With Man of Steel opening this summer, we are most likely going to be seeing a lot of and hearing a lot about Superman. While the character has been a comic book stalwart for decades and has had exposure in television shows and movies for nearly as long, he doesn't seem to stay in the public consciousness as often as other superheroes like Batman or Spider-Man for instance. But, when a new Superman project is in the works, the character does see renewed interest and we often get discussions on the pros and cons of the character and whether or not people like him. Personally, I've leaned towards the "don't like" side, as Superman's invulnerability makes him somewhat dull and the character lacks personality at times. Still, I'm a fan of Superman: The Movie and I've found that some of the unique things done with the comic icon in the DC Universe animated films to be interesting. Will this trend continue with Superman: Unbound?

It's just another day in Metropolis when a group of terrorist kidnap Lois Lane (voiced by Stana Katic), as they know that Superman (voiced by Matt Bomer) is out of town. They didn't count on Superman's cousin, Supergirl (voiced by Molly C. Quinn) coming to the rescue. While Superman has his hands full with the typical crime-fighting, his job as Clark Kent and his relationship with Lois, he's also helping Kara (Supergirl) adjust to life on Earth. When a strange meteor hits the Southwest, Superman goes to investigate and finds that it's actually a robot, which attacks him. He decides to track the robot's origins and goes on a mission into space, leaving Metropolis in the hand's of Supergirl. Superman discovers the skull-like spaceship of Brainiac (voiced by John Noble), a creature who travels through the universe collecting information on planets and then destroying them. He miniaturizes some cities and keeps them in bottles -- Superman is shocked to learn that he did that with the city of Kandor from Superman's home planet of Krypton. Superman finds Brainiac to be a very formidable foe, and as the ship heads for Earth, Superman must think of a way to stop him.

The DC Universe animated films are typically stories which can appeal to non-comic book fans, and Superman: Unbound is no exception. Other than some vague dialogue about how Superman and Supergirl arrived on Earth from Krypton, the movie doesn't get bogged down in history or factoids from the comics. This is an easily accessible superhero/action piece which offers decent animation and good pacing. As I'm not a Superman fan, so I don't know how the die-hards will react to it, but I found it to be a tad bit light, but still entertaining.

Superman: Unbound does a few things to earn that PG-13 rating on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Warner Home Video. The film has been letterboxed at 1.78:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 18 Mbps. The image is sharp and clear, showing no grain and no defects from the source material. The colors look very good, especially the reds and blues (as one would hope) and the image is never overly dark or bright. The movie doesn't feature the most detailed animation ever, but the HD transfer doesn't reveal any gaps in the drawings. The Disc carries a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 4.5 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. This is a muscular track which offers good stereo and surround sound effects throughout. The stereo effects are nicely detailed and show good separation. The surround effects really come to life in the action scenes and occasionally highlight individual sounds. The subwoofer effects drive home Superman's punches and the explosions.

The Superman: Unbound Blu-ray Disc contains a selection of extras. We begin with an AUDIO COMMENTARY from Director James Tucker, Writer Bob Goodman, and DC Comics Director of Animation Mike Carlin. "Kandor: History of the Bottle City" (17 minutes) contains comments from DC Comics writers and editors, as well as panels from Superman comics. It uses these elements to explore how Kandor has been featured in the comic books over the years. In a similar fashion, we learn the history of one of Superman's greatest villains in "Brainiac: Technology and Terror" (25 minutes). This does a nice job of showing how the look of Brainiac and his ship has changed over the years. Themes similar to those shown in Superman: Unbound are featured in two bonus TV episodes from Superman: The Animated Series. We get to see pages from the original Superman: Brainiac graphic novel.