Sucker Punch new trailer is packing a punch

With all the flurry of news about Zak Snyder's reboot of Superman, it's almost as if we had forgotten he had a new film out before that! Sucker Punch, his latest effort, is out in a month in the US and on 1st of April in the UK.

The story is about a young girl, sent to a mental institution, who retreats in an imaginary world as a coping strategy where she and other inmates plot their escape. It sounds and looks like it's adapted from a graphic novel but it's actually an original script, in fact, this the first time Zak Snyder has worked from an original material.

But after this latest trailer, forget any hopes the first two trailers might have given you of any characterisation and plot development. In fact, it looks like the action has definitely been ramped up to make up with a current lack of buzz surrounding it. This really is just about scantily clad beauties in various schoolgirls/ninjas outfits, battling it up with samurais, mutant nazis, robots and dragons armed with huge guns and swords in slo-mo (as you do), with some teen angst soundtrack added for good measure, like  big budget Marilyn Manson video.

In a way, I find the story to be not too dissimilar to Scott Pilgrim's basic premise, depending on the way your were interpreting it. In some ways, Scott Pilgrim could be seen as being set in the schizophrenic mind of a 30 something video game addicted nerd who never left his room, escaping into an imaginary world of his creation, full of retro video games references, and where nerds win the hot girl at the end, having somehow developed some kick ass kung fu moves (hours of playing Street fighter I take it)

Zak Snyder, while not having quite developed its own imitable signature, is incapable of making a boring film. At worst, this will be just some enjoyable eye candy, similar to the hollow 300. (I take it Warner is hoping for a similar big box office result on its first week end, opening it up practically on the same week end four years later, and with a trailer that is not too dissimilar in style). At best, he will have been able to infuse some depth to the proceedings and with a bunch of reliably good actresses, including the too rare Jena Malone (Donnie Darko) and Carla Gugino.