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Superman: Unbound
Superman: Unbound is a 2013 animated direct to video 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 16th film in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies series. 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 the unpredictable 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 Kent 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 a fearful Supergirl, Superman learns the robot is actually a drone controlled by a being named Brainiac, a Coluan scientist who subjected himself to extensive motor, skeletal and cybernetic enhancements, turning him from a human like, thin, and hairless being to a muscular, red eyed giant with computer like components and enhanced physical abilities comparible to Superman's. Supergirl, horrified at seeing Brainiac, reveals from her experience with the monster. Brainiac seized and miniaturized Krypton's capital city of Kandor prior to the planet's destruction with her father and mother attempting to track him down before they mysteriously lost contact with Krypton. She is now worried that Brainiac will do to the world what he did to Kandor.
Fearing more drones would 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 Solar Aggressor missile to consume the planet in its exploding sun. The explosion knocks Superman unconscious and he is brought on board Brainiac’s skull shaped, tentacled ship. Coming to in the examination room, he fights his way through the vessel before he discovers a room full of bottled cities prior to being attacked by Brainiac.
Superman: Unbound received positive reviews. Based on 5 reviews, it has a rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 7.4/10. IGN gave the film a 6.5 out of 10. 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". Common Sense Media gave the film a 4 star rating out of 5, commenting "Superman fights, learns life lessons in animated thriller".
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.
