7 & 7 Review: Superman Unbound
[7 & 7 Reviews take a look at 7 Core Aspects of any product in a neat review format.]
The Man of Steel has his unpredictable cousin, Supergirl, by his side. Superman learns about the ruthless force known as Brainiac, who has seized and miniaturized Krypton‘s capital city of Kandor. Superman must liberate the captured Metropolis and protect his home planet from Braniac’s increasing power.
- Superman- I’ve always found the complaint of Superman being a “Boring” character to be a bit of a cop-out, but this film doesn’t do that image any positive service. Superman lacks a conflict in this film. Sure, he takes on Brainiac, but his motives and ideals are never questioned. It lacks a relateability to the character…
- Lois Lane– On the other hand, Lois in this film is amazing. She’s feisty, she’s aggressive, she’s caring, she’s compassionate.. she’s a complex character and it works. She knows what she wants, but also accepts that she can’t have everything. The voice work is top notch
- Brainiac- This film goes for the cold and emotionless Brainiac. Granted, he is always kind of shown that way, but he is a lot more.. I guess animated elsewhere. He spends most of the movie inside of his ship in a single position until he does battle with Superman.
- Voice Acting– While I may have been down on the characters, the voice work in this movie was top-notch. The actors bought an energy to the role, I just wish the rest of the movie kept up with it.
- The Action– During the movie, Brainiac remarks that Superman only knows how to respond with his fists.. and Superman never really disproves that theory during the movie. This movie enjoys throwing punches, and when it isn’t throwing punches Brainiac is using his tentacles.. repeatedly. There was one exhilarating action sequence with Superman and Brainiac free-falling.. until I remembered that Superman can fly so why?
- The Design– Superman looks a bit like Nic Cage, once someone told me that, I couldn’t get that image out of my head! Aside from that, I actually like the designs in these films. I’m especially fond of Brainiac’s design, which I felt betrayed his characterization though.
- The End?– This is the first DC Animated film that I could think of which ends with a prospect of a direct sequel hanging over its head. I’m curious to see if they follow-through, though not to eager to see more of THIS Superman.
Score 3 (out of 7)– A well-casted film goes to waste on the back of a bland lead, lack of character progression and some really dull action set-pieces. For being titled Unbound, this is the most restrictive Superman we’ve seen in a home video yet.
