Battle: LA and Sucker Punch

I forgot to talk about Battle: Los Angeles after I saw it last week so I'll talk about it this week. Battle LA (from here on called BLA) is a little different than your normal aliens invade the planet movie. Starting with the difference of its not just a small group of them and they also aren't going to give us any time. This movie takes off at a run and tries to hold the pace through out the entire film. It succeeds with that, mostly but there are a couple dry spells so that we can learn something about our characters and why we should care if they make it or not. I think in the last respect the film falls flat, most people are your standard millitary type and doesn't really veer too wildly off center. I found the movie ultimately to be enjoyable but it wasn't with out its flaws. I did like however that they didn't take any short cuts with giving the invaders some outrageously convient flaw for our protaganists to exploit. So kudos to them for that, all in all there are worse movies out right now but if you have your doubts you're not missing anything by renting it.

So... now on to Sucker Punch. First a little background on my history with this film. From the first trailer I saw and went "Oh wow, I'm so seeing that." I put my self on a media black out. I avoided any and all further trailers (even the one I'd already seen) and tried to not hear anything about film. As it turns out, it's REALLY hard to do in this day and age. So any way, I'll start off by saying that this film is a narrative mess. I understand that, anybody who sees the film will understand that. But, from the very first scene you can tell that this film will be unlike many if any other film you'd ever seen. The film looks gorgeous even in all of its grimy and dirty settings. The special effects are well done and just what you'd expect from a Z. Snyder film. The characters can be a little one note at times but I think that the main actresses really did a pretty good job with what was given to them. This film isn't high drama, its five girls in slightly revealing clothing kicking lots of ass. This movie was pretty much made for me... Once you get over the initial hurdle of "what the hell is going on?" this movie was pretty easy for me to sit back and enjoy. You're not going to get any huge twists, grandiose statements on society or comments on the economy. What you will get though is five very attractive girls shooting guns and swinging swords and you know what? I'm ok with that.