Supergirl is the second full-length film from James Gunn’s DC Studios and it switches gears from last year’s Superman to focus on his younger cousin Kara. Milly Alcock steps into the Kryptonian’s shoes. Up until now, Supergirl has mostly existed on the small screen, thanks to the CW series.
This iteration of Supergirl exists in the same stylistic space as Guardians of the Galaxy. Kara, like Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), lives in an analog universe where her surroundings are gritty, lived-in and tactile — a stark contrast to the hypercolorful world of Metropolis, where Clark Kent resides.
Kara and Star-Lord feel cut from a similar cloth, from the way they dress and their preference for old-school headphones to their sardonic interactions with others. Both also project rough, self-deprecating exteriors shaped by different traumas.
As seen throughout the Guardians trilogy, Star-Lord cultivates a found family, giving his life meaning and purpose. In Supergirl, the only family Kara has — aside from her older, “nerdy” cousin (her words, not mine) — is her loyal dog, Krypto. And it doesn’t take long before his life is put in peril, sending her on a galaxy-hopping mission to save him.
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Alcock stars alongside Eve Ridley, who plays young Ruthye, a girl who enlists Kara on a dangerous mission of vengeance. Jason Momoa is an absolute blast as the iconic immortal bounty hunter Lobo, while Matthias Schoenaerts plays the villainous Krem of the Yellow Hills. (Spoiler: He doesn’t have a mustache.) If you’re familiar with the comic book Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, those names should ring a bell. If not, don’t fret: The movie strays from the source material enough to make for a fun ride regardless.
David Corenswet appears here and there, tethering the Craig Gillespie-directed outing to Superman, but for the most part, this is a Milly Alcock affair. And her dog Krypto is the key to the whole plot.
When I wrote about Superman last year, I revisited the idea that kindness was the new punk rock. It was a refreshing theme that ran throughout the film. Supergirl doesn’t go there.
Instead, the lesson here is simply to be good in a world that can so often be unfair, unrelenting and unkind.
Through her journey with Ruthye, whose sole mission is to kill Krem, we witness eye-opening flashbacks of her life on Krypton. Unlike Kal-El, who was shipped off the planet as a baby, Kara enjoyed a childhood there. And when the planet began to collapse, the movie explores the traumatic effects of watching her family slowly die as she gets sent away to a new planet, never to see her home or loved ones again.
This is where Krypto comes in. That little ball of spunky, loyal energy was a highlight in Superman. In Supergirl, his backstory is revealed, making his role in Kara’s life even more significant. She found him on Krypton, making him her physical connection to home. He’s also her closest loved one and most trusted friend, making the dog an embodiment of home itself.
With three days to save his life, Kara travels to a variety of planets — by ship, aboard a clunky space bus and via other means — to track down Krem. Along the way, she forges a bond with Ruthye, fights alongside the wisecracking Lobo and saves a boatload of young girls from Krem after learning that his crew abducts them as brides to propagate their all-male species.
If that sounds familiar, it’s because a similar plotline is explored in Mad Max: Fury Road. In fact, nearly everything about Krem’s crew screamed Mad Max to me. I didn’t mind the homage, but the way this particular plot point was handled felt somewhat unoriginal.
Performance-wise, Alcock is terrific as Kara. She skillfully balances the weight of her character’s tragic backstory with a steady stream of witty quips and displays of superpowered bravado. The movie begins with Kara on a bender, drifting aimlessly through space without a sense of purpose. By the end, she’s found a friend in Ruthye (played with emotional determination by Ridley) and the confidence to potentially fight crime alongside her older cousin.
It’s safe to say that most reviews you read about Supergirl will rave about Jason Momoa’s turn as Lobo. My only gripe about his performance is that there wasn’t enough of it. Every time he exited the frame, I wanted the camera to follow. Hopefully, they’ll make a standalone Lobo film happen.
Schoenaerts’s take on Krem is an over-the-top exercise in villainy. I’m sure some will have a gripe with how he portrayed the bad guy. I didn’t mind it, really. After all, this is a science fiction comic book movie. Yet, much like the Mad Max detail I mentioned above, his performance kept reminding me of Christopher Plummer’s turn as General Chang in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country — except, more feral and without all the Shakespeare quotes.
I suppose my point is that Supergirl feels like a collection of ideas inspired by other things, repackaged into a new thing here. Along with Gunn’s signature move of having every stylized fight sequence fueled by some form of pop music, I found myself checking out more than once.
Perhaps that’s because Craig Gillespie has never helmed a movie of this caliber before. Maybe it’s due to the script’s random clunkiness. Through all the fun visuals and deeper emotional plot points, Supergirl ultimately felt like a movie walking the walk without living fully and truthfully in the protagonist’s shoes.
That’s not to say it’s not good; the movie absolutely is. But it’s not on the same level as Superman, and that’s fine. Supergirl has got the pacing, emotional stakes, action sequences and needle drops that’ll keep audiences entertained.
Just don’t expect an end credits scene — James Gunn doesn’t like those.
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