Review | Superman:Unbound
Superman: Unbound is loosely based on the Geoff Johns/Gary Frank 2008 comic book arc "Superman: Brainiac," where Superman has to juggle saving the day, taming his proactive cousin Supergirl, and secret-girlfriend-who-wants-to-get-hitched Lois Lane. Mistakenly, Superman tries to control both of the women in his life while the scout of another control freak loudly enters Earth's atmosphere. Not knowing the connection between Brainiac and Krypton, Superman races off to take on the probe and Supergirl schools him on the day Kandor vanished. Superman gets gung ho and rushes off. Things get punched. Things blow up. Superman gets caught but in a surprise turn, realizes he's sort of doing the same thing Brainiac is doing but because of his fear of change. Superman takes Kandor and high tails it back home but Brainiac follows him. Superman and Supergirl team up and that spells trouble for every robot in this movie. Superman defeats Brainiac and Supergirl stops the big honkin' missile from blowing up The Sun. Then really quickly, Superman figures out how to unshrink the bottle cities and gives Kandor a new home planet, with a red sun even. And Clark Kent conveniently returns to the Daily Planet and proceeds to leave Lois Lane awestruck.
My main gripe with the story was threat level posed by Brainiac. It seemed to wane at the end, where he was just the ticked off Elmer Fudd who couldn't take anymore duck season. Superman basically won by getting him dirty for goodness sake. Sometimes, you just forget about the bottled cities and all the abductees. It didn't go far enough to sell the abductees were being tormented beyond their sanity. Sure, there's the whole invasion and possible destruction of Earth angle but it's spread around too much. The endings were sort of uneven and left the viewer wondering. Such as Brainiac's eventual return, not seeing the wedding, and what will Supergirl do next after her reunion on a planet strangely like Rokyn (and not the New Krypton set up from the comic). Sure, each character arc is pretty much finished but you're left wanting more. And after 5 years, the line finally does an official sequel... it's hard to believe we'll see a sequel to Unbound.
The casting was above average for this movie. Stana Katic might just be the next Lois Lane and Matt Bomer the next Superman. I hope they bring those two actors back on future projects. They've certainly captured the spirit of two of DC's classic characters. John Noble's portrayal of this incarnation of Brainiac took some getting used to but once you frame him as the isolated-mad-scientist and forget about the convoluted renegade A.I. from decades past, Noble was a great choice. Molly Quinn takes on Supergirl and rides the wave well as the wild card of the story. Even the supporting roles, like Diedrich Bader as Steve Lombard was a sleeper hit. You can't help but love the big lug.
In a departure from his straight adaptation of the two-part Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, writer Bob Goodman molds the rather short "Superman: Brainiac" arc from several issues of Action Comics into a decent 75 minute feature. Goodman gives the script a character piece between Clark and Lois that complements the struggle between Superman, Supergirl, and Brainiac. While long time viewers of the DC Universe line will feel the piece echoes the relationship from Superman Doomsday, Lois is a bit more... 'assertive' in this feature. And apparently can knock a robot out a window with an office chair.
James Tucker proves he can still direct (last time he was credited was "Trials," an episode of Legion of Superheroes back in 2008), and can incorporate solid action scenes to what came from the comic. Even one scene towards the end of the movie when Superman tears through Brainiac Probes on one of Metropolis' bridges bears the DNA of the Kirby Dots seen in Batman: The Brave and The Bold. The score for the movie feels like it's in tune with Superman's heartbeat. The big action scenes are literally an adrenaline rush. The animation design took some getting used to. Tucker basically gave his The Brave and The Bold designs of the Superman Family a 1960s Mad Men meets Banana Republic makeover.
The bonus features were great for Unbound. It was subtle, but the discussions in the features felt more relevant to the movie. And finally the commentary track returns! The featurettes provide viewers with insight on Brainiac and Kandor, addressed both histories and some quandaries behind them that have existed for awhile. Though, I hope these features begin to balance more of both a history in comics and in animation. The commentary with producer/director James Tucker, writer Bob Goodman, and producer Mike Carlin worth the price of the Blu-Ray alone. Not only is it informative and entertaining, it proves Tucker is still a big geek... I mean has a large breadth and knowledge of DC Comics.
Continuing on are trailers for other WB properties and the four 'bonus episodes,' that I never watch, are selections from Superman: The Animated Series - "Last Son of Krypton, Part One," "New Kids in Town," "Little Girl Lost, Part One," and "Little Girl Lost, Part Two." "Stolen Memories" would have been a better choice in substitution for "New Kids in Town." Kind of sad that's the only series they picked Superman/Supergirl/Brainiac spotlights from. Last but not least, the preview for the next DC Universe Animated Original Movie that a lot of fans, I'm sure, jump to first. This time it's a sneak peak at Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. It seems like a strange confluence of coincidence but Bruce Timm started his run on the line with a Superman movie and seemingly wore too many hats on the project but bounced back with a fantastic Justice League feature. Perhaps the same path is in store for James Tucker. The Flashpoint Paradox looks to have the potential to become even as beloved as Batman: Under The Red Hood.
Warner Home Video has fabricated another well-packed Blu-ray home video release for the DC Universe line. The audio and video quality is more of the same, passable, and the overall bonus features are an improvement over the previous release Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part Two. While not the best Superman story of the line, Superman: Unbound should satisfy the standard DC Comics or Superman fan. The story connected with its two sub-plots and the action was bombastically over the top. Superman: Unbound is the first of the James Tucker regime, and shows the DC Universe Animated Original Movie line is in good hands. It was great seeing some pivotal moments animated for the first time while the story came into its own. Brainiac was an okay villain (anything's better than Brainiac Attacks), move over Superman because Supergirl gets the focus too (even though she already did in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse), and the Lois and Clark drama was a bold move but still a bit of a retread from Superman Doomday. Again, the movie didn't feel like the best Superman movie but it is still a worthy asset to the synergy for the build up to the Man of Steel.
Rating
Main Feature: 3.5 out of 5
Special Features: 4 out of 5
Average Rating: 3.75 out of 5