Following up on her surprise cameo at the end of last year’s summer blockbuster Superman, Milly Alcock returns as Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl, in the character’s first solo film since the 1984 film starring Helen Slater. Grittier and bleaker, both visually and thematically than Superman, this film showcases an outstanding performance by Alcock with style and some heart, but never quite hits the high notes.
Supergirl is a heavily adapted take on the wonderful graphic novel Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow that features a unique take on Kara. Unlike her cousin Clark/Kal-El, Kara is depressed and lonely having grown up with her parents and fellow Kryptonians before being sent to Earth. She struggles to find purpose and a home despite Clark/Kal-El’s warm welcome and has taken to finding planets with a Red Sun (which makes Kryptonians powerless) to get drunk at intergalactic bars to wash away the pain. During an extended bender on her birthday week, she crosses paths with Ruthye (Eve Ridley), a young girl on a quest for vengeance against the despicable Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts). Kara embarks on a quest for a cure with Ruthye in tow after Krem critically poisons everyone’s favorite superdog, Krypto.
Directed by Craig Gillespie (Cruella) and written by Ana Nogueira, the film takes heavy inspiration from James Gunn’s non-Superman work like Guardians of the Galaxy and even more heavily from the modern Mad Max and Furiosa films. It’s a distinct tonal shift from the bright, optimistic world Gunn introduced in Superman and while it’s a bold artistic direction, there certainly will be audiences leaving disappointed after buying a ticket wanting a similar experience to the crowd-pleasing Superman.
The destruction of Krypton was noticeably absent from Superman and, in a neat change of pace, is given to Supergirl to flesh out some of the details. Rather than rehash Clark/Kal-El’s parent’s perspective at the end, flashbacks are given to the audience here from Kara’s parents Zor-El (David Krumholtz) and Alura (Emily Beecham), in the days leading up to and after Krypton’s destruction. Yes, you read that right. There are some interesting changes to Kara’s birth and the reasoning for her being sent to Earth. These flashbacks are heartbreaking and bleak and Krumholtz is excellent in these scenes, but these are tough to see play out even with the introduction of puppy Krypto.
Probably the most hyped and anticipated aspect of Supergirl has to be the long awaited debut of Jason Momoa in the role he was born to play: anti-hero Lobo. Momoa is absolutely the right (main) man for the job, but with that being said, he seems like he’s still trying to figure out how to play Lobo in this one. His line delivery and energy is inconsistent and feels slightly out of step with the last time in each appearance. Perhaps with different direction and more time in the role he’ll finally nail it like we all know he can. But don’t fret too much ya bastich, seeing him ride his Spacehog and thrash pirates with the Chain Hook will be enough to satisfy fans for now.
Unfortunately, the villain Krem of the Yellow Hills is also underwhelming, despite Matthias Schoenaerts attempts to inject some life into this bland adapatation of the far better version from the source material. On the positive side, puppy and grown-up Krypto once again steal every scene with his mischievous cuteness, despite some questionable CG. David Corenswet also continues to own the role of Clark/Superman with his warmth and charm in surprisingly multiple appearances in Supergirl.
The soundtrack rocks (again, something akin to a Gunn film) and plays into some nifty enough action sequences, but nothing that really stands out when you look back on the film. The aliens and creatures in Supergirl are extremely well done and adds to some cool DCU world building in the space section. There’s even a very funny voice cameo that comes out of nowhere, but isn’t a known DC character.
At the center of it all is the big sister/little sister redemption arc for both Kara and Ruthye. The actresses have good chemistry, and most of the film is carried on the back of Milly Alcock’s red cape thanks to her sarcastic exuberance and reluctant empathy. But as mentioned earlier, it just never reaches that next level to make you really care enough for their relationship. Supergirl is a solid enough space western that had the potential to be something special, but instead is just a pretty good time, leaving us to hope these characters can shine brighter elsewhere in the DCU.
Score: 3.5 out of 5