Superman: Unbound

DC Comics is a publishing company that mainly publishes comic books. Its parent company is the giant Time Warner. DC (short for DC Comics) is the house; so to speak, of characters such as Superman and Batman among many others.  As a subsidiary company of the Warner corporation DC also looks for ways to keep its properties visible, that is constantly in the minds of the public they usually aim at.

As part of the aforementioned effort there is a branch of DC devoted only to produce films and TV series in the animated format. One of the earliest works they put out was Superman: Doomsday, the first in a long line of animated films that have had as main protagonists Superman or Batman (sometimes both) and ocassionally other DC characters. These films target a somewhat older audience than just kids though there are productions that mainly aim at young kids and children.

Superman: Unbound tells us about the first confrontation between Brainiac and Superman. Brainiac is a superintelligent alien that has improved his weak body to make himself exttraordinarily stronger. He has build a ship that is really an extension of himself and many of the parts of his new body are robotic in nature. 

His sole purpose is to go through the universe looking for all kinds of civilizations. He discovers a planet, invades it with his army of super robots, subdues the population and takes over the most important city in the planet. Then he reduces the city and places it inside a bottle that then is sotred inside his ship. then Brainiac destroys the home planet so all that knowledge is all for him only. Obviously when he sets his sights on Earth that puts in direct conflict with Superman who will be aided by his teenage cousin, Supergirl and his girlfriend, Lois Lane.

The movie is anything but boring. The character development is outstanding since it reveals vey much about the kind of person some characters are such as Lois Lane or Supergirl. When Superman attacks Brainiac ship he will learn about Brainiac´s motivations, the past connections Brainiac has with Krypton, also about the Kryptonian city Brainiac capturedyears before. One great thing is also the little event at the end which is  a special scene between clark Kent and Lois Lane.

I liked the the artistic rendition of the characters and the story though really it is an adaptation that partially stays true to the one created for the comics. Brainiac looks a lot more menacing and perhaps more powerful than previous versions. Superman is here the overprotective Big Brother in his relationship with his cousin, Lois Lane is dazzling and extremely rebellious and daring and Supergirl is presented as being constantly in shock because she witnessed how Brainiac took over Kandor. 

Now make no mistake. This is not a film for little kids but one perhaps teens and young adult will surely enjoy more. 

Four stars out of five for this one.