2013 must be the Year of Steel, as Superman is appearing on both the big and small screen in his own movies. In only a few weeks the big red “S” will shine on the silver screen in Man of Steel, Supe’s triumphant homecoming to film after his disappointing appearance in Superman Returns (2008).
Luckily, fans of the Big Blue Boyscout don’t have to wait until then to get their Super-fix, as DC Animated has released another animated movie, Superman: Unbound. Based on the graphic novel Superman: Brainiac, written by Geoff Johns, Superman finds his home planet of Earth under attack by the same villain that terrorized his home world of Krypton, the evil robot Brainiac.
Featuring the return of Supergirl, who hasn’t been seen in the animated movies since Superman/Batman: Apocolypse, Superman: Unbound finds our hero fighting more with the women in his life than the villains. Both Lois and his super cousin Kara want more from Superman. Lois wants a future with Clark while Kara wants Superman to help guide her as she gets used to her new home planet.
All of these problems quickly take a back seat as probes from space hit Earth and a terrified Kara warns Superman of the on coming doom that is Brainiac, the ever evolving being who wants only to catalog and then destroy the universe.
Staring a fresh cast to the DC Animated film is White Collar‘s Matt Bomer turning in a decent portrayal as Superman/Clark Kent. His voice has a tone of both strength and kindness in it, but unfortunately he only really displays one emotion. If Superman could manage more range, then the drama of the story would have felt more compelling. It’s a good thing Bomer’s supporting cast pulls up some of the slack and turns in a great to amazing performance.
Could John Noble just start voice acting all the time, please? His intense, sinister, and chilling role as Brainiac should immediately go up with the greats of Kevin Conroy, Clancy Brown, and Mark Hamill. The confidence that Noble puts into the voice of Brainaic is never waving, leaving the villain feeling almost invulnerable to whatever Superman throws at him.
Both Stana Katic and Molly Quinn do great jobs as Lois Lane and Kara/Supergirl, respectively. Katic’s Lois has an almost cockiness to her while also being heroic in her own way, offering herself as a hostage over others. She does her best to build chemistry with Bomer, but his lackluster delivery unfortunately holds her back. Quinn, who has been the adorable daughter of Nathan Fillion in Castle, brings the same youthful defiance and vulnerability to Supergirl. Although her role is largely exposition, Quinn stills does a great job making Kara feel real to the audience.
Along with a new cast, Superman: Unbound also has a slightly new animation style to it. Leaving the previous trend of adapting the original comic artist’s style, this film instead makes the art its own and designs the characters to look a little more like their voice actors. The slightly muted color palette keeps it apart from previous animated films. Although this has worked well for them before in more Batman heavy stories, Superman is a character who’s built on optimism and hope. A more brighter look to the animation could have done well to compliment Superman while making a more visually stark contrast between the Superman and Batman films, since that’s all DC likes to make… sort of. (Look at the trailers on the DVD/BluRay for a great Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox behind the scenes look.)
Written by Bob Goodman, who’s no stranger to DC Animated films, the story taken from Geoff Johns is a typical Superman story of overwhelming threat and Superman overcoming the great odds by trying harder. Although Goodman does a good job of adapting the story, the original story is more regarded for what it did, rather than how good it was. The return of Brainiac and the Silver Age city of Kandor along with the death of Jonathan Kent and the repercussions of Kandor now on Earth (all of which are not in the film) were game changers for Supe’s continuity. Without all of that context, the story could have fit better in a 30 min. format.
Overall, Superman: Unbound is still a good addition to DC’s Animated film library. It’s doubtful it will reach anyone’s top 5 favorites lists, but it is successful in giving viewers everything they need in a Superman story, just nothing more. It’s still worth a purchase but perhaps wait for a good sale or add it to a wishlist and let someone else pay for it.