Sucker Punch (soundtrack)
Encyclopedia
Like with the soundtrack for Watchmen
, director Zack Snyder
decided to go with covers instead of original songs, saying "If you go with the original song, you just get the moment. But if you go with covers you also get all of the baggage you bring to it, [...] I like the baggage. It kind of resonates and rings across time, it's not just of the moment." The soundtrack was produced by composer Tyler Bates
and musical producer Marius de Vries
. While Bates' job was initally only writing a musical score and helping the song transitions, the composer ended working closely with de Vries as "the songs and the score just began bleeding into one another" - the only track in which de Vries worked alone was the remix of "Army of Me
".
Snyder wanted the songs to add depth, dimension and "meaning to the sequences they exist within", as the film includes "multiple levels of reality". de Vries noted the director tried to use songs instead of an original score "so that the lyrics could help navigate the way through the complex scenes and illuminate Babydoll’s state of mind." Bates said "the songs serve as the link to the conscious world of Babydoll" while the score "was designed to simply underscore the sense of reality in the various alternate realities/action". On the song selection, Snyder said that the tracks were chosen to "resonate" and give the viewer "sort of a nostalgic feeling", and de Vries added that the compositions had to fit the film's "themes of escape and hope, and redemption through the imagination."
The original script of the film included parts where the characters sang, but it did not make the final cut, and de Vries said, "It was never going to be an opera, or even going to be a musical. It was very unlikely even to have any 'break into song' moments within it, but the fact that we designed it so that it could I think gives it that sort of strange, music-driven resonance." References to both Roxy Music
's "Love is the Drug
" and Jefferson Airplane
's "White Rabbit
" were seen in the original script, with the former being used in a musical sequence performed by actors Carla Gugino
and Oscar Isaac
"in the style of a Bob Fosse
/Moulin Rouge
kind of vibe", and the latter being picked by Snyder for his belief that it was "perfect for our World War I [action sequence]". Bates considers Emilíana Torrini
's cover of "White Rabbit" to be the soundtrack's standout. Nine songs are featured in the soundtrack, with Bates saying others were considered and discarded for among other reasons, veto from the original artists and "lyrics too on the nose".
Carla Gugino
revealed in August 2009 that she had began taking singing lessons for her part in the film. One month later, Jamie Chung
announced in an interview with E! Entertainment that recording for the soundtrack had begun. When Emily Browning
auditioned for her role as Babydoll, Snyder asked her to sing because of the musical element in the film. He told her to record herself while singing, and the actress did a version of "Killing Me Softly with His Song
". Browning later said, "I was terrified, of course. But he liked it. I have no idea why, but he thought me capable of carrying a tune on the screen." The crew liked the result and offered her to sing more songs. At first it was just a cover of "Where Is My Mind?
" by Pixies, which ended up becoming a duet with Yoav
, but the producers extended to three songs. One, a version by "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
" by Eurythmics
, is used to open the movie, and Bates noted that "[Emily's] first line of dialogue is actually 27 minutes into the film so it is an interesting way to introduce her character." The other came up when during a discussion on her favorite music with Snyder, Browning said that The Smiths
was her favorite band. Several weeks later, Snyder informed her that he had acquired the rights to The Smiths' song "Asleep
", and asked her if she would like to perform the lead vocals. At first, she hesitated, saying that "The offer was flattering, but there was so much pressure". However, she recorded the song and according to Snyder, The Smiths' frontman Morrissey
was happy with the result. Regarding Browning's performance, de Vries considered that "having Emily sing—essentially commenting in song on her character’s situation in the film — provided an interesting texture, real resonance and depth, and tied the music to the visuals in a way that might otherwise not have been so clearly defined", and Snyder found the actress' "emotional delivery" to "make the songs even more poignant". To work with Browning between takes, de Vries used a portable recording rig on a room with a piano - "a very distressed, out-of-tune, almost-unusable instrument (...) which turned out to have real charm in it."
s and a rock
edge. De Vries said that during the songs' production "there was substantial ammount of reinvention, in several different directions", helped by Snyder giving the composers free reins. Bates added that there was an attempt to "expand the scope of the songs in a way they were never heard before", with "crazy electronic" and "alternative guitar work" - "it's a bit over the top, but so is everything on screen." The versions of the songs tried to match the action on-screen: Bates detailed that "White Rabbit" "starts out very ethereal, getting [Baby Doll] into the mindset of the dance, and once the girls have their assignment, once they delve in with machineguns and other weapons, the song starts to bloom into this epic, rich, full orchestral choral fanfare." This correspondence lead to the tracks getting longer and alternating between the songs themselves and "a score that is reminiscent of songs sometimes", which Bates described as "playing in the consciousness of the characters [i.e. in the same way most people sometimes keep a song ‘playing’ in their heads for an extended period of time]." For instance, "White Rabbit" features a choir of 150 voices playing the vocal melody of the first verse of the song, and tracks such as "Search & Destroy" have "moments where Zach really wanted to blow it up into [a] huge orchestra".
Heather Phares of Allmusic noted that "The setting for [the film] may be a ‘50s mental institution, but the film’s soundtrack feels like it’s straight out of the ‘90s." The writer also noted that "Nearly every track here [...] pits female vocals against massive, mechanical instrumentation, underscoring the plight from which the film’s characters must rescue themselves." The fourth track, a mash-up of Queen
's "I Want It All
" and "We Will Rock You
", includes rap verses by Armageddon, formerly a member of Terror Squad
. Phares called the mash-up "an unwelcome reminder of the rap-rock that overtook the second half of the ‘90s." Torrini's take on "White Rabbit" includes a Middle Eastern-style outro with guitars and an orchestral pomp. According to Rick Florino of Artistdirect
, the "Sucker Punch Remix" of Björk
's "Army of Me
" is based upon a trip hop
production and "repeatedly pummels via the psychedelic vocal delivery and careening, crushing guitars". de Vries considered emblematic of the film's theme of female empowerment having female covers - "White Rabbit", "Search & Destroy", and "Tomorrow Never Knows" - were originally performed by male singersduring the action scenes for the concept of "the female voice telling the story through song (...) where the iconic original performance is a very strong male performance”. The artists who would perform the covers were chosen for having "female voices with enough authority and panache and just cultural presence to come out from under the shadow of those performances, and to make this about songs which both comment on the tone of the scene and also help navigate us across the sort of boundaries of these individual worlds which are part of Emily’s imagination."
was very positive on the album, writing that the film "hearkens back to the good old days, and the film's soundtrack is not only one of the best soundtracks this year, it's also bound to be remembered as a classic." The writer praised Browning's take on "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)", writing that it "adds a lush darkness and vibrant vulnerability to the song reminiscent of Portishead's Beth Gibbons
but with a flair all her own." Florino awarded the album four and a half stars out of five, and concluded his review, writing, "This is the kind of soundtrack that needs to be listened to from front to back, and if it's any indication, the film is destined to be one of the most mind-blowing and magnificent screen event this year, perhaps even the decade." Allmusic's Heather Phares reviewed the album positively, praising Browning for "deliver[ing] the soundtrack’s most affecting performances". The reviewer, however, pointed out that the "only true stumble is a mash-up of Queen's “I Want It All” and “We Will Rock You” interspersed with a rap by Armageddon". Phares concluded her review with "Sucker Punch is elaborate and sometimes overwrought, but it’s absolutely true to the film’s aesthetic." Writing for Empire
, Danny Graydon also considered the Queen mash-up to be a weak point, describing it as "by-the-numbers" and finding it to "let down an otherwise strong collection". Graydon highlighted Browning's songs as "seductive takes", and praised both Gugino and Isaac for "an exuberant version of Roxy Music’s 'Love Is The Drug'" and considering Björk's collaboration "magnificently reversions 'Army Of Me' with Skunk Anansie". Jon M. Gilbertson of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
was not very fond of the album, writing that "Maybe these covers make more sense in filmic context, but on their own they exude an air of pointlessness. They are, like Snyder's movies, stylish but curiously hollow."
on the issue dated April 9, 2011. In its second week, the album rose nine positions to number twenty-two, with sales of 20,000 copies. The same week, it reached the summit of the Top Soundtracks chart, having debuted at number two one week earlier. In Australia, the album debuted at number eighteen and spent two weeks on the chart. In France, it debuted at number eighty-nine and reached its peak of seventy-nine the following week. In New Zealand, the album entered the chart at number thirty-six and managed to reach thirty-three the next week. Sucker Punch also reached number thirty-seven in Austria, forty-two in Germany and fifty-seven in Switzerland.
Watchmen (film)
Watchmen is a 2009 superhero film directed by Zack Snyder and starring Malin Åkerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson. It is an adaptation of the comic book of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons...
, director Zack Snyder
Zack Snyder
Zachary Edward "Zack" Snyder is an American actor, film director, screenwriter, and producer. After making his feature film debut with the 2004 remake Dawn of the Dead, he gained wide recognition with the 2007 box office hit 300, adapted from writer-artist Frank Miller's Dark Horse Comics...
decided to go with covers instead of original songs, saying "If you go with the original song, you just get the moment. But if you go with covers you also get all of the baggage you bring to it, [...] I like the baggage. It kind of resonates and rings across time, it's not just of the moment." The soundtrack was produced by composer Tyler Bates
Tyler Bates
Tyler Bates is a music producer and composer for films. His most known work includes "The Hangman's Song" and various other tracks from the zombie horror film Dawn of the Dead, and 2008's Day of the Dead...
and musical producer Marius de Vries
Marius de Vries
Marius Van Wyk de Vries is an English music producer and composer. He has been behind some of the key albums and soundtracks of recent times, gathering five Grammy nominations, two BAFTAs, and an Ivor Novello award along the way.-Music Producer:...
. While Bates' job was initally only writing a musical score and helping the song transitions, the composer ended working closely with de Vries as "the songs and the score just began bleeding into one another" - the only track in which de Vries worked alone was the remix of "Army of Me
Army of Me
"Army of Me" is a song by Björk, released in 1995 as the first, and leading, single from her second solo album Post. The song also appeared, later in the same year on the soundtrack of Tank Girl as well as in the soundtrack of Sucker Punch in 2011...
".
Snyder wanted the songs to add depth, dimension and "meaning to the sequences they exist within", as the film includes "multiple levels of reality". de Vries noted the director tried to use songs instead of an original score "so that the lyrics could help navigate the way through the complex scenes and illuminate Babydoll’s state of mind." Bates said "the songs serve as the link to the conscious world of Babydoll" while the score "was designed to simply underscore the sense of reality in the various alternate realities/action". On the song selection, Snyder said that the tracks were chosen to "resonate" and give the viewer "sort of a nostalgic feeling", and de Vries added that the compositions had to fit the film's "themes of escape and hope, and redemption through the imagination."
The original script of the film included parts where the characters sang, but it did not make the final cut, and de Vries said, "It was never going to be an opera, or even going to be a musical. It was very unlikely even to have any 'break into song' moments within it, but the fact that we designed it so that it could I think gives it that sort of strange, music-driven resonance." References to both Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
's "Love is the Drug
Love Is the Drug
"Love Is the Drug" is a 1975 single from Roxy Music . Taken from the album Siren it omits the gravel footstep sound effects at the start...
" and Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
's "White Rabbit
White Rabbit (song)
"White Rabbit" is a song from Jefferson Airplane's 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow. It was released as a single and became the band's second top ten success, peaking at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100...
" were seen in the original script, with the former being used in a musical sequence performed by actors Carla Gugino
Carla Gugino
Carla Gugino is an American actress known for her roles of Sally Jupiter in Watchmen, Dr. Vera Gorski in Sucker Punch, Lucille in Sin City, Amanda Daniels in seasons 3, 5 and 7 of Entourage, Ingrid Cortez in the Spy Kids film trilogy, and as the lead characters of the television series Karen Sisco...
and Oscar Isaac
Oscar Isaac
-Personal life:Isaac was born in Guatemala to a Guatemalan mother, Maria Estrada Nicolle, and a Cuban pulmonologist father, Oscar Gonzalo Hernandez. He was raised in Miami, Florida. While in Miami, he played lead guitar and sang vocals for his band "The Blinking Underdogs"...
"in the style of a Bob Fosse
Bob Fosse
Robert Louis “Bob” Fosse was an American actor, dancer, musical theater choreographer, director, screenwriter, film editor and film director. He won an unprecedented eight Tony Awards for choreography, as well as one for direction...
/Moulin Rouge
Moulin Rouge!
Moulin Rouge! is a 2001 romantic jukebox musical film directed, produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. Following the Red Curtain Cinema principles, the film is based on the Orphean myth, La Traviata, and La Bohème...
kind of vibe", and the latter being picked by Snyder for his belief that it was "perfect for our World War I [action sequence]". Bates considers Emilíana Torrini
Emilíana Torrini
Emilíana Torrini Davíðsdóttir is an Icelandic singer, best known for her 2009 single Jungle Drum, 1999 album Love in the Time of Science and for performing "Gollum's Song" for Peter Jackson's film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.-Early life:Torrini grew up in Kópavogur, where, at the age of...
's cover of "White Rabbit" to be the soundtrack's standout. Nine songs are featured in the soundtrack, with Bates saying others were considered and discarded for among other reasons, veto from the original artists and "lyrics too on the nose".
Carla Gugino
Carla Gugino
Carla Gugino is an American actress known for her roles of Sally Jupiter in Watchmen, Dr. Vera Gorski in Sucker Punch, Lucille in Sin City, Amanda Daniels in seasons 3, 5 and 7 of Entourage, Ingrid Cortez in the Spy Kids film trilogy, and as the lead characters of the television series Karen Sisco...
revealed in August 2009 that she had began taking singing lessons for her part in the film. One month later, Jamie Chung
Jamie Chung
Jamie Jilynn Chung is an American actress known to reality television audiences as a cast member on the MTV reality television series, The Real World: San Diego and its spin-off show, Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Inferno II, and for her appearances in TV and films, such as I Now...
announced in an interview with E! Entertainment that recording for the soundtrack had begun. When Emily Browning
Emily Browning
Emily Jane Browning is an Australian film actress and fashion model, known for her roles as Violet Baudelaire in Brad Silberling's 2004 film Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, as Anna Ivers in the 2009 film The Uninvited, as Babydoll in Zack Snyder's 2011 action thriller Sucker...
auditioned for her role as Babydoll, Snyder asked her to sing because of the musical element in the film. He told her to record herself while singing, and the actress did a version of "Killing Me Softly with His Song
Killing Me Softly with His Song
"Killing Me Softly with His Song" is a 1971 song composed by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel. It has been covered by numerous artists, most notably by Roberta Flack whose version topped the U.S...
". Browning later said, "I was terrified, of course. But he liked it. I have no idea why, but he thought me capable of carrying a tune on the screen." The crew liked the result and offered her to sing more songs. At first it was just a cover of "Where Is My Mind?
Where Is My Mind?
"Where Is My Mind?" is a song by the American alternative rock band Pixies. It is the seventh track on their 1988 album Surfer Rosa. The song was written by frontman Black Francis while he attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, inspired by his experiences scuba diving in the Caribbean....
" by Pixies, which ended up becoming a duet with Yoav
Yoav (musician)
Yoav is a singer-songwriter of Israeli-Romanian descent, raised in South Africa whose debut album Charmed And Strange was released in early 2008. Yoav's music is purely based on his own vocals and acoustic guitar, which he uses to create electronica-style beats with his hands...
, but the producers extended to three songs. One, a version by "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
-Personnel:*Annie Lennox – vocals, keyboards, synthesisers, flute*David A. Stewart – guitar, keyboards, synthesisers, programming, backing vocals-Additional personnel:*Robert Crash - Guitar/ E-Drums/ Synth/ Robotic vocals...
" by Eurythmics
Eurythmics
Eurythmics were a British pop rock duo, formed in 1980, currently disbanded, but known to reunite from time to time. Consisting of members Annie Lennox and David A...
, is used to open the movie, and Bates noted that "[Emily's] first line of dialogue is actually 27 minutes into the film so it is an interesting way to introduce her character." The other came up when during a discussion on her favorite music with Snyder, Browning said that The Smiths
The Smiths
The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...
was her favorite band. Several weeks later, Snyder informed her that he had acquired the rights to The Smiths' song "Asleep
The Boy with the Thorn in His Side (song)
The original 12" has "Rubber Ring" and "Asleep" segued into a continuous piece with the voice sample at the end of the former looped and faded into the wind noise preceding the latter...
", and asked her if she would like to perform the lead vocals. At first, she hesitated, saying that "The offer was flattering, but there was so much pressure". However, she recorded the song and according to Snyder, The Smiths' frontman Morrissey
Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...
was happy with the result. Regarding Browning's performance, de Vries considered that "having Emily sing—essentially commenting in song on her character’s situation in the film — provided an interesting texture, real resonance and depth, and tied the music to the visuals in a way that might otherwise not have been so clearly defined", and Snyder found the actress' "emotional delivery" to "make the songs even more poignant". To work with Browning between takes, de Vries used a portable recording rig on a room with a piano - "a very distressed, out-of-tune, almost-unusable instrument (...) which turned out to have real charm in it."
Composition
Musically, the songs on Sucker Punch are highlighted with orchestrationOrchestration
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra or of adapting for orchestra music composed for another medium...
s and a rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
edge. De Vries said that during the songs' production "there was substantial ammount of reinvention, in several different directions", helped by Snyder giving the composers free reins. Bates added that there was an attempt to "expand the scope of the songs in a way they were never heard before", with "crazy electronic" and "alternative guitar work" - "it's a bit over the top, but so is everything on screen." The versions of the songs tried to match the action on-screen: Bates detailed that "White Rabbit" "starts out very ethereal, getting [Baby Doll] into the mindset of the dance, and once the girls have their assignment, once they delve in with machineguns and other weapons, the song starts to bloom into this epic, rich, full orchestral choral fanfare." This correspondence lead to the tracks getting longer and alternating between the songs themselves and "a score that is reminiscent of songs sometimes", which Bates described as "playing in the consciousness of the characters [i.e. in the same way most people sometimes keep a song ‘playing’ in their heads for an extended period of time]." For instance, "White Rabbit" features a choir of 150 voices playing the vocal melody of the first verse of the song, and tracks such as "Search & Destroy" have "moments where Zach really wanted to blow it up into [a] huge orchestra".
Heather Phares of Allmusic noted that "The setting for [the film] may be a ‘50s mental institution, but the film’s soundtrack feels like it’s straight out of the ‘90s." The writer also noted that "Nearly every track here [...] pits female vocals against massive, mechanical instrumentation, underscoring the plight from which the film’s characters must rescue themselves." The fourth track, a mash-up of Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
's "I Want It All
I Want It All
"I Want It All" is a song by English rock band Queen, featured on their 1989 twelfth studio album The Miracle. Written by guitarist and backing vocalist Brian May and produced by David Richards, the song was released as the lead single from the album on 2 May 1989...
" and "We Will Rock You
We Will Rock You
"We Will Rock You" is a song written by Brian May and recorded and performed by Queen for their 1977 album News of the World. Rolling Stone ranked it #330 of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004, and the RIAA placed it at #146 on its list of Songs of the Century...
", includes rap verses by Armageddon, formerly a member of Terror Squad
Terror Squad (group)
Terror Squad is an American hip hop collective that was first established in 1998. Based in The Bronx borough of New York City, the members of Terror Squad collectively debuted on a song in member Fat Joe's album Don Cartagena...
. Phares called the mash-up "an unwelcome reminder of the rap-rock that overtook the second half of the ‘90s." Torrini's take on "White Rabbit" includes a Middle Eastern-style outro with guitars and an orchestral pomp. According to Rick Florino of Artistdirect
ARTISTdirect
Founded in 1994, Artistdirect, Inc. is an online digital media entertainment company. It owns several websites including Artistdirect.com, UBL.com and the Artistdirect Network...
, the "Sucker Punch Remix" of Björk
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
's "Army of Me
Army of Me
"Army of Me" is a song by Björk, released in 1995 as the first, and leading, single from her second solo album Post. The song also appeared, later in the same year on the soundtrack of Tank Girl as well as in the soundtrack of Sucker Punch in 2011...
" is based upon a trip hop
Trip hop
Trip hop is a music genre consisting of downtempo electronic music which originated in the early 1990s in England, especially Bristol. Deriving from "post"-acid house, the term was first used by the British music media and press as a way to describe the more experimental variant of breakbeat which...
production and "repeatedly pummels via the psychedelic vocal delivery and careening, crushing guitars". de Vries considered emblematic of the film's theme of female empowerment having female covers - "White Rabbit", "Search & Destroy", and "Tomorrow Never Knows" - were originally performed by male singersduring the action scenes for the concept of "the female voice telling the story through song (...) where the iconic original performance is a very strong male performance”. The artists who would perform the covers were chosen for having "female voices with enough authority and panache and just cultural presence to come out from under the shadow of those performances, and to make this about songs which both comment on the tone of the scene and also help navigate us across the sort of boundaries of these individual worlds which are part of Emily’s imagination."
Critical reception
The album received generally positive reviews from critics. Rick Florino of ArtistdirectARTISTdirect
Founded in 1994, Artistdirect, Inc. is an online digital media entertainment company. It owns several websites including Artistdirect.com, UBL.com and the Artistdirect Network...
was very positive on the album, writing that the film "hearkens back to the good old days, and the film's soundtrack is not only one of the best soundtracks this year, it's also bound to be remembered as a classic." The writer praised Browning's take on "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)", writing that it "adds a lush darkness and vibrant vulnerability to the song reminiscent of Portishead's Beth Gibbons
Beth Gibbons
Beth Gibbons is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist for the iconic British band Portishead.-Early life:...
but with a flair all her own." Florino awarded the album four and a half stars out of five, and concluded his review, writing, "This is the kind of soundtrack that needs to be listened to from front to back, and if it's any indication, the film is destined to be one of the most mind-blowing and magnificent screen event this year, perhaps even the decade." Allmusic's Heather Phares reviewed the album positively, praising Browning for "deliver[ing] the soundtrack’s most affecting performances". The reviewer, however, pointed out that the "only true stumble is a mash-up of Queen's “I Want It All” and “We Will Rock You” interspersed with a rap by Armageddon". Phares concluded her review with "Sucker Punch is elaborate and sometimes overwrought, but it’s absolutely true to the film’s aesthetic." Writing for Empire
Empire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
, Danny Graydon also considered the Queen mash-up to be a weak point, describing it as "by-the-numbers" and finding it to "let down an otherwise strong collection". Graydon highlighted Browning's songs as "seductive takes", and praised both Gugino and Isaac for "an exuberant version of Roxy Music’s 'Love Is The Drug'" and considering Björk's collaboration "magnificently reversions 'Army Of Me' with Skunk Anansie". Jon M. Gilbertson of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. It is the primary newspaper in Milwaukee, the largest newspaper in Wisconsin and is distributed widely throughout the state...
was not very fond of the album, writing that "Maybe these covers make more sense in filmic context, but on their own they exude an air of pointlessness. They are, like Snyder's movies, stylish but curiously hollow."
Commercial performance
Sucker Punch sold 16,000 copies in its first week of release in the United States, debuting at number thirty-six on the Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
on the issue dated April 9, 2011. In its second week, the album rose nine positions to number twenty-two, with sales of 20,000 copies. The same week, it reached the summit of the Top Soundtracks chart, having debuted at number two one week earlier. In Australia, the album debuted at number eighteen and spent two weeks on the chart. In France, it debuted at number eighty-nine and reached its peak of seventy-nine the following week. In New Zealand, the album entered the chart at number thirty-six and managed to reach thirty-three the next week. Sucker Punch also reached number thirty-seven in Austria, forty-two in Germany and fifty-seven in Switzerland.
Track listing
Charts
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
18 |
| Austrian Albums Chart IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland... |
37 |
| French Albums Chart | 79 |
| German Albums Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
42 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
33 |
| Swiss Albums Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
57 |
| US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
22 |
| US Top Soundtracks Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... |
1 |