Synopsis: A young women is sent to a mental institution by her step father. She envisions a plan to escape the facility by creating an alternate world in her head...
I had been quite excited about this film for a while. Synder's always been a great visual director (300, Watchmen) so I was interested in what he would do with an original idea...
Most of what you see in the trailer are part of the four or five different set pieces that our main character, Babydoll, retreats to whilst trying to find the things she needs to escape from the institution. This allows them to be as crazy as Synder wants them to be... and they are crazy! Many people may see them as self-indulgent fantasies, but hey, being the nerd that are am, they are fantastises that I really want to be a part of! A plane fighting a dragon whilst knights storm a castle? Yes please!
As you'd expect the visuals and graphics are stunning. Synder really does know how to use CGI to great effect, and coupled with brilliant cinematography, you become immensed in this world, even if it is our characters head.
However, this is film is a text book case of 'style-over-substance'. Whilst the visuals are distracting, it's hard not to notice the lack of a proper plot or character development. Each of the five girls in the film are cookie-cutter stereotypes- Rocket is the young one, Amber is the sweet one, Sweet Pea is the cynical one- and none of the girls seem to get past these. In fact, by the end, I don't feel very much for these characters at all...
This film had the potential to be Inception for gamer nerds. However, I understood Inception perfectly... I didn't with this film, and not in a good way. The ending is not so much a twist, but a slow burn of realisation that just seems to complcate the plot.
I still, however, really enjoyed this film. Yes, the plot is silly, and yes, the characters mean nothing to me, but I honestly don't care. The visuals of the amazing set-pieces more than make up for it, ranging from a World War II trench complete with zombie Nazis to a futuristic train ride with robotic guards. How can you not like that? It may be a self-indulgent fantasy, but I'm happy to be indulged!
Rating: 8 out of 10
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