The world is being Sucker Punch(ed).

The more I read reviews about Sucker Punch, the more I realize that these people clearly are not the demographic the movie is intended for. They complain about too much CGI, too many fight scenes, why doesn't it have more plot, why is it a bunch of girls, why doesn't it obey the physics of reality, and how dare it be such a flashy action movie. It's like The Expendables all over again.

The only complaint that holds any water is whether or not this is a exploitation film and how this effects the portrayal of women. I feel that's a fairly in depth question that could go either way if people weren't so busy dismissing movie simply because it is all females kicking ass.

Let's be frank, people, this. Is. An. Action. Movie. It's troperific, full of homages, and is fully self aware. If you could actually pay attention, it is full of symbolism, it makes fun of itself, the genre, and the demographic it is intended for, but at the same time takes it seriously.

The three realities are not confusing. They're pretty straight forward. I felt some of them weren't introduced very well, but that doesn't mean that the lines are blurry-- the lines are very clear. It's like I'm listening to people scream about how confusing Inception was all over again, which wasn't confusing at all, and Sucker Punch is even MORE obvious than that.

If you're not a nerd, if you don't like action movies, if you're looking for something deep and meaningful that you're unable to decipher for yourself, if you don't like bright and flashy visuals, if you don't like cliches DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE.

If you're not comfortable seeing a group of girls kick ass in skimpy clothing because women should be able to kick ass in anything, that's fine. If you're not comfortable seeing a group of girls being exploited by men, being forced to sell their bodies as symbolism for being constrained and raped while in asylum, that's also understandable. You will probably not like this movie.

This movie is essentially five girls seeking power to escape death. They find agency by using the skills they have to fight. Fight their constraints, mental and physical. On the flip side, how they find empowerment can be a fetish for men. The director admitted that when Baby Doll dances and entrances all the men in the movie, likewise he intended to have all the men entranced by her kicking of the asses in the alternate reality she enters when dancing. This movie works both ways. It exploits women in the movie and exploits the audience watching it. Whether or not you are comfortable with that, whether or not you base your opinion of the movie on that doesn't change the fact that a big damn action movie shouldn't be critiqued for having too much action.

30 Days of Blogging - Day 18: Your pick!

Alright, since this is a My Choice for Great Justice day, I decided to write about Inception, the latest summer thriller everyone has been buzzing about this week-- and for good reason. It was a great watch. I went to the 1am IMAX showing at Northgate last night (prefunked with some delicious Beth's) and was so glad I did.
Non-spoilerly bits:

-The movie is labeled as a thriller/mystery/mind bender-- it isn't. Unless you aren't paying attention, which you should as it's that kind of movie, everything is neatly explained in a very forward manner, and this continues throughout the rest of the movie until the heist aspect of the movie begins. This certainly isn't a bad thing, not at all, because the story was so strong that I didn't care about the predictability of it. It's refreshing to watch such a movie that doesn't rely on plot twists to be engaging, but on what matters most, the characters and the story.

-Joseph Gordon-Levitt is my new favorite thing. Like any squeeful woman, I went on whims placing Chris Pine and Ryan Reynolds in the same category shortly after Star Trek and X-Men: Wolverine came out, but JGL is different. Okay, yeah, I do find him ridiculously cute, but guy can act. I knew this beforehand, but this was the first time I've seen him portray a character that wasn't quirky, or boyish, or any other label currently reserved for Michael Cerra. No, this JGL is a kick ass man. Like Crispin Glover, but with an All-American boyish look than makes him an unassuming threat upon first appearance.

If JGL has anything near resembling Arthur's sense of humor and bit of suavity, you can come invade my dreams any night!

-This isn't directly related to the movie itself, but all the previews attached to my showing were awesome. HP7, I'M TOTES EXCITED FOR YOU.

Spoilerly bits:

30 Days: Day 2 - Favorite Movie

My favorite movie, without a doubt, is The Lion King. Sure, I love Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Spaceballs, Howl's Moving Castle, and Sherk. I absolutely adore Jurassic Park. And I'm sure sometime in the future I will find another movie that has charmed me as much as WALL-E in order to add to my very short list of favorites out the 1000+ movies I've seen, but The Lion King will always be at the top.

 And then God showered light down from the heavens

and consumed all of Africa by Summoning Bigger Lion.

In the sixth month of 1994, Disney released it's 32nd animated feature, and Mufasa said, "This was good." Four years later Disney made a sequel, and Mufasa said, "Oh ell no." But that's less important because we're talking about THE LION KING. They used the opening musical number for their trailer, and people all around the world were peeing their pants because those few minutes were enough to show how awesome this movie was going to be. Forget explaining the plot, advertising Big Name Actors and a Big Name Musician, or combining all the good bits in one spoiler package-- the trailer didn't need that. The art, the music, and how these elements combined was enough to captivate and enthuse my wee little self sixteen years ago.

For those of you who somehow don't know about The Lion King despite it's fame, let me break it down for you. Darth Mufasa promises his entire kingdom of the African Savanna to his son, Simba. Or Kimba. Or Jimba TT if I'm going to go with the bad naming joke. Anyway, Darth M's brother is annoyed and kills him and convinces JTT that it's his fault, so JTT runs away and everyone thinks he's dead. So brother takes over and kills everything. Meanwhile, JTT has become a Man and befriended his dinner, a pig and a weasel cat. Eventually a hot lioness and monkey persuade JTT to return, he defeats his uncle, and then casts curaja with a might roar. It's Disney's version of Hamlet, to put it simply, but without Simba becoming crazypants like his father's younger Star Wars self and murdering everyone.

Most people criticize how closely it resembles Kimba the White Lion, a crappy Janime from 1960, and by closely resembles is that Kimba leaves his home and then returns later to save it. And his name is like "Simba." Oh yeah, totally the same story...if you completely ignore the fact that it involves human interference, environmentalism, and that sort of thing. But I'm talking about the finish product, pre-production of The Lion King was a bit different.

But The Lion King is basically everything I want from a movie, and the fact that it's animated proves the absolute power this film possess. Mufasa's death sparked some controversy, and I attribute that more to the ability the film had to connect to the audience on an emotional level. Manipulative? Perhaps, but that was the intent, the entire purpose of that scene, and we all fell into it without question because we were all so engrossed by this story of animated lions that we forgot they were lions. We forgot they were animated. We forgot it wasn't real, and yet we felt something very real.

Ignoring the sequels, this was properly followed up by the Big Damn Musical on Broadway that I was fortunate enough to see when they did their tour through Seattle last year. The movie is completely deserving, and the musical also deserving of the praise it has received thus far. I highly encourage everyone to see this!