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Sucker Punch, Charlie's Angels and Jennifer's Body...the trifecta of movies made especially for the phrase "the girls who get it get it and the girls who don't don't and if you don't get it I feel sorry for you" NO, I will not elaborate
also on another note- if y’all have not ever looked up the PROP DESIGN in this movie, you are missing out. baby dolls gun and sword are so detailed and really are personalized to her character. they have little charms on them and it’s just so good. the attention to detail with design is so under appreciated.
@@mccrackenz the delusion in me is still thinks that the actual props will be sold again and not for thousands like they were 😅 and the even deeper delusion in me is convinced i’d be able to afford them lmaooo
Not going to lie… The pop culture surrounding “Quiet on Set” with Dan Schneider…. Makes the “Release the Snyder cut” sound TERRIBLE. Thank goodness for the spelling in the comment section saying Snyder and not Schneider
I work as a stripper and it would interest many of u to know that the clubs play bjork army of me for stage dances!! I swear to god the influence this movie STILL has…
Did anyone else notice that all the battles from the 3rd reality are genres usually associated (and gatekept) by men?: “Samurai” movies, WW# movies, LOTR-esque fantasy movies, and then I would consider that last one like “I, Robot” futuristic technology movies
Baby doll said that guardian angels could be 3 things: an old man, a girl, and a kid. They were all of sweet peas angels to help her escape. Baby doll helped get her out, The kid didn't do much but maybe he was a sign that she was on the right path, and the old man lied to get the cops away from her
I guess the main critique for the movie now is that it’s too hectic for a viewer to realistically get all those parallels and nuances on the first watch.
@@egorpozdnyakov8812 this movie wasn’t received properly because the world wasn’t ready for alternate realities happening at the same time or movies with many parallels. back then the mainstream wasn’t used to multiverses/AUs/parallels. Alternatively now most movies use that premise, i.e. EEAAO, Marvel, DC
@egorpozdnyakov8812 another reason why I love the movie as someone who rewatches things to infinity. But yes, you are right. My friends had me to explain what was going on otherwise I don't think they would have been that patient to rewatch it again.
hearing that emily browning allegedly had 3 layers of falsies on is what has stayed with me forever. she's one of the actresses of all time... main slayer indeed
@@Winter-Alpha-Omega a false set of eyelashes. its essentially make up. You use special glue to attach a strip of eyelashes to make your lashes appear thicker/longer. Wearing 3 stacked onop of eachother would feel quite heavy on the lids and be rather uncomfortable. Maybe they wanted her to look extra doll like
@@Winter-Alpha-Omega In the UK as a guy and absent any other context "falsies" made me think "false teeth" and boy was that a confusing few seconds. Three layers of false teeth?!
I watched this prolly two or three times as a kid and i barely remember it, it was like a fever dream! The biggest thing i remember is that i loved it so so much, especially the main character. I wanted to be her sooo bad plssss 😭😭
Bro, I cannot even tell you how grateful I am you chose this film to talk about. SO IMPACTFUL for the little girlies and NO ONE got it. The woman in media of the early 2000s-2010s were literally robbed of their flowers. This shit was a masterpiece then and still is now, much like Jennifer’s Body- we will not forget the initial reception, but we appreciate that it can become a cult classic. Thank you for covering this perfection with perfection 💚
It feels a little much to compare Jennifer's Body, a movie directed by a woman, that actually is a feminist and was misunderstood to... Snyder's attempt at empowerment, where all but one girl survives, also considering the role of women in all his other movies, Princess Weekes video about it is a really great video on the balance of enjoying and also being fair to what the film actually does
People bash this movie for exploiting women but I'm like....that's the point? These women ARE exploited in a mental hospital so much so the main character easily fantasizes it as a brothel and the whole film revolves around her emotionally empowering herself and others to weave an escape plan and free themselves from their mistreatment. The movie is feminist at its core but the majority see skimpy outfits and women in suggestive situations they can't escape and immediately get mad.
I don't know if anyone has mentioned it, but the original script is available online. I have been obsessed with this movie for years and collected all the tidbits about what was in the original cut, reading the script was pretty revelatory. It's much more cohesive than even the extended version and it's more of an emotional gut punch. I really recommend reading it.
sucker punch is also a beautiful commentary on the origins of the ballet. being pimped out is actually what original ballerinas had to do to survive and fund their dance studios. it’s like if fran bow was black swan- absolutely insane
Dancing troupes and sex work gone hand in hand for long time and many cultures. Beautiful people that knew what to do with their body always gathered attention of this kind, consensual or not
@@MatthewTheWanderer every culture has their own term and elaborate customs for how they systematically pressured women into selling their bodies to survive
15:20 The integration of "Army of Me" into the movie Sucker Punch is impeccably crafted. It serves as a powerful anthem, urging one to stand up for themselves, yet it cleverly allows pauses to punctuate moments of dialogue, accentuating Baby Doll's inner struggle as she fights for her life. Then, as Björk's piercing scream cuts through, accompanied by the escalating raw intensity of the industrial beats, it vividly underscores the surrealism of the situation, starkly reminding viewers of the film's fantastical realm. It's a sonic embodiment of the protagonist's furious desire to break free from the confines of her reality, urging us to join her in defiance against the oppressive forces at play.
This movie just has some kind of allure to it, the whole aesthetic, badass female characters, EVERYTHING. It also felt like a bit of a fever dream movie, but in a good way.
To me, everything feels so stylised. It's like if one of my dreams got turned into a film. For example, Emilia looks like a doll the whole movie with the platinum hair and the huge doe eyelashes. Everything has this filter that makes it look sexy and alluring, yet dangerous and corrupt in the brothel reality. The opening sequence comes across as something straight from a horror movie. The fight scenes look like video games. Etc.
I remember I watched it in theaters because the trailer looked so sick and music bangin'. But I also remember it being "it's alright..." or even better described as "so movie" but learning there was extended cut makes me feel like I missed out, and makes sense why I thought it ended pretty oddly. But now i've been enlightened and agree. RELEASE THE SNYDER CUT!
I have always loved Sucker Punch. My introvert, anxiety-ridden self had the courage to cosplay as Baby Doll for a convention and I got so many compliments and girls wanting photos with me saying how much they loved the movie. We understood it. Thank you for making this video. Sucker Punch is so underrated and misunderstood.
Back when this movie came out my friends and I (who loved it) always described it as, "Either a dumb movie made by a smart person, or a smart movie made by a dumb person" and I still stand by that
Bro this movie stuck in my head since the day I saw it so much that I was able to remember the title and thumbnail detail by detail as soon as I saw it on Netflix. I'm still looking for the directors cut tho cuz that was the version I watched first
Babydoll wants the lobotomy so she doesn't have to remember that she accidentally killed her sister. She wants it because it means she will be free in her own mind, free to think what she wants and go where she wants and nobody can stop her or hurt her anymore.
As a CPTSD girly who heavily dissociated in her youth I ate this movie up when it came out. It’s still one of my faves to this day and will defend it with my life. Love love love this deep dive
The extended is SO good aaaa. I liked the theatrical when I first saw it, but the extended cut adds SO much context, story, and ties up some plot holes, I LOVE it
this movie was stylish as HELL and for all its flaws in the plot/themes level, it was such a ride visually and audio wise. kind of a guilty pleasure movie to me
I find the point of view to be of the filmmakers to the audience themselves. Like, the movie tells a story of the abuse these girls suffered, but uses alternate realities to keep the creepy men in the audience entertained, until they have to experience the consequences of said abuse. When changing the setting is not enough, the movie subs the girls acting out their plan to the crazy fights. Then, they change protagonists: the cute school girl sacrifices herself to save Sweet Pea, who spent the whole movie skeptical of the plan, not having as big of a role or being as likeable as her now dead sister. And were back to reality where shes free, while our main character ends up lobotomized. Sucker punch forces the audience to watch a movie they would hate, while disguising it as something that caters to them. Its indeed the moviest movie to ever movie.
yess the message was there, now rewatching as adult i see. sweet pea in the second reality' opening scene saying how boring to the audience is a story about a lobotomized girl let's make it commercial. mr snyder had some things to say about what studios want to see in movies and what his audience want too.
This it it. I love seeing people criticise this movie while it's directly outing them and they can't even see the sucker punch even after it's hit them @@biptari
sigh...the poor reception of this movie will never not make my blood boil. it's the most movie. i used to obsessively rewatch it and to this day it still holds so well both in terms of story telling and visuals.
Crazy that my motherquakeomoeter on my mantle was going off the cunter scale and I had to check for iconic activity and found a magnitude 9 serve happening in real time
This video makes me feel so seen. I watched it at a sleepover when I was like 12, it really had an impact on my friend group. We felt empowered by it in a way that's hard to explain. It didn't feel like women were being objectified by the camera, it felt like the camera was exposing how women in vulnerable positions are objectified. Those are two different things. The fact that so many people didn't see that at the time isn't surprising though.
There's another layer: Zack is talking about the state of the art. Sucker Punch is a meta story that talks about the action genre, the industry of "blockbusters" and how women are a part of it. All his movies have another layer. "300" is about narratives, post-truth; Watchmen is about the superheroes genre, but released years before the fatigue; BvS is a commentary on US politics and also dives into modern mythologies. The ammount of layers are limitless.
And Watchmen is NOTTTTTT about the GENRE of superhero films. It’s making societal commentary that’s much bigger and deeper than critiquing Marvel’s sweatshop productions that didn’t even exist yet
@@maddieb.4282 It was not. It IS. Snyder said it himself as if Watchmen was transported by a time machine to the past. But, yep, Watchmen talks about genre as well beyond the political layer. I'll check it out, thanks.
Also **SPOILER** when John Hamm lobotomizes her, I think it's a metaphor for the high-roller r*ping her; he says he wants her to want him, then is kind of disgusted when it flips and he says "did you see the way she looked at me?" as if he's done the deed and is like "why don't you look happy you just had sex!" after he's taken the last possible thing she has. I do think it's a pretty important scene to have cut from the final
I hadn't even considered that! But truly that is a VERY convincing perspective, and makes honestly so much sense both for the themes/movie as a whole, and for the character.
i ageee BUT he also says “it’s as if she wanted me to do it” so maybe he realized he actually never wanted her to want him. he wanted to overpower her and take her free will from her, and she refused to even give that to him, instead HE was HER pawn instead of the other way around
Which is the case for almost all rapists, it’s not about the sexual gratification it’s all about power and diminishing their victims making them an object and not a human capable of controlling what happens to them.
One thing I need to comment on about this movie is the first fight scene against the giant samurais. As a young teen who played a lot of video games when the movie came out, it always stuck to me how perfectly this scene captured the essence of an action game's tutorial. First you learn the bases of melee combat and how to parry/dodge. Then you learn how to use projectiles and deal with them. And then to finish the tutorial you unleash a powerful seemingly one hit kill move. It's how it's done in games like Bayonetta or Devil May Cry and to me it's proof that this movie has something it wants to comment on because it knows its source material (i.e broadly what geek culture was at the time) really well.
I also wrote a film analysis on this in high school and, while written by a high schooler, also basically resulted in “most criticism of this film hates it for being misogynistic and gratuitous, but in reality is a commentary on those exact things and makes the statement that women are so much more than what we widdle them down to and celebrates that in spite of what box men, and men in power, force them into”.
it was made by Zack Snyder its exactly what it is 💀 trying to imagine that man was giving commentary on how women are treated is laughable, this is a take that women who love the movie invented to cope, its your interpretation its not what that man meant. Thinking ppl who criticised the movies obvious flaws “missed the point” is mad goofy and very far removed from reality
@@tonystonem9614what's so funny about this take is that there are literal interviews (even shown in this video!!) that back up these interpretations. It was always intended as a deeper reflection on women and the men who use them.
@@infinitedm5396it is valid to critique movies where you feel their commentary isn’t effective enough to outweigh problematic content. Remember the movie Cuties and all the scandal around it? Obviously that film was meant to critique the abuse and exploitation of children but the content was the type to put the child actors at risk and was highly suspicious to people for that reason. Just because you view this film as your feminist manifesto doesn’t mean there’s not validity in other people’s opinions. You didn’t make the movie- they’re not criticizing YOU. You don’t have to be defensive
@@Winter-Alpha-Omega Snyder tweeted out "In honor of the 13th anniversary of Sucker Punch, check this out, because Mike’s right, it’s so movie." then linking it to this vid.
i think that when a girl dies in the second reality, they’re being lobotomized in the real world. that’s what happens to babydoll so it would make sense for the rest of them and gorski probably had signed off on them so it wasn’t an issue, which is why blue only got in trouble for babydoll. as far as the kid and old man i think that was just a way to try to tie the fake realities to the real world even though it didn’t really make sense, kind of an extension of the guardian angel thing
Thank you for starting this video with the reminder that ‘portrayal of something in fiction is not an endorsement of that thing’ because oh man is that a lesson that too many people have yet to learn.
When this movie came out I was a “working girl” at 19, and dealing with mountains of trauma. This movie spoke to me deeply, and even then I could clearly see it was a commentary on oversexualization of women. People take things at face value and never look deeper!!!
I'm so happy to feel justified finally in my love for this film. Also fun fact my husband is ex military and when they storm the castle he has said they were using perfect military procedures and moves. Something he said never happens in films about the real military. So someone was paying attention to detail.
THIS MOVIE IS SO FUCKING GOOD. when i was at some really low, awful points in my mental health journey, this movie really left a mark on me, especially those final words. idc what people can critique about it, to me it was fantastic.
I loved this movie when it came out it was so slay, but then it was so poorly reviewed i felt embarrassed for liking it. I’m glad to see somebody else thought it was a serve.
NEVER feel bad for liking the things you like (as long as it's not hurting others). In the grand scheme of things, no one else matters, and the things that bring you happiness are worth every moment spent on it because we're all insignificant ants floating on a giant rock around an infinite universe just trying to survive until tomorrow. Like what speaks to you, and fuck the haters.
i remember looking up what the ending meant and finding out so many people disliked it. i was so shocked. this movie and burlesque were always in rotation
mike has been killing it lately with the lesbian millennial/early gen z audience flicks!!! before i knew i was gay i knew that sucker punch and pitch perfect had "something special" (it was the women.)
@@dia8183 I was too but in like 2011 some random movie channel decided to play it on repeat every night and I just kept watching it over and over and over
i LOVED sucker punch when i saw it in theatres. it was odd to me how so many people hated it, i was obsessed for months lol but i was also a 16yr old grunge chick, it was literally like a feature length movie about my aesthetic 😂
i think Babydoll IS Sweepea and Rocket is Babydoll’s sister that she killed in the beginning. the part at the beginning is the reason why Sweetpea is there and NONE of the other girls are real/just other patients at the hospital that Sweetpea has made up this friendship with to cope. That’s why when the three of them die there’s no repercussions in the 1st reality because Rocket had already died, and the friendship and camaraderie with other girls was imaginary/Sweetpea doesn’t know what happened to them and can only assume (Imagine) the worst
This movie was dominating mentally ill hot girlboss discourse while Gen Z Sanrio girls were getting their first piercing at Claires, truly a cultural benchmark🤭🎀💕
i agree one thousand percent that those movie plot descriptions are all technically true but also NOT and incomplete at the same time!!! i also loved the extended cut of this (that extra 17 minutes MAKE A DIFFERENCE) and have watched it several times, it IS such a movie!
@@Daniel-kw8ns I think Emma would've been a good Amber but Amanda for Babydoll is iffy. I can see it going both ways. I'm happy with the cast we got in the end
sitting and watching while cradling my physical DVD, blu-ray and CD, and my 3D printed charms from babydoll's gun. i love this movie. thank you for your service
I never knew there was an extended cut!!! I MUST find this extended cut asap! Thank you Mike for this incredible deep dive. You, yourself, are a diva and the guardian angel we all need 💁🏻❤️
in my memory I know sucker punch as “vanessa hudgen’s first movie post high school musical that my older sister really wanted to see but our mom wouldn’t let her and she’d remind me of it every time we’d see the poster of it in the Walmart poster carousel”
They had a box of wigs and steampunk corsets, an actress who can do a cartwheel and a dream. Zach Snyder said "Feminism? When I tell you, what I am about to tell you, you will be told my opinion".
1. When I saw the thumbnail, I immediately ran to the nearest mic and gAGGGGGGED 2. Sucker Punch dreamed so Inception and Tenet could run 3. This movie… now I understand the shrines dedicated to Mr Synder himself. 4. This video summary & analysis… there must be an Oscar for this!!!!!
i have loved this movie since it came out and i STILL have people look at me like i have two heads when i say i love it. truly the most movie ever, it changed me so irreversibly i have tattoos inspired by it
I remember seeing Sucker Punch in theatres, people were walking out. My ex bf left me alone to go see Scott Pilgrim in a different screen room. I stayed because I thought it was amazing. I cried like a baaaabbyyyy when Rocket died.
RELEASE THE SNYDER CUT!!! I cannot express how excited I am for the cultural resurgence of Sucker Punch!! I neeeed WB to give Snyder his reunion reshoots so he can give us the badass hot women scifi movie musical we DESERVE!!
I saw this film with a friend and a four pack of Sofia Coppola canned rose (with matching pink straws), and we crushed them and it was my favorite film of 2011 by a MILE. By a MARATHON. By 26.2 thigh chafing, nipple bleeding, nearly entirely CGI action sequences. I adored what it did from the start, and I will be INSUFFERABLE about it for the rest of my life.
just want to point out that this was filmed a little before/at the same time as inception and nolan and snyder are friends and were already working on other projects together. All im saying is everyone hypes the inception reality/dream level thing but Suckerpunch kinda did it first (even tho the release date was later than inception)
15:28 Michael I have urgent news. The Sucker Punch Remix of Army of Me is indeed on spotify. You can find it under the dedicated Sucker Punch soundtrack compilation. Awful subheading to that though, it may not be available in Australia because it's currently greyed out for me when I look at the album (and I'm also Aussie).
@@mireilleryan-nicholls7730 I just checked and it's true. It sounds a bit different from the version I remember from Sucker Punch, but it goes imbecilically hard, so I won't question it too much. Thank you for solving what could have been an Apollyon class disaster. Edit: It is indeed different. The riff appears in both versions, but the one on spotify that's not under the Sucker Punch soundtrack starts with that riff rather than the slow bassy buildup. There must be some way of getting the real Sucker Punch version though because my dad has it on his computer in really high quality.
i loved this movie growing up, total guilty pleasure and escapist fantasy😂😂 it released around the time i was really into Alice Madness Returns and both ticked very specific aesthetic and angst boxes in my little developing teen brain. I love the concept of a girl dissociating into a fantasy world creatively reflecting her present issues and environment in life and where she is allowed to process her anxieties and fears in brutal & violent fashion. It just slays and i am obsessed with it even at 26yrs old
Those animated shorts of Sucker Punch lore should have 100,000% been on the Blu-ray release along with the extended cut. The fact that they separated those completely onto a RU-vid channel that I'm pretty sure nobody who saw this movie knew existed, is not only stupid, it's kind of criminal. Hell, I've been a fan of this movie since its release and I never knew until now that those shorts even existed! Also, I agree. Release the Snyder Cut of this film.
Congrats on hitting 1 Million subscribers with this beautiful Sucker Punch video. I ❤️ this movie and I hope Zack can release his Directors Cut of the movie someday once the licensing is up on the blu-ray in few years. Also Zack talked about this movie awhile ago even wanting to shoot additional scenes for the movie with the girls again for the movie if they are available for it and having maybe a commentary with him/girls for the 4K blu-ray release as well.🙌🏽
THANK YOU FOR THIS. All these years I've yet to see a reviewer notice that the story of Baby Doll was told by Sweet Pea, as shown in the beginning with Sweet Pea acting as Baby Doll in the theater, and every other friendly NPCs in the third realities are acted by the bus driver and the other occupants seen by Sweet Pea when she escaped because she don't know many people in the outside world other than those in that bus who in her mind, are the only ones on her side.
Unexpected Essay Incoming: The complicated relationship between sweet pea, rocket and their mother, as well as the repeating theme of sister killing sister (both babydoll and sweet pea accidentally cause / were part of their sisters’ deaths) is so interesting and I wonder if it’s related to the 3rd fantasy world storyline. Having to kill the dragon baby and then the mother after she attacks them - also keeping in mind fighting and killing enemies in this world translates to dancing in the 3nd fantasy world and taking back your power / working through your issues in the real world suggests the guilt and trauma from that experience is something babydoll/sweet pea had to come to terms with, which was explored and worked through during that scene in order to be ‘free’ and heal. She also essentially gives the dragon a lobotomy (foreshadowing). Also in the animated short the knights and goblins are fighting over the dragon; the goblins worship the dragon in a religious way while the humans, seeing something more powerful than them as a threat believe they have to kill the dragon. This acts as a sort of 4th fantasy world and the way the goblin = evil stereotype is reversed and the fact this is never touched on in the theatrical release is a reminder that men are the real villains (blue, the high roller / doctor, the step-father) and the sexualised appearance of the girls is a defensive tool and commentary on that very male gaze perpetrated by the villains!
Suckerpunch is one of my favorite movies of all time and I am THRILLED that you made a video about it. I similarly haven’t stopped thinking about it for the past 13 years, bc the first time I saw it I was 13, on a plane, growing out my bangs, experimenting with bad eyeliner and realizing I was queer (also saw The Runaways for the first time on this flight) and I cannot express how perfectly timed my experience of this movie was. Def pulling out my Blu-ray the second I finish this video.
Your theory that it is Sweet Pea's reality makes so much sense because the time we see her, she is the only one on the stage in the 'theatre' - as if she is the main character in a 'show'