Manny The Movie Guy /

I must admit I was reluctant to watching "Sucker Punch." Rumors abound that Warner Bros. pulled director Zack Snyder from helming the "300" sequel, "Xerxes," because of the horrible early cuts of "Sucker Punch." But Warner Bros. announced its intent was to have Snyder concentrate on the "Superman" reboot he's working on with producer Christopher Nolan.

After watching "Sucker Punch" last night, I now believe that the studio pulled Snyder from "Xerxes" so he could concentrate on his Man of Steel project. Why?

Because "Sucker Punch" is actually good! Like the film's tagline, I was unprepared!

Note - this is not my full review of the movie, this is just my stream of consciousness to help me crystallize my thoughts on the film.

First, what you see in the trailer is what you get! WB is not duping you by hyping the movie. It is a balls-out, guns-out fantasy-within-a-fantasy film that packs a mean wallop!

Second, Snyder and company subvert the film's melodramatic nature (a girl abused by her stepfather gets thrown into an insane asylum) by letting the audience peek into Baby Doll's (Emily Browning) imaginary world.

Third, Scott Glenn rocks! He's the Yoda, the Dumbledore, the Gandalf of the movie. The Zen Master that showed Baby Doll the road to freedom. It's a role that would have been perfect for David Carradine.

Fourth, though the character development of the surrounding cast was inept, the chemistry of the five girls Baby Doll, Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish), Rocket (Jena Malone), Amber (Jamie Chung), and Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens) was palpable. You can tell they really like each other on-off screen.

Fifth, I love the soundtrack. The music plays an important role in the movie. Plus points for Browning for singing Sweet Dreams.

Sixth, the fantasy worlds and the real world were equally given ample weight. So when you're in and out of the dream/fantasy, you're always in for a ride.

Seventh...and this is a biggie, the film's pure visceral energy!

That's all I'm going to tell you right now, I'm just psyched after watching "Sucker Punch" especially when I was not looking forward to doing so!

Now, I have a lot of issues to talk to the cast and Synder. That, of course, will be posted here...very soon!

P.S. I LOVE THE WEAPONS! And how each of the weapons is represented by each of the characters.