"The story isn't deep enough to be worth the effort if you have to struggle with it. For it to be fun, you need to do the Double Think reality-juggling while relaxing and enjoying the ride."
I think that's the issue though: Sucker Punch really isn't that fun. It can't be a "turn off your brain" movie because the movie insists on jumping up and down screaming "Look! Look! I'm deep and symbolic! Read into me!" While it is a little bit of a Double Think, the metaphors are rather obvious and too much stuff feels thrown in there for the hell of it - so after the Double Think the movie is still unsatisfying. None of the characters were really developed, and the ones who did get some development still are shallow; so it's difficult to be emotionally attached to anyone. The dreams get repetitive after the map level, and knowing how they're going to turn out before they start doesn't help. The film takes itself so seriously that at points it just get silly.
Take the corny dialogue from the Wiseman. (How uncreative is that, his name's Wiseman) Yeah, it's corny because it's in the head of a young woman. The thing because the film takes everything so seriously, it gives the impression that we're supposed to take is supposed wisdom seriously as well. It only shows how silly and corny the dialogue is.
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Requires Double Think
This seem to be a movie that people either love or hate. A friend wanted to see it with me, and I said okay but warned him that I had heard bad things about it. He decided that we should go and see it anyways, and it turned out that I loved the movie but he hated it.
The thing is, Sucker Punch works on so many levels simultaneously. This can be one hell or a ride, or simply exhausting.
The way I see it, there are two ways to enjoy this movie. Either turn off your brain and enjoy the action without trying to make any sense of it whatsoever. Or go with the flow, and accept a fractured reality with multiple layers of Unreliable Narrator where reality itself is reduced to From A Certain Point Of View. To enjoy Sucker Punch at this level require massive Double Think of the audience. Not only simultaneously taking in three separate levels of reality and simultaneously taking each one for what it is, but also doing it fluently. The last part is crucial: The story isn't deep enough to be worth the effort if you have to struggle with it. For it to be fun, you need to do the Double Think reality-juggling while relaxing and enjoying the ride.
The final argument between my friend and I was that he thought the wise man's wisdoms were shallow and corny. And I was like, "Of course they are: The wise man is not a real ultimate guru, he's the ultimate guru dreamt up by an immature and mentally unstable young woman". And he was like "Okay, but that's not worth watching!" and I was like "yes it is".
So, in conclusion, this movie is insane. For better and worse. Personally, I loved it.