Sucker Punch premiere: Vanessa Hudgens in see-through dress

By
Andrea Magrath
Last updated at 9:41 AM on 31st March 2011

Their film has had an underwhelming reception from critics, so what are girls to do? Dance.

The stars of Sucker Punch shrugged off their bad reviews to have some fun on the red carpet at the London premiere tonight in Leicester Square.

While Vanessa Hudgens and Abbie Cornish looked on nervously in their glamorous gowns, their carefree co-stars Emily Browning, Jamie Chung and Jena Malone burst into an impromptu boogie.

The colourful group dazzled as they
posed together on the red carpet, and didn’t let the damp evening wet
their spirits as they giggled like schoolgirls together.

High School Musical star Vanessa, 22, went for all-out glamour in a floor-length white gown by Alberta Ferretti.

Vanessa wore her hair up to show off the backless dress to its full advantage, and displayed her new butterfly neck tattoo.

Abbie
Cornish, 28, also chose Alberta Ferretti in a coffee-coloured long
dress with lace overlay and dazzled in £175,000 worth of Cartier jewels.

We like to boogie: The stars of Sucker Punch broke into an impromptu dance on the red carpet at the London premiere of their film tonight

Girls just wanna have fun: Actresses Jamie Chung, Jena Malone and Emily Browning got in on the fun, while their co-stars looked on

Jamie Chung stood out in a flirty hot pink Dolce & Gabbana dress and black peep-toe heels.

The
film’s star, Australian actress Emily Browning, wore a 1920s style
Azzaro dress, while entourage star Carla Cugino wore a bright blue Oscar
de la Renta frock.

Jena
Malone, best known for her roles in Stepmom and Donnie Darko, wore an
interesting printed dress with slashes at the neck and hip by Juan
Carlos Obando.

The film has been widely panned by
critics, with Time Out calling the Zack Snyder-directed fantasy thriller
‘confusing and self-defeating.’

Girl Power: Sucker Punch stars (L-R) Jamie Chung, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Carla Cugino, Emily Browning and Vanessa Hudgens pose together on the red carpet

Nevertheless the film’s stars say they had a ball filming it, despite being forced to undergo rigorous workouts involving military and martial arts training and strict diets, in order to complete the action sequences in their tiny corsets and leotards.

But Emily Browning, who became a household name in Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate Events says the girls unwound together with a weekly ‘cheat night’ from their diets and fitness regime.

‘Wednesday nights we would all go out and eat cakes together, or just have a cheat night and get together,’ she said on the red carpet tonight. ‘But we were hanging out all the time and we would have sing-a-longs. It was lots of fun.’

Short and sweet: Emily Browning wore a peekaboo Azzaro dress, Jena Malone was radiant in Juan Carlos Obando, while Carla Cugino dazzled in bright blue Oscar de la Renta

Abbie Cornish appeared on U.S. TV show, Jimmy Kimmel Live last week to promote the film and described how she was shooting an action scene when a fellow star came at her with a WW1 rifle with a steel bayonet on the end.

‘I ducked it but the timing was off and this steel bayonet comes at my head it hits me on the side of the head,’ she said.

Lukewarm
reception: The fantasy action film took in £12million in its opening
weekend at the U.S. box office, but has been slated by critics

‘It was a really hard knock. I went down and when I came to and I looked in my hand and I had blood in my hand and blood running down my face,’ she said.

It was later discovered that the metal grip holding her hair extension in place was what deflected the force of the blow.

‘Your life was saved by hair extensions,’ said host Jimmy Kimmel. ‘It totally was,’ she replied.

Sucker Punch opens in UK cinemas on April 1.