Superman contre Brainiac

This movie is brought down by its villain. Braniac is a complex character. Things felt convoluted at times. There is an inconsistency in the strength of the characters. They would be weak and vulnerable one moment and too strong and successful in the next. There is a lot of action but it gets redundant. I needed something more.

You have seen this story at least once, in one way or another. This movie is nothing new or special, doesn't try to explore anything that wasn't already done multiple times before, nor does it translate its story into an interesting form.

Whoever titled this movie "Superman: Unbound" was probably well aware of its quality and pulled "Unbound" from the "Box of titles for bad movie sequels" after the first two tries turned up "Returns" and "Lives".

This flick feels like a "monster of the day"-story for a television- series. It could make a nice two-parter in an animated superman series, but it has not the feel of a movie to it.

The basic plot is (no, that is not a spoiler): Bad guy threatens to destroy earth, superman stops him. Period. Insert super-powered fights, a mad super-villain, occasional hero-villain-banter and the last-minute- rescue in there and you got your movie.

The movie isn't more than that, it does not try to be more than that, but it fails in making a simple story an enjoyable ride. Two reasons for that are the emotionless voice-actors and below-average fight scenes. Because of that the movie fails in conveying the feeling that anything is at stake.

If you are a fan of animated superhero-movies, you won't miss anything if you skip this one, if you are not a fan of such movies, there are better movies to begin with.

Conclusion: Meh.

Like the previous Superman animated DTV 'Superman vs. the Elite', 'Superman Unbound' also has the Man of Steel squaring off against a super-powered foe who can truly match him punch for punch. The difference is that while the conflict in the previous film was centered around a larger philosophical and ethical debate, this conflict is pretty much a superhero vs. super-villain battle played straight. And the villain is none other than one of the most iconic members of Superman's rogue's gallery...

The portrayal of Brainiac, and Superman's clashes with him, are easily the highlights of this story. Another interesting point is Kara/Supergirl representing the helplessness of a powerless civilian against overwhelming threats, and the desire for such a person to set the world right when given a chance. Less impressive however is the attempt at showcasing tension in the Clark-Lois relationship. 'Superman Unbound' is ultimately a sci-fi story at its core...and attempts to introduce romantic elements sorely stand out in what is otherwise a pretty decent production.

Terrorists kidnap Lois Lane who is not that concerned. Superman and Supergirl come to the rescue. Something is falling out of the sky. It's a robot and Superman defeats it. Supergirl recognizes it from before. An army of them sent by Brainiac had devastated Kandor on Krypton and somehow took away the city along with thousands of Kryptonians.

It's basic animated DC. It's much better than I expected. There is some character work. It's revealing a well-known Superman villain. He's not as formidable as he should be. Then Superman is too lackadaisical in handling the aftermath. I guess that he's not always the smartest superhero in the bunch.

I've seen many Superman films: some good, some bad. This one is just about right as far as the entertainment factor goes.

In just about any Superman cartoon/comic you will see him battle an arch enemy: be it Lex Luthor, Braniac or Darkseid. Here it is Braniac.

The Braniac character sort of parallels Galactus a character in Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer cartoons/comics. Galactus is also referred to as the "Eater Of Worlds".

The plot of the film is simple: Braniace sends a drone to the planet Earth. Superman intercepts and destroys the drone before it can can transmit a locator signal to Braniac's mothership. Supergirl tells Superman from her past experience what an awesome threat Braniac is to Earth and retells about the miniaturization of Krypton's capital city of Kandor prior to the planet's destruction with her father and mother.

Superman then makes a voyage through deep space in order to track down and destroy Braniac once and for all...

P.S. I don't know what the title has got to do with this film. But if you like title beginning with "Unbound", I think you should watch this one: Frankenstein Unbound, a 1990 horror movie based on Brian Aldiss' novel of the same name. This film was directed by Roger Corman, returning to the director's chair after a hiatus of almost twenty years. This is his final directorial effort to date(he saved the best for his last).