PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *cosmological*
I'd seen this DTV film once before, but before giving UNBOUND a re-watch, I read Geoff Jones' five-issue arc of ACTION COMICS on which the movie was based. My primary observation is that UNBOUND is one of the closest adaptations I've seen in a DTV film, with the only major discrepancy being that in the DTV, Superman briefly gets stuck in Kandor by his nemesis Brainiac.
The story is a decent if unexceptional take on the classic Brainiac mythos, with the exception that in the continuity of the 2010s, Supergirl experienced the android's rampage on Krypton some time before she was sent to Earth to seek out her super-cousin. The script also plays up the fact that this Brainiac is a computer intelligence not limited to any particular android body. In the reality of this stand-alone DTV, Superman has encountered the human computer before, but this tale is designed to give a definitive take on Brainiac's symbolic nature. In brief, rather than simply being a passionless collector of scientific knowledge who makes whole worlds his specimens, this Brainiac is said-- twice-- to be a "coward," unable to deal with the chaos of real life. Whether this is meant to be a jab at the reductive version of science is not made clear.
Though Superman is the star, Lois Lane and Supergirl both get hefty supporting roles, while of the other Daily Planet staff, obnoxious jock Steve Lombard enjoys considerable attention. A comic-book subplot involving Clark Kent's adoptive parents is reduced to just a few scenes. The Superman-Lois relationship is milked for acceptable melodrama, though the Superman-Supergirl one is underwhelming.
The film's greatest asset is its strong action-scenes as directed by James Tucker. Still, there really doesn't seem to be anything monumental enough to justify calling it "unbound" a la the archaic play by Aeschylus.
No comments:
Post a Comment