Supergirl: Movie Review

Cast: Milly Alcock, Jason Momoa, Eve Ridley, Matthias Schoenaerts, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham, David Corenswet
Director: Craig Gillespie

Nearly one year after director James Gunn released a revamped Superman movie to relaunch the DC Universe, House of the Dragon's Milly Alcock takes centre stage as Kara Zor-El aka Supergirl.

While Superman has found his place in the universe as a protector of planet Earth, Kara is struggling to discover and define her path. However, when her only other surviving colleague from the planet Kryptonite, her dog Krypto, is poisoned by space pirate Krem of the Yellow Hills (Schoenaerts) and has only three days left to live, she sets out on a quest for vengeance and to try and save him by getting an antidote.

Based on the Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow eight-issue limited run comic series, Craig Gillespie's movie looks to tackle some heady themes, while trying to deepen the Superman world and lore. 

And in parts, it really shines.

Milly Alcock utterly owns what's needed of her here. The difference between her and her cousin Clark is stark. In one line, she says he sees the good in everyone and she sees the truth when asked if they're similar. Alcock's Supergirl has a lot of PTSD to explore and deal with, something that's triggered further by her life on Krypton, which is different from Kal-El's. 

While Superman showed her as a party girl, determined not to take life seriously, it soon becomes clear that it's a mask, an insight that's probably not a surprise to many, but Alcock imbues it with gravitas and heft, as well as inherent sadness after she faces a life without Krypto.

There are also some surprisingly low-key scenes between the two cousins which bookend the film, grounding both of them and probably setting up a dynamic for Man of Tomorrow, the Superman sequel that's due in 2027.

Plus, the DC Universe feels kind of low-rent too, littered with scuzzy creatures and a space menagerie of life forms that feel like they never really get much screentime in these kinds of films. Along with production designs that deliver the lower end of ships and day-to-day life that feel like they're from Mad Max, Supergirl widens the universe by not wearing rose-tinted glasses. And it's all the better for it.

However, not all of this works.

Chiefly, it's an issue of tone throughout. Moments of jokiness clash up against the more sombre themes of rage and vengeance, and it doesn't always work. 

Momoa's Lobo (a kind of beefcake vampire cross with the lead singer of KISS) just feels completely out of place in proceedings, a kind of hammy, OTT character that really adds little to the proceedings and shows up just because he can. 

And disappointingly, Eve Ridley's Ruthye, who's supposed to be the moral conflict of the story as she wrestles with the desire for revenge, just seems to be prone to be repeating her mantra in a Princess Bride Inigo Montoya way that soon loses its heft. Plus, saddled with quite a bit of forced bonding exposition to Supergirl, she feels more like a mouthpiece in this than a fully fledged individual. (An odd subplot about child trafficking also just hangs there for no real depth.)

Consequently, Supergirl feels like it lacks some of the emotional resonance it needs in an at times uneven movie that never quite allows its deep themes to rise to the top and trust its audience with them.

As a result, it's not quite as Super as it could be, but deserves to be applauded for trying something different and for Alcock's superlative performance.