Hanna director Joe Wright calls Sucker Punch “bullshit”

We’ll have a formal review later this week but for my money, HANNA is one of the best films of the year so far. Yes, it’s only early-April but I’d be very surprised if I couldn’t find some love for it on my Top 10 of 2011 list at the end of this year. It’s a wonderfully staged fairy tale of a coming-of-age action movie, which may make no sense but director Joe Wright atones for his THE SOLOIST sins with a beautifully crafted movie.

I saw HANNA a few months ago and had the pleasure of chatting with Wright over drinks afterward in a mostly off-the-record conversation. One thing I took away from that was that Wright is an exceptionally funny and brutally honest guy who didn’t shy away from voicing his opinions.

While I can’t repeat any of what we talked about that day, Wright was at WonderCon this past weekend at a secret screening of HANNA and in a quick Q&A, the audience got a taste of the director’s candor. Without mentioning the film by name, the Hollywood Reporter says Wright called SUCKER PUNCH “bullshit” and “gross sexualization” masquerading as female empowerment. (By contrast, Hanna relies on her brain and physical prowess to get her in and out of jams without having to resort to skimpy clothing and gyrating dances.) It’s not an uncommon thought but not one you’re used to getting from a Hollywood director.

As someone who’s openly lobbied for Wright to get the gig directing THE WOLVERINE at Fox now that Darren Aronofsky has stepped away, could making open and honest comments about another director and his film (and a director who’s working on a big-budget superhero film) hurt his chances at landing a similar gig? Or would Marvel appreciate a director who isn’t fawning over the director of a competing project? And do you agree with Wright’s assessment that the supposed message of SUCKER PUNCH was bullshit?