Supergirl Review

Directed By: Craig Gillespie
Written By: Ana Nogueira; Based on the DC comics and characters
Runtime: 107 minutes
MPA Rating: Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, action, language, and smoking.

Milly Alcock – Kara Zor-El/Supergirl
Matthias Schoenaerts – Krem of the Yellow Hills
Eve Ridley – Ruthye Marye Knoll
Jason Momoa – Lobo
David Krumholtz – Zor-El
Emily Beecham – Alura In-Ze
David Corenswet – Clark Kent/Superman

James Gunn’s vision of the DC Universe continues, with a new live-action feature starring Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-El, Supergirl. I, Tonya and Dumb Money director Craig Gillespie takes the helm for the second installment of the new cinematic DC Universe. Unfortunately, Supergirl’s new theatrical adventure fails to take flight in a tonally uneven, dreary-looking movie.

Supergirl expands upon the character’s short cameo as seen during last year’s Superman. Kara (Alcock) likes to spend most of her time off-planet, drunk and hungover. However, due to the nature of her Kryptonian powers, Kara can only feel the effects of liquor if on a planet neighboring a red sun, as the radiation from a yellow sun unlocks her super-strength and flight.

Kara drinks to dull the memories of her tragic backstory. In contrast to her cousin, Clark Kent, aka Superman (Corenswet), Kara was not even born on Krypton until after its explosion, as her parents took refuge in the shielded remains of one of Krypton’s cities after it broke apart.

She was already a full-grown adult when her father, Zor-El (Krumholtz), found the means to spare her from a debilitating fate and flee to Earth, where she could join Kal-El. Unfortunately, the loss of her home and parents has made Kara rather cynical, and she’s reluctant to take up the cape as the heroic Supergirl alongside her cousin.

Kara’s drunken doldrums are interrupted by the arrival of the young girl, Ruthye Marye Knoll, who wants assistance in heading the leader of the Brigands, Krem of the Yellow Hills (Schoenaerts), who savagely murdered her parents. Despite her reluctance to join Ruthye, Kara is forced into action when Krem absconds with her interstellar RV and grievously wounds her dog, the beloved Krypto.

The dart Krem shot Krypto with is slowly poisoning the poor pooch, and Kara has only three days to retrieve the antidote from Krem before Krypto dies, so it’s now up to Kara to track down Krem and find the means to save her best friend. Along the way, she just might be able to finally discover the true hero within herself, despite her constant rebuffing of Superman’s encouragement.

Supergirl suffers from a messy execution. As a comic book superhero, it lacks exciting energy and momentum. Gillespie can’t seem to find a balance between an introspective character drama and a planet-hopping action-adventure.

The film’s bad lighting and murky visuals don’t benefit the experience. The movie looks muddy and visually awful, proving detrimental to the narrative’s sense of immersion. None of the characters or scenes look properly lit. Even the moments meant to appear more aspirational, showcasing Kara stepping into the light and donning her heroic mantle, look woefully synthetic.

Supergirl comes off like a project with many cooks and diverging visions in the kitchen, all trying to add their own ingredients. Gillespie and writer Ana Nogueira opt for a darker and grittier tone than Superman, yet the movie still throws in oddly placed, tiresome needle-drop action sequences, which look woefully out of place in this story.

Comic book movie needle drop sequences were already becoming tiresome before Supergirl, but it’s here where they hit an absolute breaking point. Supergirl falls back on that oft-used trope of a slow-motion action scene set to a pop song, as the camera floats around and tracks all the mayhem. Sometimes, it can certainly work, but the film’s needle-drop sequences come off as tired rehashes, as if the movie is trying to assume an identity not its own.

Krem of the Yellow Hills and his band of Brigands are also the worst comic book movie villains in recent memory. Gillespie and his collaborators sadly opted to significantly alter Krem from his comic book counterpart, and the changes fail to elevate the character in any meaningful way.

Krem’s presentation is not helped by Schoenaerts’ awful performance. He speaks with the assistance of a vocoder implant in his throat, but his dialogue is still rendered indecipherable. Krem and the Brigands traffic sentient people, but the villains look and act so nondescript. The Brigands lack genuine flair, menace, and intrigue.

Krem is introduced in a scene at Ruthye’s home to steal the valuable weapons crafted by her father. However, the sequence features choppy, confusing editing, lacking any genuine fear or suspense, and it ends abruptly. Right off the bat, the movie fails to sell Krem’s irredeemable villainy.

Supergirl has also been heavily marketed around the inclusion of former DCEU star Jason Momoa, who previously portrayed Aquaman. Now, Momoa portrays the cigar-chomping, hook-wielding, hog-riding Main Man himself, Lobo. Despite Momoa’s highly requested, no-brainer fan casting in the role, even his performance doesn’t provide the movie with much-needed sizzle.

Momoa’s performance as Lobo comes off as flat, and his inclusion in Kara’s story is narratively forced. He doesn’t have any meaningful interactions with Kara or Ruthye, for that matter. Most of Momoa’s scenes are rather short, but he comes in and out of the plot as needed, which is flimsy at best.

At times, Momoa sounds like he’s attempting to use a quasi-British accent, which doesn’t work. Despite all the hype surrounding the big-screen debut of Lobo, his presence in Supergirl lacks strong integration in the narrative, and Momoa’s performance is undercooked.

Unfortunately, Supergirl continues an ill-advised plot thread, first introduced in Superman, involving Superman’s parents. The last movie shockingly revealed that Superman’s parents sent him to Earth to conquer it and subjugate the human race.

The revelation is certainly a unique narrative choice, differing from past, more traditional interpretations of Jor-El. However, Superman failed to meaningfully flesh out that detail. Supergirl continues that plot thread to some extent, but it still doesn’t work. Basically, the new DC Universe opened a huge can of worms and has no idea how to deal with it.

Despite Supergirl‘s overall failure in execution, there’s clearly effort on display. Milly Alcock and other actors, such as David Krumholtz as Zor-El, genuinely attempt to carry some emotional weight in their scenes, but the movie’s underwhelming, listless execution does the actors no favors.

Supergirl mostly tries to emulate and rehash superior films, and the experience sufficiently lacks its own identity. With many differing creative visions at work, and a movie that looks visually frustrating to watch, Alcock’s Supergirl never takes flight or becomes that strong, inspirational hero.

The jump to Supergirl for the new cinematic DC Universe’s second movie always came off as confusing. When building a shared cinematic universe, James Gunn needed to lay a solid foundation and build strong pillars before attempting projects like Supergirl. Although it’s a choice that goes against the grain, Supergirl fails to prove that it was the proper move for the franchise. It’s an underwhelming mess.

Where To Watch Supergirl

Supergirl flies into theaters on June 26. Ticket and showtime details are available at the movie’s website.

3.0

The final score: review Bad

The 411

With a nondescript, lame villain, tired and reheated overuse of needle-drop action sequences, and some of the worst visuals and lighting in a blockbuster this year, Supergirl brings little excitement or energy to the comic book table. Even the inclusion of Jason Momoa as Lobo comes off as wasted and overhyped, as the plot genuinely has nothing meaningful for the bounty-hunting bad boy. Supergirl is a gloriously underwhelming, messy comic book superhero movie that fails to take flight.