Category: Reviews

Zack Synder seems to be able to do no wrong. From his smash hit 300, all the way to his latest animated feature – Legend of the Guardians, it seemed like everything he touched turned to gold. Unfortunately for Suckerpunch, it looks like he might be losing his touch.

Suckerpunch tells the story of a girl, Baby Doll (Emily Browning) that was sent away to a mental asylum and is due for a lobotomy in a few days. Trying to escape reality, she retreats into her own imagination where she has to overcome some obstacles in order to escape the asylum and that’s when the lines between reality and fantasy start to blur. Or in Zack Snyder’s own words: Alice in Wonderland with guns.

Suckerpunch is a peculiar movie. On one hand you have the serious issues of an abusive stepfather, a recently passed away mother, and a dead sister Baby Doll was accused of committing. On the other hand you have this fantastic world of dancers, robots, giant samurai and Nazi soldiers. If there was a phrase to describe the movie, it would be pretty much style without substance. The ending leaves you puzzled and feeling a bit cheated when you realize that things aren’t what they seem, and if you know Alice in Wonderland, you pretty much get the gist of the movie.

The characters play their roles well. Emily Browning does a fantastic job of playing the sweet, innocent Baby Doll who brings out the guns blazing when required and the rest of the supporting cast perform their roles as side characters without any problem. That being said, none of the characters show any versatility or outstanding traits – to summarize, it’s a bunch of pretty faces playing very generic roles.

The visuals in this movie are top notch. Not as much slo-mo action we’re all used to seeing in Snyder’s movies, but the worlds are very well done. I would love to see how the movie transitioned from concept to the final set. The bad guys look bad, special effects are great, and everything is just beautiful. No complaints here.

Overall the movie is pretty much an overused storyline that brings nothing new to the table, but it does so with plenty of style. If you’re up for babes, explosions, dragons, swords, robots, Nazis, and pretty much everything that gets the blood pumping – you’ll find it in this movie. Emily Browning currently takes the cake for cutest actress ever – she really looks like a baby doll albeit one who kicks ass. If you’re planning to watch Suckerpunch – don’t analyze it, and just go along for the ride. You’ll find it as enjoyable as I did. Suckerpunch gets 6/10.

Liam Neeson managed to pull off the bad ass, tough guy father role in his previous blockbuster Taken and it looks like he’s trying to repeat its success in this movie, but can he do it again? Not really.

Unknown tells the story of Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) who gets involved in a car accident and forgets who he is. He then tries to recover his identity, and uncovers a conspiracy along the way.

Unknown has an unoriginal but interesting premise that is ultimately letdown by some simple flaws (unveiled really early in the movie). And when the mystery finally unravels, you somehow feel unsatisfied and wish there was more to it. But there isn’t. Other than that, the journey to the end is nothing to complain about, it is fast-paced and exciting but not enough to keep you glued to the edge of your seat from start to finish.

The actors do an alright job here, but unlike Taken, Liam Neeson’s age seems to be showing – maybe he really is getting older. Diane Kruger and January Jones provide the eye candy, and Bruno Ganz (the man who acts as Hitler in the widely parodied YouTube videos) does a good job of playing the role of an ex-Nazi spy.

Unknown doesn’t add anything new to the table, and in the realm of “memory recall” movies, there are many other movies you can enjoy more than this, but it’s not a bad film despite its flaws. That being said, it is entertaining and you won’t be disappointed as long as you’re not expecting too much. Unknown gets 6/10.

Alien invasion! Send in the military! Shoot out! Blam blam blam! Aliens die! The end. If there’s one thing that hasn’t changed in alien invasion movies since forever, it’s the predictable storyline – which is fine, because I’ve come to accept not to expect anything more. Plus I believe that it’s possible to reuse an overdone story and still make a good movie out of it. It’s all in the delivery – and Battle: Los Angeles fails to deliver.

The last alien movie that I actually remember truly enjoying was District 9 and that was two years ago and since then I’ve yet to find an alien movie that surpasses its standards. Anyway, Battle: LA is about aliens invading LA and killing everybody in sight. The military is sent in to rescue some survivors, before the Air Force bombs the shit out of the area.

Aaron Eckhart plays the about-to-be-retired-but-sent-back-into-battle Sergeant Michael Nantz, who is part of a squad of horribly overused, clichéd and stereotypical soldiers. Along the way they meet Technical Sergeant Elena Santos (Michelle Rodriguez) who joins the party because everyone else in her team died. There’s nothing terrible about anybody’s acting here – just nothing special either. The big named stars could’ve been easily replaced with lesser known actors of the same caliber and it wouldn’t have changed a thing.

If you like watching movies for eye candy, I guess you’re in for a treat. The special effects in the movie are pretty good, nothing cheesy or bad here, the aliens, weapons and ships all look pretty good. But if you want some semblance of a decent plot line or perhaps a twist or two, you’re out of luck. To me, Battle: LA feels like a typical adaptation of a video game turned into a movie – it’s rarely done right and you’d rather be playing the game instead. And since the Battle: LA game was inspired by the movie, we’re stuck in a conundrum here. Anyway, Battle: LA gets 4/10.