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Brett Beach: I read a piece on Snyder and his wife/producer/partner who has been creatively involved with him from Dawn of the Dead on. From what I gather, she has been not afraid to call him on bullshit or things that have needed tweaking/fixing. I bring that up only to wonder out loud if this being a "personal" project for him in any way kept either of them from pulling back at some point and asking if this was at all a good idea. Once again, we have a film that gives us "the moon" from a visual standpoint simply because anything can be done with CGI and green screen. In my estimation, this is akin to Speed Racer coming from The Wachowskis after their trio of hits and opens just slightly ahead of what that did. I figure this to flame out as quickly and end up in the low to mid 40s max. From a viewing standpoint, the initial trailers intrigued me although I am sorry to hear the critical consensus that there are no real performances or story to get behind. I am intrigued with some favorable reviews that praise its "idiotic brilliance" (to borrow a phrase) and the lethal bite of cyanide that rests at the film's core.

Shalimar Sahota: Sucker Punch has been one of my most anticipated of the year. However, as the release date got closer, box office expectations were lowered. News came out about bad test screenings, and the film was likely cut down to a PG-13 because of this (even this put a few people off from seeing the film). Also as Josh says, reviews matter, and people appear to be paying attention to them. I think Brett's Speed Racer comparison is an interesting one, a visually stunning looking film that just doesn't seem to connect with audiences. Box office wise, Sucker Punch will probably be the Kick-Ass of 2011, except this doesn't have the reviews to back it up.

Max Braden: Reviews should matter, but I'm always surprised that they can affect opening day numbers, and that there weren't enough GFBs to give it a boost. A lot of people I knew were well aware of the trailer and anticipated it being a big movie. I never understood what the hell was going on in the trailer, but I still thought "that looks cool, I should see it." I happened to see it at an advance screening; maybe the GFBs did too.

I have to say it's one of the most disappointing movies relative to a strong trailer that I've ever seen. I willingly sit through a lot of crap (I've seen every Val Kilmer straight-to-video release all the way through, which should say something) and rarely have I been so annoyed while watching a movie. I really wanted to walk out. Still, if I were a casting agent I'd hire Abbie Cornish again in a heartbeat. She was like a younger kick-ass version of Maria Bello.

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