by Jayden Leggett, Editor

The fate of all life on Earth (including his own) rests on Superman in this smash-tastic DC Universe Animated Original Movie Superman: Unbound on DVD.

Those familiar with the Geoff Johns and Gary Frank Superman: Brainiac comic story will already be aware of the premise behind this film, but for the rest of you, the plot goes a little something like this:

After teaming up to take down some airborne criminals, Superman is trying to help his cousin Supergirl come to terms with living on Earth and leaving her previous world behind. When Superman destroys a deadly robot that has crash landed in the Nevada desert, Supergirl recognizes it as being part of the robot army that had laid waste to her home planet.

Thus, Superman seeks out its creator Brainiac, a nefarious villain who siphons entire planets worth of their inhabitants’ knowledge before obliterating each world that he conquers. While Superman is “out of town”, Supergirl is taking care of things on Earth, waging her own personal war on all of the bullies of the world including drug traffickers, warlords and human slave-traders.

While combating Brainiac’s forces, Superman is captured and held prisoner on the now prison city of Kandor, where he reunites with his aunt and uncle, Supergirl’s parents! Vowing to free the slaves and defeat their evil captor, Superman performs a daring escape. Brainiac doesn’t take Superman’s attack kindly, following the Last Son of Krypton back to Earth and invading Metropolis, forcing Superman into action once more to save his girl Lois and his beloved city.

Having not read Superman: Brainiac, the story of Superman: Unbound was new to me, but I found it to be very enjoyable and well-written. It’s always good seeing Superman fight an opponent who’s strengths and power rival his, and the narrative events were well paced without the action moving too fast or too slow.

Speaking of action, the fights in this film do not disappoint. Hard hitting punches and explosions are brilliantly matched with equally brutal sound effects, and watching Superman get angrily violent is a great spectacle indeed. As trivial as it sounds, I also appreciated the smaller details like visible blood when innocent people are being killed, as this helps to give the film a real sense of the thousands of lives that are riding on the line if Superman fails. And anytime you see Superman himself bleeding, you just know that he definitely has an epic struggle ahead of him.

The voice actors for this flick were all top notch. John Noble (Fringe) was perfect in his cold and emotionless delivery of his lines for the villainous Brainiac, while Molly Quinn (Castle) as the angst-driven yet frail Supergirl and Stana Katic (Castle) as the tough and analytical Lois Lane were also well cast. Matt Bomer (White Collar) as Superman will probably divide audience approval (particularly amongst comic readers) with his slightly raspy rendition of the Man of Steel, but I really liked this more human take on the character, and felt it suited the subject matter as many planets and people that Superman holds dear were being treated as playthings by Brainiac, causing emotional outbursts from Superman. Also, I felt that Bomer’s change in vocal pitch from Superman to Clark Kent was also expertly performed.

Special features of the DVD version are rather scarce but still worth a watch with the trailer for LEGO Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite and a sneak peak at the next upcoming DC Universe Animated Original Movie Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, which contains cast and crew interviews as well as snippets of footage from the film.

Fans of the original comic story should feel safe in the knowledge that Superman: Unbound is an incredibly enjoyable movie in its own right, and newcomers (such as myself) should also be very pleased with this animated film. Oh, and action junkies definitely have lots to love here too.

Rating:

ComicsOnline gives Superman: Unbound 4 out of 5 double one-fingered salutes to an over-sized Brainiac.

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