Next week, I’ll finally be able to talk about my time on the set of “Sucker Punch.” Right now, nothing I say is going to sway people one way or another about the film since there’s a new trailer for the movie that is going to pretty much seal whether or not you think you’re going to go see the film in the theater.
I can’t imagine someone who loves genre films and fantasy filmmaking in general who doesn’t think this looks like a visual treat. The story to the film is a tough one, and I remember thinking that even when Zack and Deb Snyder both described it to us, it seemed like they were struggling to fully sum it up.
What this trailer really does is establish that Snyder’s signature is here in full force, but unleashed to just wander and do anything it wants instead of in service to someone else’s vision. I’ve been reading the gorgeous “Art of” book that Titan is putting out, full of Clay Enos photos from the set, and if nothing else, I am dazzled by the scope of Snyder’s unfettered imagination in this one.
When I see someone complain about Snyder’s visual work, I honestly don’t see the same thing they see. Snyder plays with time during scenes and during action because that’s the way time feels during certain moments, thick and slow and then suddenly fast again. It communicates something, and it allows for something akin to a comic book panel, a frozen highlight from a larger series of motions.
As far as Snyder’s cavalcade of lovely young things goes, it really doesn’t matter what sort of woman you love, you’ll find yourself drawn to someone in the ensemble. Abbie Cornish, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, Jena Malone, Carla Gugino… that’s quite the onslaught of “holy cow.” What really weirds me out is just how striking Emily Browning is these days. When we showed “Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate Events” at Butt-Numb-a-Thon, I moderated a Q&A with the two kids from the film, and Emily Browning was, without question, a kid. And I was pretty much exactly who I am now. Which freaks me out.
I think I’m oversharing. It’s not my fault. This trailer gets me antsy, because we’ve still got some waiting to do. Check it out:
“Sucker Punch” opens on March 25th.