That is exactly the vibe I got off it. Alice in the Matrix
It's not just a shallow attempt at pandering to testerone, the idea that a female can be strong and yet retain her extreme sexuality has been an idea touched on by some Neo-feminists. I remember when I tried to write for strong female roles and I was criticized by women for my characters not being sexy enough. Of course, that could have just been because women are insane and only say whatever it takes to contradict you at any time. Or not.
I find it interesting you say that you're told it's pretty good. Meaning you haven't seen it. Personally, I've heard remarks from fans of the source material that the movie didn't do it justice and that a lot the plot seemed to be missing. Of course, I personally liked if not loved the film because I'm a bit of an action freak.
Funny. I only need to name one: Nicholas CageAlso I see no problem with the casting of Vanessa Hudgens. I can name a dozen or so actors and actresses that starred in a number of bad movies and then made a string of good ones.
I kind of felt that Toy Story 3 didn't really try hard enough and my parents (who are easy to please) agree. And naturally TS3 doesn't need sex appeal to pander to children (or the child in us all).
Someone on these forums once complained about the lack of plot and storytelling in the Transformers movies. I explained that the movie's meant to be an action-romp so there's really no need for such things. That same person returned to argue that the movie had too much plot and not enough action. I swear to GOD, some people just want to criticize a movie and don't really know what the hell they actually want.