Zack Snyder has certainly come a long way since his remake of DAWN OF THE DEAD; or has he? There's no denying he has created a distinguishable style of his own, and his two follow-ups established his reputation as a filmmaker with a penchant for graphic novels shot on digital backlots. 300 was a faithful interpretation of the Frank Miller's book, although it did get quite a critical mauling. The same could be said for his take on Watchmen was met with both acclaim and derision. His CG family animation LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS went by pretty much unnoticed, but his latest film SUCKER PUNCH has been almost as highly anticipated as WATCHMEN was. Unfortunately, it doesn't live up to the anticipation nor the hype.

Part of the problem could be that this is his first original screenplay rather than an adaptation of an existing work. With his most celebrated films he was working from classic graphic novels that already had great visual storytelling, which he was more than happy to use, and often to great effect because, if nothing else, he is a great visual stylist. That does, however, lead to one of SUCKER PUNCH's main downfalls; it's all style over substance. The story is so disjointed that it is hard to summarise beyond; a girl gets wrongfully put in a mental asylum and wants to escape but has lots of fantasies where she is a kick-ass warrior assisted by her inmates. Imagine if a teenager, brought up on MTV, anime and video games wanted to make a "really cool" version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, but with gender role reversals putting scantily clad grrls in the lead roles. Or possibly a version of Tarsem's visually stunning THE FALL, put through the same teen wet-dream filter, with influences from Del Toro's HELLBOY movies - except lacking the plot, story structure or acting of those two films.

Basically, Snyder has created a visually rich, 90-minute pop video in which Lady Gaga would not have been out of place. In fact, the best thing about it is its soundtrack (which doesn't have the Led Zep from the trailer), which is definitely worth getting and a much better use of your money than buying a cinema ticket. There is not really any acting to speak of, although Oscar Issac does stand out, and one does wonder what the hell Jon Hamm is doing in it. To his credit though, Snyder is very good at expanding the world of his films, in much the same way the Wachowskis did with THE MATRIX. He did it with WATCHMEN, adding animations and "documentaries", and he has been doing it with this film too.

If you happen to be a teenager brought up on MTV, anime and video games then this may appeal to you, but if pantie shots of girls is your reason for seeing it then there are plenty of films on the net (apparently) that will better cater for your fantasies and that make little pretence of being art, and you can watch them while listening to the soundtrack.