It’s been over a decade since the release of Zack Snyder‘s divisive film Sucker Punch, but the movie is still on the director’s mind, with him sharing his continued desire to release an extended cut–at some point. While the film received largely negative reviews upon its initial release, Sucker Punch has since undergone somewhat of a reassessment, accruing a cult following in recent years. The film stars Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, and Oscar Isaac.

Browning appears as “Babydoll”, a young woman who is sent to a mental institution by a cruel stepfather, as he attempts to gain control of the will left by her late mother, and arranges for her to be lobotomized. As she plots her escape, she journeys through a series of fantasy realms with her fellow inmates, transformed into powerful warriors. The movie concludes with Babydoll having undergone the lobotomy–but Snyder expressed that the tone in the released cut differs from his original vision. Speaking in an interview with Letterboxd, the director said “I’ve never gotten around to doing the director’s cut. I still plan to at some point. But in the original ending when Babydoll is in the chair in the basement with Blue–she’s already been lobotomized–when the cop shines the light on her, the set breaks apart, and she stands up, and she sings a song on stage.”

With Oscar Isaac‘s Blue incriminating Babydoll’s stepfather as he is arrested, the film does end with some semblance of justice having been served. Of the original ending, Snyder added “It’s weirdly not optimistic and optimistic at the same time. That’s kind of what the tone was at the end. We tested it and the studio thought it was too weird, so we changed it. You’ll get to see it at some point, I’m sure. I hope.”

A Frosty Reception

Released on March 25, 2011, the film was produced on a budget of $82 million, however proved a commercial failure, only grossing $89.8 million at the box office. Sucker Punch was met with a negative reception from critics–earning a measly score of only 22% on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. When Collider reviewed the movie upon its release, Matt Goldberg wrote of how “Snyder shows he not only misunderstands how imagination works, he also has no understanding of inspiration, empowerment, or joy,” adding that “the movie swims through the wet dreams of a teenage boy but pretends at higher aspirations of thoughtful escapism and transcendent determination.” The director is aware of such criticisms however, as in the recent interview he said “I feel like the main criticism of the film was that it was too exploitative. People took the movie as if the girls fighting and all that stuff was the movie. I found that slightly disheartening.”

Sucker Punch is available to stream on Max.

via Collider