Wondercon 2013: DC Animated: Superman Unbound

It's become a wonderful tradition for me to attend the Warner Brothers World Premieres of their DC animated films at SDCC and in the last two years at Wondercon in Anaheim.

This year I also had the opportunity to attend the ticked signing with the writer and voice cast of Superman Unbound, the new film from Warner Brothers premiering in May 2013.

Based on the Superman/ Brainiac storyline by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, this film manages to catch the essence of
Johns story as well as exploring the emotional dynamics of Clark Lois and Kara/ Supergirl.

The voice cast of this film is excellent .
Dialogue director Andrea Romano shared with the panel afterwards the difficulty in finding the right voice for Superman . Matt Bomer does an excellent job! He also shared with the audience his love of the character and how much he enjoyed the role ( in his very sexy Clark Kent style glasses ).

Molly Quinn also does an excellent job. Supergirl hasn't always been my favorite.
It wasn't until the Sterling Gates & Jamal Igle's run on the Supergirl monthly comic that I really became a fan of hers.

Kara's characterization in the film had all the elements of Supergirl that I enjoyed from the comic. She is outspoken, a little rebellious yet at her core a warm hearted teenage girl. Kara also is dealing with the trauma of being separated from her family in Kandor that was attacked by Brainiac when she was younger.

Stana Katic returns to voice Lois Lane in the film and she continues to shine in the role. Lois is a big part of this film, as one of the subplots of the film is her need for Clark to take their relationship public. A move that reveals Clark's fear that his life as Superman will bring her harm.

In the midst of this comes Brainiac who is alerted to Earth's presence after a probe droid is destroyed by Superman.

Kara can't handle the trauma of fighting Brainiac and Clark goes to confront the threat on his own.
Despite his efforts Brainiac finds his way to Earth, and more specifically Metropolis.

There were some very solid elements to this story but I wasn't really blown away by the movie overall. There were some changes that needed to be made since its not clear as yet if the New Krypton storyline from the comics will be filmed and I think the film lost its focus a bit because of necessary script changes.

I really think that Warner Brothers Animation has done such a fantastic job with the DC movies that fans ( including myself) have huge expectations for each film. So though I wouldn't say I was disappointed with the film, there were some parts that dragged a bit for me.

It must but noted however that my perspective comes from a fan of the DC comics universe as well and the casual viewer might have a different experience.

The final battle was great and there is a surprise plot element at the end that will need to be addressed in a future film.

Moderator Gary Miereanu teased some coming attractions for DC animation, revealing to a fan that The Riddler will have a small role in an upcoming film and that the company will be hosting a showing a film at SDCC in July and announcing their 2014 film schedule.

Great things coming!




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