

Makeup Effects

Fay von Schroeder

Makeup Artist

Allan Galajda

Set Designer

Dennis Simard

Lead Set Dresser

Maiko 'Mo' Gomyo

Makeup Effects

Lubor Cencak

Scenic Artist

Steve Reintjes

Painter

Peter Pacula

Rigging Grip

Leslie Graham

Makeup Artist

Rachel Griffin

Makeup Effects

James H. Chow

Property Master

Jeff Markwith

Set Designer

Kim M. Holly

Costume Coordinator

Susan O'Hara

Costume Supervisor

Sharon Mosley

Hairstylist

Sheila Haley

Set Designer

John 'D.J.' Des Jardin

Visual Effects Supervisor

Mo Mohamoud

Visual Effects Coordinator

Anji Bemben

Hair Department Head

Emanuela Daus

Makeup Artist

Matthew Clancy

Carpenter

Cheryl Marion

Set Designer

Dan Petrescu

Lead Painter

Scott R. Treliving

Special Effects Supervisor

Michelle Ledesma

Visual Effects Coordinator

Maximillian McNair MacEwan

Visual Effects Coordinator

Keith Woods

Rigging Gaffer

Tyler Ruocco

Assistant Editor

Louis Kiss

Makeup Effects

Holland Miller

Makeup Effects

George McCarthy

Visual Effects Editor

William R. Dalgleish

Camera Operator

Danielle Fowler

Makeup Artist

Joel Chang

Conceptual Illustrator

Jan Kobylka

Construction Coordinator

Margot Ready

Set Designer

Mario Tomas-Niedworok

Scenic Artist

Pam Hammarlund

Visual Effects Producer

Joel Thompson

Visual Effects Editor

Damon Caro

Fight Choreographer

Ryan Monro

Dolly Grip

Rosalina Da Silva

Makeup Department Head

Bruce Frankel

Lead Painter

Jack Gauvreau

Sculptor

Donald D. Brown

Boom Operator

Chris Uyede

Modeling

Andrew W. Davidson

Gaffer

Monique McRae

Costume Coordinator

Kira Roessler

Supervising Dialogue Editor

Leona Naidoo

Visual Effects Editor

Christopher Mark Pinhey

Makeup Artist

Jim Ramsay

Set Designer

Tamara Watts Kent

Visual Effects Producer

Damon Caro

Stunt Coordinator

Dana Kay Hart

Costume Supervisor

Naomi Bakstad

Makeup Artist

Céline Godeau

Makeup Effects

Ann McLaren

Makeup Effects

Justin Raleigh

Makeup Effects

Bryan Sutton

Set Designer

Stephanie Meyerink

Visual Effects Coordinator

Vivienne To

Creature Design

Jon Title

Sound Effects Designer

Christian Beckman

Makeup Effects

Felix Fox

Makeup Effects

Sharon Markell

Hairstylist

Zabrina Matiru

Makeup Artist

Stacey Butterworth

Wigmaker

Julianna Kolakis

Conceptual Illustrator

Rob Brady

Best Boy Electric

Galo Make Canote

Title Designer

Sean M. Harding

First Assistant Camera

Darrell Hall

Music Editor

Paul Becker

Choreographer

Ron Blecker

Armorer

Hans Dayal

Location Manager

Paul Barry

First Assistant Director

Freddy Bouciegues

Stunts

Loyd Bateman

Stunts

Caitlin McKenna

ADR Voice Casting

Tiffany S. Griffith

Dialogue Editor

Jerad Marantz

Character Designer

Stephanie Portnoy Porter

Costumer

Chad Wiebe

Digital Effects Supervisor

Mathew Krentz

Digital Compositor

Kelly Golden

Prosthetic Makeup Artist

Mike Justus

Stunts

Peng Zhang

Special Effects

Jim Rowe

Unit Production Manager

Damien Carr

Visual Effects Coordinator

Michael Ralla

Digital Compositor

Reviews

ohlalipop

February 9, 2017

I was surprised to actually like this film. Baby Doll, Sweet Pea, Rocket, Amber and Blondie are the 5 main characters in the film. As much as I like Baby Doll and her costume, I really liked Sweet Pea. Something in her was so familiar. She's the big sister who will do anything for her younger sister. That's me.

I like the action scenes. Baby Doll was so sexy. I liked this movie.

DoryDarko

⭐ 3/10

February 21, 2017

Wow… Here I was, thinking I was going to get to see an awesome comic- like film about a group of girls kickin' a whole lotta butt surrounded by mind-bending fantasy scenery.

Technically, I was right… But only technically. Sucker Punch is like Chinese food. You can eat three plates and it will still leave you feeling hungry. It's a great deal of empty calories, is basically what I'm saying. Substance? Nah.

Let me just get right into it. What's wrong with Sucker Punch is the screenplay. Not the actors, not the director, just the story. This story revolves around a group of five girls in an institution for the mentally insane, in a fantastical, steampunk-wannabe 1940's (my best guess) setting. They are treated horribly and their lives are miserable, and to cope with it all, the main protagonist Babydoll, escapes into her fantasies and in this trance-like state, devises a plan for them all to escape.

The concept is not bad. It might have even been really exciting, had it not been executed so laughably unrealistic. And by 'unrealistic', I don't mean the fantasies themselves. I'm referring to the fact that these fantasies were so obviously not dreamed up by an actual teenage girl, but rather they look like the perfect fulfillment of the wet wishes of a horny teenage boy. It is very likely that a teenage girl WOULD dream of being able to wield a samurai sword and beat up every monster, dragon and every other kind of bastard who crosses her path. She WOULD dream of coming out of every battle completely unscathed and with every hair on her pretty head still perfectly in place. She would NOT, however, be doing all of this scantily clad in sexy lingerie wearing fishnet stockings and high heels… I am a girl, with very vivid imagination. Trust me on this one. It was, in one word, ridiculous.

Another thing that really bothered me was the way these characters were worked out. As obviously miserable as their personal predicaments were, I could not relate to a single one of them. They were all completely 2- dimensional and just flat-out uninteresting. I didn't care about what happened to a single one of them. I don't believe all of the blame for this falls on the actresses (although theirs weren't exactly Oscar winning performances...), again, I chalk it up to poor screen writing. The only one who was able to make her character slightly more than moderately interesting, was not even one of 'the girls', it was Dr. Vera Gorski, played by Carla Gugino. At least she was interesting to watch, and she was even somewhat of a scene-stealer, taking much thunder away from the girls simply because she (both the actress and the character) had the biggest personality. All the others, I felt were mostly just going through the motions, because they had zero character development and no interesting dialogue to work with. And that's bad when you're talking about the characters that are supposed to carry the story. A pleasant (and much needed surprise) came in the form of Scott Glenn, who only appears in the fantasy segments as several different versions of a wise man. That was a nice touch.

However, the one thing that really stood out for me as the true axis of failure that sums up Sucker Punch, was the feeling of total confusion that was present from the beginning and never cleared up. I'm not saying I didn't 'get it', I'm saying it was a hot, incoherent mess. And I usually don't mind being thrown back and forth and to and fro throughout a film, I don't mind playing guessing games and wondering what it will all lead to. I DO mind when the roller-coaster ride is over and all I feel is queasy. Some people have suggested that this is a really deep and complex film, but honestly, I think they're just reading too much into it. The stupid thing is, for the most part it was completely predictable, and STILL it lacked structure and decent storytelling. That may seem like a paradox, but there's an easy way to explain it. In the words of the great Roger Ebert: "Now that's bad filmmaking."

The only element in Sucker Punch that was somewhat redeeming, were the visual effects. I must say, it was all very gorgeous and eye-pleasing. Also, the soundtrack was excellent, filled with very well performed covers of well-known songs and some perfectly chosen originals. Emily Browning, who plays Babydoll (and also sings a few songs on the soundtrack), was a good choice for the lead role, but I must say, in all honesty, that was mostly because she was visually very appealing as the main protagonist. More simply put – she was very pretty. Still, I'm not sure that's enough to carry a film.

All in all, I'm left feeling – Zack Snyder… Dude. What were you thinking. You can do so much better than this. I guess I just finally have to come to terms with the fact that everybody's human and is bound to make one big mistake at least once in their lives. Zack… this is yours.

Sucker Punch sucks.
_(November 2013)_

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John Chard

⭐ 7/10

November 7, 2017

Snyder pushing buttons for polarising results.

Off the bat I have to say I'm over thirty years older than what some pro critics have claimed is the demographic for this one. Sucker Punch, as reviews etc attest, is not for everyone, it has been called any number of things in derogative fashion, which since I enjoyed the film a lot means I'm a misogynist fetishist gamer, which to the best of my knowledge is not true. Lest I'm in the closet and n… read the rest.

Peter89Spencer

⭐ 9/10

December 31, 2020

I for one felt this was a masterpiece; a Zack Snyder original.

The visual effects were stunning, the fight choreography was jaw dropping and the casts' performances were superb.
Even the storyline itself was well written.

This is one of my favourite films.