'Sucker Punch' Trailer Is Online! Here Are A Few Moments That Bear Further Examination...

The trailer for "Sucker Punch" that premiered at San Diego Comic-Con and which is now online at Apple.com is, in a word, f--king awesome. That's two words. One isn't enough to contain the visual splendor on display in our first in-motion look at Zack Snyder's latest effort, also his first wholly original work.

It's not a complaint really, but one of the running themes in people's reactions to the trailer's content is "WTF?" More specifically, no one's really sure what is going on. We already know that the movie follows a young woman who is committed to a mental institution. To deal with the harsh reality of her situation, she escapes into a fantasy world that's all in her mind.

Or something like that. It's still not terribly clear, and the trailer isn't answering any lingering questions. But it is a full-on information overload, with so much coming at you that even multiple views won't allow you to catch it all. You really need the magic of a computer and Quicktime, so you can cycle through the action second-by-second. I've picked out a selection of trailer moments that bear further consideration, all of which you'll find after the jump.

Star Emily Browning's character is committed to the Lennox House in Brattleboro, Vermont. Interestingly, the real-life Brattleboro is already home to a noted psychiatric hospital, Brattleboro Retreat. Unlike the apparently dangerous and inhumane treatments employed at the fictional Lennox House, Brattleboro Retreat is well-regarded within the mental health community as a proponent of "moral treatment," looking at mental illness as a medical condition. Brattleboro is also the setting for H.P. Lovecraft's story, "The Whisperer in the Darkness."

It's just a gun, right? Wrong. Take a close look at the base of the pistol grip. It looks like there are cutesy animal charms tied to or in some other way attached to the weapon.

Here we have a super-quick shot of "Mad Men" star Jon Hamm, who is credited on IMDb as "High Roller." No clue what's going on here, but the background here looks more like an operating theater than a casino (where else would you find a high roller?).

There's some serious crazy going on here. At first glance, it just looks like we're looking out on a ringed planet from one of its moons. Could be Saturn. A closer look reveals that there's a helicopter in the foreground, not a spaceship. What's more, no one seems to be dressed for no-atmosphere conditions. What are they breathing? Where are they?

You certainly noticed the fire-breathing dragon in the trailer. It pops up several times. In this first appearance, right before it lets loose with a gout of flame you can see it standing over (protectively?) what looks like a smaller dragon. It's either dead, asleep or in some way out of commission. Could that be why the big dragon is so pissed off?

There are many glimpses of trench warfare fighting in the trailer. Lots of ass-kicking ladies and dudes in trenchcoats and gas masks. I had to pull this one still out though. Look at the guy on the left. His head doesn't quite look natural, does it? A zombie? Are all of the soldiers like that? What's up with these guys?

There's no immediate mystery in this still. It's just freaking AWESOME. We've got this hulking bad guy(?) dressed in samurai armor and wielding a GIANT chain gun. It's the kind of moment that sells the movie for me.

Here's another scene from what appears to be the same planet that the earlier image with the helicopter comes from. Note the ringed planet in the background on the left. What exactly are we looking at here? No clue. Looks pretty slick though.

Tags sucker punch, Zack Snyder