Review of Superman: Unbound (2013) by Witt R — 06 May 2013

As anyone who reads comics will know, "Superman: Unbound" is based on the New York Times best-selling comic book storyline by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank called "Superman: Brainiac". To a large degree, this movie stays extremely true to the original graphic storyline that first debuted in the pages of Action Comings in 2008, which then led into the major comic event "New Krypton". Like I said, this animated adaptation stays fairly true to the story, but it also takes certain liberties and adds on to the story in certain places. Since the comic was only 5 issues long and they have 75 minutes of movie to fill, I am understanding why they had to change and add certain things. It is a little bit jarring a first for those of us who hold the comic in such high regard, but you quickly start to like and appreciate it.

One of the aspects of the movie that I think I may have been disappointed with at first was the fact that they didn't try to make the animation look like Gary Frank's artwork from the original comic. Gary Frank made the characters and especially Superman look fairly realistic, looking EXACTLY like Christopher Reeve. This was one of the aspects of the book that made me love it so much. Once I got over it, seeing the animation in this movie in this sort of "Mad Men", 60's style decor, I started to appreciate this movie for what it is and what they wanted to accomplish.

The action is relatively none stop. It's Superman versus Brainiac. Need I say more. Plus, Kara/Supergirl is in this story, as well. So, we've got the two cousins smashing and heat blasting through countless Brainiac drones AND they're taking on a full powered Brainiac. So if you're looking for action and punches being thrown, "Superman: Unbound" is a great buy.

I think the thing that I liked the best was the voice acting. Matt Bomer as Superman and Stana Katic as Lois Lane were absolutely perfect choices. I couldn't have been happier. The only other two people that I would have allowed to voice these two characters were either Tim Daly or George Newburn as Superman and Dana Delany as Lois Lane. Molly Quinn as Supergirl was also a great choice. John Noble steels the show, though, by voicing Brainiac. He nails the cold, unfeeling, and calculating tone in Brainiac's voice. The voice acting is probably my favorite part.

I would say that if you're looking for some good fun, with a good story, great action, and a little precursor to get EVEN MORE hyped for Man Of Steel coming out June 14th, then "Superman: Unbound" is a must buy.