Superman: Unbound | |
---|---|
Directed by | James Tucker |
Screenplay by | Bob Goodman |
Based on | Superman: Brainiac by Geoff Johns |
Produced by | James Tucker Alan Burnett |
Starring | Matt Bomer Stana Katic John Noble Molly Quinn |
Cinematography | Al Jean |
Edited by | Christoper D. Lozinski |
Music by | Kevin Kliesch |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Warner Home Video |
Release date |
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Running time | 75 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Superman: Unbound is a 2013 American animated superhero film based on the 2008 comic book story arc "Superman: Brainiac" by Geoff Johns. It was directed by James Tucker and scripted by Bob Goodman. It is the 17th film of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies. The film's sneak preview was included with Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 and Injustice: Gods Among Us. [1]
Offering herself as a hostage, Lois Lane is caught in an aerial confrontation between her terrorist captors and Supergirl before Superman arrives to save the day. Soon after, knowing Superman's civilian identity, Lois attempts to get Clark Kent to make their relationship public despite his fear of the consequences, but their argument is halted by a Daily Planet staff meeting before Clark leaves after being alerted to an approaching meteor. Intercepting it, Superman learns the meteor is actually a robot that he promptly defeats before activating its beacon and taking it to the Fortress of Solitude. With help from Supergirl, Superman learns the robot is actually a drone controlled by a being named Brainiac, a Coluan scientist who subjected himself to extensive enhancements, turning him into a muscular, red-eyed giant with computer-like components and enhanced physical abilities comparable to Superman's. Supergirl, horrified at seeing Brainiac's robot, reveals her experience with the monster. Brainiac had seized and miniaturized Krypton's capital city of Kandor prior to the planet's destruction with her parents attempting to track him down before they mysteriously lost contact with Krypton. She is now worried that Brainiac will do to Earth what he did to Kandor.
Fearing more drones will come, Superman flies through the galaxy with a Kryptonian spacecraft in an attempt to track down Brainiac before finding his drones attacking a planet. Though he attempts to stop them, Superman witnesses Brainiac capture the planet's capital like he did with Kandor before firing a missile to consume the planet in its exploding sun. The explosion knocks Superman unconscious, and he is brought on board Brainiac's ship. Coming to in the examination room, he fights his way through the vessel before discovering a room full of bottled cities and being attacked by Brainiac. At this point, confirming that he spared Krypton because of its eventual destruction, it is shown that Brainiac has been collecting information on all the planets he visited before destroying them. Using Superman's spacecraft and his telepathic abilities, Brainiac discovers that he has been living on Earth. Brainiac decides to chart a course to Earth while sending Superman into Kandor. Inside Kandor, his strength waning due to the artificial red sun, Superman meets his uncle Zor-El and aunt Alura. They explain that Brainiac was instructed to learn all that is knowable about the galaxy. Being a cyborg, Brainiac interpreted his directive literally and realized that he could not achieve this goal because life keeps changing. His knowledge of one world would become out-of-date as soon as he moved on to the next world. Brainiac therefore destroys civilizations after studying them so that they cannot change further, thus leaving him with literally complete and up-to-date knowledge of them.
Superman formulates a plan and escapes Kandor using the subjugator robots. From there, Superman disables Brainiac's ship and takes Kandor with him back to Earth. At that time, Lois learns from Supergirl why Superman left and alerts the Pentagon of a possible invasion by Brainiac, who eventually repairs his ship and arrives in Metropolis.
Despite everyone doing their best to fend his drones off, Metropolis is encased in a bottle and both Superman and Supergirl are captured. Having hooked Superman up to his ship, Brainiac reveals that Earth offers nothing to him, tortures Superman by overloading his mind with data, and attempts to destroy the planet. However, telling his captor what Earth means to him, Superman breaks free and then frees Supergirl and convinces her to stop the Solar-Aggressor from hitting the sun. Remembering Zor-El's words about Brainiac's ideals, Superman knocks him out of the ship and they crash into a swamp. As he fights Brainiac, Superman forces him to experience the chaos of life itself outside of the safe, artificial environments he has created. Eventually, the combined strain takes its toll on Brainiac, and he combusts. After restoring Metropolis, taking Kandor to another planet similar to Krypton to restore its normal size, and establishing a Kryptonian colony where they can rebuild, Superman (as Clark Kent) makes his love life with Lois public with a marriage proposal.
In the post-credits' scene, Brainiac's remains in the Fortress of Solitude glow, indicating that Brainiac still has some degree of his power.
Superman: Unbound received positive reviews. Based on five reviews, it has a rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 7.4/10. [2] IGN gave the film a 6.5 out of 10. [3] Brian Lowry of Variety stated "the 75-minute film boasts some impressive animation and action sequences – essentially getting the job done, without by any means approaching the operatic majesty of the studio's recent two-part epic The Dark Knight Returns ". [4] Common Sense Media gave the film a 4 star rating out of 5, commenting "Superman fights, learns life lessons in animated thriller". [5]
The film earned $1,686,042 from domestic DVD sales and $1,804,778 from domestic Blu-ray sales, bringing its total domestic home video earnings to $3,490,820. [6]
Krypton is a fictional planet appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, most commonly appearing or mentioned in stories starring the superhero Superman as the world from whence he came. The planet was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and was named after the chemical element krypton. The planet was first mentioned in Action Comics #1 and made its first appearance in Superman #1 (1939).
Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. The character made her first appearance in Action Comics #252 and was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino.
The Phantom Zone is a prison-like parallel dimension appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is mainly associated with stories featuring Superman. It first appeared in Adventure Comics #283, and was created by Robert Bernstein and George Papp. It was frequently used in the Superman comics before the continuity was rebooted in the 1980s, after Crisis on Infinite Earths, and has appeared occasionally since.
Brainiac is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, and debuted in Action Comics #242. He has since endured as one of Superman greatest enemies. The character's name is a portmanteau of the words brain and maniac.
Kryptonians are a fictional extraterrestrial race within the DC Comics universe that originated on the planet Krypton. The term originated from the stories of DC Comics superhero, Superman. The stories also use "Kryptonian" as an adjective to refer to anything created by or associated with the planet itself or the cultures that existed on it.
The Fortress of Solitude is a fictional fortress appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Superman. It is the place where Superman first learned about his true identity, heritage, and purpose on Earth. The fortress functions as a place of solace/occasional headquarters for Superman and is typically depicted as being in frozen tundra, away from civilization. Its predecessor, Superman's "Secret Citadel", first appeared in Superman #17, where it was said to be built into a mountain on the outskirts of Metropolis. By issue #58 it is referred to as the Fortress of Solitude, seems at a glance to be a freestanding castle, and is said to be located in a "polar waste". When the Fortress reappears in 1958 and for the first time takes center stage in a story, it is again an underground complex in a mountainous cliffside.
General Zod is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Superman. The character, who first appeared in Adventure Comics #283, was created by Robert Bernstein and initially designed by George Papp. As a Kryptonian, he exhibits the same powers and abilities as Superman and is consequently viewed as one of his greatest enemies alongside Lex Luthor, Darkseid, and Brainiac. He is also well known for his catchphrase, "Kneel before Zod!".
Kara Zor-El (Supergirl) also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in the story "The Supergirl from Krypton" in Action Comics #252. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero identity Superman. Her father, Zor-El, is the brother of Superman's father, Jor-El. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence.
Zor-El is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. A Kryptonian, he is the brother of Jor-El, husband of Alura, father of Supergirl, and paternal uncle of Superman.
Superman: Brainiac Attacks is a 2006 American animated superhero film from Warner Bros. Animation. Released on June 20, 2006, as a marketing tie in with Superman Returns, the film features Superman battling the forces of Lex Luthor and Brainiac, and his relationship with Lois Lane.
The Superman dynasty, an extension of the House of El, is a lineage of DC Comics superheroes. The term is used for the descendants of Kal-El, the original Superman, who continue to uphold his legacy of heroism well into the 853rd century, as depicted in the DC One Million crossover. Repeated references to members of the Superman dynasty, as Superman's "descendants" and at least one reference to them as the "blood of his blood" would seem to indicate that they are, in fact, the biological descendants of Superman in some fashion.
Christopher Kent (Lor-Zod) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Action Comics #844 and was created by Richard Donner, Geoff Johns, and Adam Kubert.
The fictional superheroine Supergirl has been adapted into pop culture several times since 1984. This includes a feature film and several animated and live-action television programs.
"Brainiac" is a five-issue comic book story arc written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Gary Frank, published in Action Comics #866-870 by American company DC Comics in 2008. The story includes several major plot developments regarding Superman: the death of Superman's adopted father Jonathan Kent, the return of the pre-Crisis bottled city of Kandor, and the return of the original Silver Age incarnation of the supervillain Brainiac. It also serves as a prelude to the "Superman: New Krypton" storyarc.
"New Krypton" is a 2008–09 comic book story arc featuring character Superman, published by American company DC Comics; it was written by Geoff Johns, James Robinson and Sterling Gates, with art by Gary Frank, Alex Ross, Renato Guedes, Jamal Igle and Pete Woods. The arc is an inter-title crossover, published in Action Comics, Superman and Supergirl.
Alura In-Ze is a character appearing in media published by DC Comics, usually those involving Superman. Alura is the Kryptonian daughter of In-Zee, wife of Zor-El, mother of Supergirl, and paternal aunt of Superman. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the character first appeared in Action Comics #252.
Thara Ak-Var is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, created by Geoff Johns and James Robinson. The character first appeared during the Superman: New Krypton storyline in Superman #681. She is the latest character to take on the role of Flamebird. Along with the new Nightwing, Thara is the feature character in Action Comics beginning with issue #875. Thara Ak-Var's name is a reference to Ak-Var, who was the second pre-Crisis Flamebird, and his wife, Thara.
Kandor is a fictional city spared from the doomed world of Krypton in DC Comics' Superman titles. Before Krypton exploded, the futuristic city was captured by the supervillain Brainiac, miniaturized by his shrinking ray and placed inside a glass bell jar. Defeating Brainiac and taking possession of the jar, Superman brings the city to his Arctic hideout, the Fortress of Solitude, and spends many years attempting to restore it to normal size.
Superman '78 is a superhero comic book limited series published by DC Comics. It is set in the continuity of Alexander Salkind's Superman film series which starred Christopher Reeve as the title character. Robert Venditti, who serves as the writer, revealed that he was working on a follow-up miniseries. A second series titled Superman '78: The Metal Curtain was announced by DC Comics on August 17, 2023. The first issue of the new series was released on November 7, 2023.