So what's going to be post-'Watchmen'?

By Sarah Sluis

For all the hype about Watchmen, it's left many of the initial viewers feeling empty, unsatisfied, and just plain 'meh' (more on that tomorrow from me, though you can read Ethan Alter's review now). So if the anticipation regarding Watchmen is already over, maybe it's time to see what's next for director Zack Snyder, who wowed audiences with 300?

The answer: Suckerpunch. The "all-female" fighting film stars a cast of women, locked up in a

sanatorium, who retreat to a fantasy world where they can physically assert themselves in ways they can't in the real world. The movie, which Snyder boils down to a high-concept log line, "Alice in Wonderland with machine guns," will center on one girl, locked up by her father and scheduled for a lobotomy. What really got me excited about this project is the casting. Cinematical reports Amanda Seyfried might play the lead, and young stars Vanessa Hudgens, Evan Rachel Wood, Abbie Cornish, and Emma Stone have been floated around as members of the supporting cast. Perhaps Snyder is going for the flip side of that 18-25 male demographic.

The idea that casting women in an action film makes it appealing to them, though, is completely false, and cinema has a fairly uneven track record in that regard. I'm all about seeing women in action roles (Wanted, Charlie's Angels, Alien...Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, Coffy were films that had both the good, the bad, the exploitative, and the subversive), but many times the female characters are presented more as an object than a character one can identify with or aspire to be in her shoes. As a female viewer, what I care more about than a female character's portrayal is whether I perceive they have knowledge and control over their situation. This, I think, makes any film more interesting. However, since the trailer/costuming alone deters me from many female heroine actioners (i.e. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Elektra) that I suspect would have nothing of interest for me, I can't comment on how these films actually play out.

Director Zack Snyder and Producer Deborah Snyder

More detail about Suckerpunch, however, should be forthcoming, and will help sort out the admittedly sketchy information right now. For example, while the blog reports that the screenplay will be Snyder's first original work, IMDB lists Adam Rifkin as the writer. Since a release date has already been set for the film, which is planned for October 8, 2010 (note that it's not scheduled for the summer peak time, although that could be a red herring), it's safe to say that more details about the project should come to light after execs see Watchmen's opening weekend and the level of its second week drop-off.