Stars: Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chong, Carla Gugino, Oscar Isaac, Jon Hamm
Running time: 109 mins
Rating: ***

Zack Snyder pushed the boundaries between fantasy and reality. Now he goes even further in Sucker Punch that left me echoing Cilla Black’s query of yesteryear “What’s it all about, Alfie?”.

The production notes use the phrase “epic action fantasy” which covers a multitude of sins (many of which are featured in this surprisingly 12A movie).

What that fails to mention is that Sucker Punch is a film that is loud, nasty, sexy, sexist, violent and apt to fly off in several fantastical – and at times totally incomprehensible – directions at once.

If you surrender to the utter madness of the enterprise you might just have a good time. Especially if you’re a teenager with an eye for a pretty girl and good fight.

I mean, a film that stars five young actresses indulging in extreme action while dressed for the boudoir (the lead character is even called Baby Doll) can’t be boring.

Browning is the abused Baby Doll, locked up in a mental institution for shooting (accidentally, you understand) her sister while fending off the unpleasant advances of an older gentleman.

This place – which makes the nuthouse in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest look like Butlins – is populated by young ladies who double as patients and hookers, with Gugino’s bespectacled shrink Madame Gorski as their therapist/ madam.

The girls escape into fantasy landscapes where they battle a range of monsters, from giant samurai to fire-breathing dragons, giving the special effects people ample opportunity to conjure up a stunning array of monsters and mayhem.