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This movie feels like an anime adaptation with no source material.

A girl tries to stop her sister getting groped and goes to a mental hospital. She pretends to be somewhere else to deal with it and sacrifices herself to save a girl. That's it.

Fun fact: that cover of Sweet Dreams was sung by Emily Browning herself, as was the cover of Asleep by The Smiths.

"You made beautiful women kicking ass boring!" Nailed it.

“An Action packed adventure with no character development.” Destiny 2.

im surprice im saying this but to quote the animaniacs reboot: "Hey Zack snyder, It's a 7 minute segment, move it along"

Sucker Punch is a movie that wants your brain on and off at the same time.

I've just realized that with each passing year, less and less people will understand that Looney Tunes joke.

Jean Grey's school for the Criminally Insane.

To quote MST3K: "I've never known more about what isn't going on in a movie."

There is actually an extended cut that reveals a little more, including the fact that Babydoll isn't the main character

I’m impressed he waited this long to make a “Rabbit Season, Duck Season” joke.

I'll bet this was Devil Boner and Hyper Fangirl's favorite movie.

Well i didn't expect a review of Sucker punch thats for sure

Baby doll is in Sweet Pea imagination. It's seen the moment in the beginning where Baby doll is going to ge lobotomized and Sweet pea comes in the scene in the brothel as Baby doll. She tries to escape her pain for losing her sister, and that very place. Baby doll represents Sweet pea's body, while Sweet pea represents her own mind. When Baby doll gets lobotomized because she decided to let go, her body is the only thing left in the mental institute while she's not there anymore, as the director of the mental institute says she is in paradise, in the last scene Sweet pea just gets in the bus and leaves, with the sign on the road which says paradise diner. Essentially the movie is about Sweet pea finding the strength to let the death of her sister go and let her own self go mentally accepting the lobotomy.

Snyder’s style has always been great. He knows how to compose a shot, there’s tons of great imagery, action, music and he’s one of the few directors today that gives his movie an opening credit that hooks you in. The problem with him however is that while he has style, there’s no substance. His characters are choppy and always have the same problem: pain. Snyder loves pain and his movies always go down the same path: life sucks. Out of all the movies I’ve seen from him, has there ever been a victory? There always has to be a loss, and it wouldn’t be so bad if maybe the story was great. That’s another thing, Snyder knows how to bring you in, but not keep you. His movies sometimes go on and on, and by the middle part, not much happens. And can he try not to act like an “artiste”? Just by his trailers Snyder wants you to think his movie will be deep, but the dilemma and especially the resolution don’t seem to reflect that. At least Michael Bay knows he’s action schlock. You’re not Kubrick or Scorsese, zack. Stop it.

NC: Okay okay as much as I'm hating on this film, this is the part where it introduces a pretty cool idea... YT Ad: PERFECT PASTA IN 60 SECONDS!!!

Has Snyder done it again, or has Snyder done it again? Yes.

After watching this film I tried to think of a good way to summarize it and this was my conclusion: "It's a stupid movie with a smart movie trying to get out."

The Snyder trademark: lots of style, little substance.

“Horny Inception” That’s actually a very accurate summary of this movie, it feels like Zack Snyder trying to be Christopher Nolan

Imagine just recently having watched Inception, and your anime obsessed friend tells you "I'm writing a fanfic version of Inception, BUT with anime girls, guns, dragons, samurais and steampunk WW2 and it all takes place inside a girl's head who's locked in a Asylum ala Alice Madness Returns but also in a bordello for some old fashion fetishes! And full of music references!", yeah this movie would be the result.

I was a teenager when I first saw this movie, just about to graduate high school. I never thought too deeply about this film. But me and my friends sure liked it.

This movie feels like a struggling writer that has so many cool ideas shelved, with some of those ideas being actually good, who decides to mix all ideas into one but is not sure how to buildup to ANY of the cool stuff and just does whatever possible to cut straight to the action

This was the one movie that confused the hell out of me.

If the Nostalgia Critic reviews Repo The Genetic Opera I would be over the moon.

Can we just appreciate a good rabbit/duck season joke never loses its humor?

I actually liked this movie. The story is... ok, in my mind. It could clearly be shown better, but I still like the style and the scenes. They do look like some wild imagination, they do work. This movie could be a lot better, but I don't think it's bad as it is.

This movie seems to embody what I've said about Snyder for years: he's better at talking _about_ his stories than he is in actually _telling_ his stories.

"Alright class, today we will be learning about World War I." Young Zack Snyder: *sweating profusely* 😏😏😏

This movie gets the "Well...that's not what I was expecting" award.

This movie was so boring! Literally felt like nothing happened for over an hour, and completely forgot about it after is was done.

“Somehow you made beautiful women kicking ass boring.” The perfect summary of this movie as a whole.

“Hello, I’m the Nostalgia Critic...” Alright, time for another video. “...I remember it- what the hell did I just watch...?” Well, he cut straight to the chase fairly quickly.

This looks like a whole bunch of nothing wrapped up in glossy packaging.

One Snyder film he should talk about is Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole. The animation is incredible!

Seen this movie back then and it was good at first but became soooooo boring...

Me leaving the theater after watching this: "..... They sucker-punched the audience." 😑

Yah this one’s a guilty pleasure for me, mostly because of the music, action scenes and that the fantasies kinda seem like album cover art. Lol

Surprised he doesn’t mention in the Snydercut that we actually get a scene with the highroller. That scene feels very important to me and wraps things up a little better.

I always thought that the movie was really about Sweet Pea. Babydoll is the one we see more because Sweet pea made her the hero because she did help her escape. I got that from the way the movie started with the curtains opening on a stage and Babydoll sitting with her back to the audience if you edit to the mental hospital when it would look like she was looking at Sweet pea. Also with the first labotomy it goes from Babydoll to Sweet pea wearing a wig like it was really Sweet pea that fantasies everything that happened. Also the line "this was never my story." I am probably seriously reaching though.

Zack Snyder: This movie is a commentary on the sexism of geek culture. Also Zack Snyder: Who doesn't want to see beautiful women running down the trenches of World War 1 wreaking havoc?

I was under the assumption that mental institute WAS a secret brothel.

Who DOESN’T hear “Calm” and immediately think of the Nostalgia Critic?

Give me more of this Nostalgia Critic! 50% nuanced analysis, 50% comedy. That's when you and your team shine the most, Doug!

I never really get the movie... I like the visuals, the action scene is cool, but I never really get the story. What was I supposed to get from it? I always consider this movie in the category of "beautiful to look at but no story" category

"Look at it this way: I'm right." Has to be my new favorite quote. xD

Love the duck season, rabbit season joke but who else excepted his hat to be backwards for him to flip around? Just me, ok

This Snyder cut has a scene that actually explains A thing towards the end... But only one thing.

Personally, I think Snyder was smoking weed and watching anime and said "Yeah, I can totally make a movie like this".

She has no character development, but... does that matter if by the end she's a vegetable? I mean, that's who she literally turns out to be right? Especially if they actually start at the end (because the lobotomy happens at the end of her stay.)

Despite its faults, I love and own a hard copy of this movie. it’s just visually beautiful.

Yeah, buy the soundtrack. It have more personality and character development.

Zack Snyder should be a game designer.

Ugh, Snyder’s films are just ugly, I don’t know if he’s colorblind or something. He should have stuck to monochrome.

I saw this film when it first came out. I kind of liked it. Then I wondered why I liked it. Then I realized it makes no sense and is a mess. Now Im of the opinion this film fvckin blows.

I am still waiting for them to get sponsored by Wilkins coffee

Basically this movie is a live-action manga. It's actually sort of a guilty pleasure for me, though this movie got a lot of hate from people.

Suckerpunch: The movie that retroactively shows what a Snyder Cut REALLY IS: 🧠+🗡=🤤

Could you do a review of Repo the Opera? I enjoyed the songs quite a bit and am interested in your take on it.

"This is the part where the movie introduces a pretty cool idea." *Chromebook ad*

10 year anniversary to this masterpiece is coming up, this is my all time favorite film and it never gets old. I love the extended cut but hopefully we get the directors cut someday.

I haven't see the movie but it sounds like a pretty big spoiler for "I'm thinking of ending things" at 9:02.

A great Christmas episode suggestion: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys

When he said Vanessa Hudgens, it actually showed Abbie Cornish lol.

Thanks for watching this movie and reviewing it. You're not quite getting it. The whole movie is not perceived from Babydoll's point of view. The movie is told linearly through the minds of two different characters. The switch first happens when Babydoll and Sweetpea meet eyes. Sweetpea is acting out what is to be Babydoll's fate on the stage. Then you switch to Sweatpea's hypnotic view of the asylum. Sweetpea's hypnosis is fading and the dance hall is a thin veil of what's really going on. Whenever you see the dance hall, that's Sweetpea's pov. When Babydoll is eventually hypnotized she sees the asylum as a battlefield. Dancing and battle is a replacement for the obvious rape and abuse that's happening in the asylum and the therapist gives the girls a place in their minds to escape or combat mentally their abuse. You are seeing one linear storyline being told in three different perceptions. Reality (the cold dark dank asylum, Sweetpea's vision (the thinly disguised dancehall brothel which is just slightly better than what's really happening as Sweetpea is on the verge of losing faith), and Babydoll's pov which is the battle. Hey, I know this movie is not for everyone. But when you understand the linear story being told from three different perspectives, the movie becomes much more powerful. It's ambitious and maybe too hard of a concept to present-day audiences who might only see cute girls in anime costumes fighting dragons. This is a movie about women being brutally abused, but in an act of grace, the asylums therapist doctor tries to give them a place to hide in their own minds when the abuses occur. While the other girls have settled on a dance hall fantasy that barely protects them, the therapist gives Babydoll a place where she can feel powerful and have the will to fight back. Each girl sees their world through their own filter. And the movie's twist is indeed that it was never really a babydolls story, it was Sweetpea's story. Babydoll gives Sweetpea the push to escape. And ultimately Babydoll's mission was to bring the whole fucking place down. Even if the price was her life.

Thank you for referencing Edgar Wright, who's a far superior filmmaker, yet doesn't get the same budgets or respect that Hack Snyder receives.

"Reality is a prison. Your mind can set you free."

I like the soundtrack more than the actual film. It's got pretty good songs.

I absolutely love this movie, and yea its a lot more layered then people give it credit for. Like the music, or maybe sound? The ping noise of her getting lobotomized plays throughout the whole movie. Or the fact that the dream within a dream, is all the girls way of escaping reality. A reality we never see, because its the girl getting raped in the real institution. Each fantasy action sequence is in reality, when the girl is being raped. And what is Baby Doll feeling? Broken. After she killed her sister, she shut down, shes destroyed. Its why she doesnt even put up a fight at being committed, and why she wants to get lobotomized. She wants to be numb. But she manages to gather her strength long enough to help one of the girls to escape. And really, you couldnt tell the girls apart? They have character your just refusing to see it. For example the two sisters, one is impulsive and hopeful and is willing to take the big risk of trying to escape. While the other is a lot more conservative and doesnt want to rock the boat, least it lead to something bad happening, so she errs on the side of caution. Its really weird how people just ignore whats right there on the screen.

I really wish this movie had characterization. All it can do is remind me of much better forms of media that are related to the concepts like the Alice: Madness Returns game and literally any badass girl in nearly any anime (Re: Zero, Madoka Magica, Mirai Nikki, etc.). The cute girl with guns concept is anime's bread and butter. It's just so puzzling to see a Western movie so focused on that when it's wrapped up in tissue-thin layers of pseudo meaning.

"Sexism of geek culture"? It looked like it was trying to be a generic anime without personality.

"This was actually Sweet Pea's story all along..." Me: "Movie, have you been watching a different movie?"

"Just because you're using great songs doesn't mean you're using them in a great way" Every anime amv in a nutshell.

I love this movie. I like how as the girls become more confident and start trusting one another they become more badass in the action fantasy world. You can see a bit of who they are by looking at their behavior, and roles within the action scenes.

Honestly I'm surprised they acknowledged "where the wild things are" exists.

Doug: Come on, 2020, you're gonna have to try har- The entire internet: PLEASE NO DO NOT FINISH THAT SENTENCE *PLEASE!!!!!*

Hello, I just want to ask you, Doug: do you plan to review the anime-franchise "Lupin III" in the near future? Also, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your reviews and hard work.

The opening had me hooked & I wanted to see where it would go. And then when they showed her at the mental institution about to lobotomized, I was intrigued. The switch the brothel caught me off-guard because I thought maybe the mental institution was a fake out somehow. Then the fight scenes started & my spouse & I just started drinking to get through it . . . So yeah. Interesting premise but way too complicated & convulted to actually work for me

"Ok, you're going to be reviewing Sucker Punch." "...only if I get to slip in a half dozen other reviews at the same time."

I think I've figured it out. The last scene, with the buss, is the only "real" event in the movie. Everything shown before that takes place in "Sweet Peas" head, while she's riding the buss.

Honestly the extended cut is so much better. The ending with the high roller played by John Ham is very important.

Nice to see you’re willing to compromise your opinions so as not to upset your weirdo, Snyder-loving subscribers

This movie lowkey is one i come back to a lot because it comes off like an Americanization of a Shonen Manga

You know what would have been better? A movie about Suckerpunch; the game designers behind the Sly Cooper trilogy! 😎

While watching this movie, I couldn't help but feel like there was no reason to be worried about the outcome of any scenario. Since it all amounted to an imaginary dance in the mind of a psychiatric patient. Idk something about that just made it impossible for the movie to have any real stakes or hold my interest for longer than a minute. Always got the feeling the movie was trying to allude to some deeper meaning but the execution was just terrible imo. Some people might love it but it's definitely not my cup of tea.

I didn't know about the start and end being added, but as a woman I found the film incredibly cathartic. I mean, it's a hard movie no doubt, what with the ending, but I'd argue that there isn't much if any male gaze, to the point where I was actually startled because I've been so conditioned to expect it. Filming women in situations and with the same kind of shots and stunts that traditionally feature men is the opposite of male gaze. Even the movie posters used more traditional poses. To throw out an example, compared the girls stick the landing on the battlefield to that scene in Avengers where Black Widow lands in her leather one piece. Tony Stark gets a similar landing but with Black Widow, the camera does a back and forward shot to show off her T&A. The girls in Sucker Punch land like Stark, now Black Widow. It also was startling to me how the way the violence against female characters in Sucker Punch is shown only at a minimum. The camera cuts away from a blow or a gunshot, the women aren't shown prone from the man's PoV, and the dancing is replaced by a fight scene rather than cutting between a leering man and an underage girl. To Snyder's credit, all of those filming choices would've had to have been a conscious choice in the film industry as it is.

He knows what Repo is and now I want him to review it

Snyder is one of those directors that's brilliant at visuals, but doesn't know how to tell a cohesive story.

You got me with the "Duck Season Rabbit Season" gag. XD

Honestly, I think that both substance and style are needed for a film. The style is what draws the crowds in and what makes certain scenes cool while the substance is what’s underneath that makes the movie more interesting. On a side note: Can you do Birds of Prey next?

Really didn't wanna remember this film, but the part on how Sucker Punch got criticised for trying to comment on sexism by sexualising women reminds me of freaking Cuties tries to comment on child sexualization by sexualising children and getting shortlisted for an Oscar😶

Since Sweetpea(Abby Cornish) is the one narrating, I feel it's _her_ story. The entire movie is basically her fantasy since she's going crazy and just wants to leave. It also explains as to why she immediately gets the girls to go along with her and no one else in the brothel. There are little hints in the dialogue that also support that Jamie Chung, Jeni Malone, and Hudgens are figments of her memory when Malone's character says that three inmates tried to escape and died.....when it was Chung, Malone, and Hudgens' characters that tried to escape....and died. Babydoll is probably someone that Sweetpea looked up to since Sweetpea is dressed like Babydoll during the brother scene. There is also the Emily Browning song about suicide that plays at a certain point in the picture that gives us a hint of how Sweetpea is feeling (i.e. she's suicidal). At the end, she says: "Now, fight!" While we see Babydoll, it's actually Sweetpea fighting through the lobotomy. Since the psychiatrist is now the head, maybe that recovery process is sped up. The film overall isn't brilliant. It still plays like a film that needed a few rewrites to get solidified, but it manages to have some elements that make it a film that is a bit more deep than given credit for. It mixes David Lynch with action and some elements that would be seen in Inception.

I remember being a young teen when this movie was released and I was excited on how COOL it looked and the trailers really selling me on it and I thought this could be a good badass movie with a lot of anime influences. But when I finally got to watch I left unsatisfied with what I got. For Zach to just make a "commentary attempt" really made not trust seeing his name as a director. He's a great visual director but the writing and characters in his movies always falls so flat to the point it makes me question the film more on a negative light. What made me go watch this movie was the cool visuals, if it was just women in skimpy outfits fighting and nothing else but a generic setting I honestly wouldn't have watched it. So the whole commentary attempt just flies over my head made me just wanted to watch more anime or find some other media that had a better direction.

To Snyder’s comment at the 13:54 mark: it’s not enough just to point out cliches and say that they’re cliche; for it to be good, meaningful commentary you need to actually utilize them in a way that’s clever or at the very least different. To follow Critic’s model of comparing this to movies that did the same ideas but better, “Mad Max: Fury Road” does the ladies-in-skimpy-costumes-kicking-ass thing, but the framing and direction never have that be the focal point. The camera wants to you to pay attention to the story and the action rather than how the women are dressed. This is more like “Cabin in the Woods.” A bunch of cliches are presented and pointed out, but it never goes any deeper than that.

I really enjoy this movie. It’s a silly movie that has good scenes. I don’t really pay attention to the characters because of what you were saying. There was no personality at all, it’s just a guilty fun movie hahah.

Emily Browning's cover of "Sweet Dreams" is literally a song that I listen to everyday. I'm not exaggerating. LITERALLY. EVERY. DAY.

I watched that movie when I was little, I thought it was a fever dream! I couldn't explain to my parents what I just saw and it was... concerning what I could remember

Honestly, I just flat out disagree with that “any one of them could’ve said that” idea with the other girls. Each of the lines he chose to try to prove it felt pretty distinct to each of the girls. Maybe I’ve just watched the film so many times that their personalities stick out a little better to me but Rocket is the more approachable hopeful of the group. Sweet Pea is the level headed protector, almost the mom of the group. And Blondie is the callous uncaring one until it becomes too much for her.