Zack Snyder Wants to Fix ‘Sucker Punch’ – Does Anyone Want Another Recut?
Does Zack Snyder’s video game inspired fantasy film Sucker Punch really need a recut? Ehhhhhh? Really? The director thinks so.
Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch follows a group of young women committed to a mental institution. Babydoll isn’t ready to accept her fate – she starts to collect items needed to escape the institution. As she does, she and the other inmates enter a series of fantasy worlds where they become strong, experienced warriors who have to fight for their lives – in revealing costumes and heels because, sure, it was 2011, and we still did that.
It stars Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, and Jamie Chung as the team of fighters. It was a flop with critics, audiences, and at the box office. If you’ve missed out on its utter terribleness, it’s available on multiple VOD services.
Snyder Wants Another Sucker Punch Do-Over
Sucker Punch got an R-rated extended cut as part of its initial DVD release. The extra scenes add 18 minutes; also included in that release are four animated shorts. They provide more background about the fantasy locations, and give some more depth to the movie that is really lacking. Do the extras save it? Nope.
The director, who can’t seem to let well enough alone, wants to release a director’s cut that he claims will improve it (doubtful). He recently told Empire…
“The only movie I would change is Sucker Punch, because it never really got finished correctly. Even the director’s cut is not really the cut. It’s really just an extended version. If I had the chance, I would fix that movie. I have the footage already shot: they just have to let me put it together. We ask every now and then. We have to ask again. I think there has to be a window when no-one’s got the movie.”
The project will likely need the type of fan campaign that convinces Warner Bros. to make the Snyder Cut of Justice League, but that’s not a given (and WB execs have expressed regrets about the whole thing). The social media response to the Sucker Punch news hasn’t been entirely positive.
Director’s cuts have existed for various reasons – forced studio edits, theatrical release time limitations, aiming for a particular MPA rating, etc. Home releases have given directors leeway to add cut scenes and shift narratives. Sometimes, this works well (the LoTR trilogy, Kingdom of Heaven) and gives fans more context and better stories. Sometimes, it gets out of control, like the seven versions of Bladerunner.
I understand the push and eventual release of Snyder’s cut of Justice League because he had to hand the movie to Joss Whedon, and what was released wasn’t what Snyder had planned. That aside, he’s teasing multiple cuts of his Rebel Moon saga. Why does a straight-to-streaming release that has no time limitations or issues with ratings need two or more cuts? Just do it the way you want the first time. Make a series instead of a movie, and take 8-10 hours.
Back to the topic at hand – do we really need a Sucker Punch recut thirteen years after its release? No. No, we do not. Sorry, Babydoll, Rocket, Sweet Pea, Blondie, and Amber – time has moved on.
