Supergirl – Film Review
This is the punky, rebellious, in your face version of Supergirl with a full throttle performance from Milly Alcock as the eponymous character. She is brash, out of control, drunk, self-destructive, and seems to have a death wish embracing a chaotic lifestyle. Yet, whilst director, Craig Gillespie, and James Gunn clearly believe they are revolutionising the franchise, her antics seem a tad old fashioned à la the ladette culture of the ‘90s and do not move the dial in terms of making any feminist empowerment statements! Supergirl’s voice is suppressed, literally, on more than one occasion by editing choices, yet the film is a chaotic, sprawling overstuffed adventure that is fun but flawed. Alcock’s performance stands out as she fully embodies Supergirl’s anger, frustrations and continuous intentions to be a good person.
Based on the graphic novel Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, the film’s premise follows a similar quest for revenge when Supergirl teams up with the orphan Ruthye (Eve Ridley) who seeks vengeance for her slain family members. Supergirl/ Kara is a reluctant mentor to Ruthye but when the cute Krypto, with a better CGI performance than he had in Superman, becomes collateral damage at the hands of Krem of the Yellow Hills, Supergirl feels compelled to join Ruthye to punish him for his misdeeds and she becomes a female John Wick of sorts!
Supergirl is the second film within James Gunn’s re-boot of the DC film franchise known as the DCU. This forms part of his Chapter One: Gods and Monsters but yet it feels like a sandwich filler film in the middle of this chapter with no full meaning and impact of its own. As such, Supergirl is reduced to being a fighting force, with some bombastic fight sequences in scenes, who has chosen to live a human life on a red sun planet to suffer and draw blood as much as humans in her grief. But, disappointingly, she does not even attempt to disguise herself as Kara, per Supergirl (1984) where Helen Slater donned darker hair as her mortal self, Kara.
Unfortunately, despite its protestations, Supergirl has been reduced to reacting to the sense of entitlement and violence displayed by the male characters. Most of those villains are one dimensional, even Matthias Schoenaerts’ pinhead resembling character, Krem, and therefore, there has been a wasted opportunity to flesh out Supergirl’s role beyond acting like a sullen teenager! Where we do see more complexity, in her character, is during moments of deciding which battle to choose when two events are occurring simultaneously and she is therefore prone to making mistakes.
Whereas Superman (2025) offered layers of introspection and guilt regarding the exercise of his powers towards mere mortals or other defenceless beings, this element is lacking in Supergirl. Equally, the pain encountered by Superman, whilst using some of his powers, such as shooting lasers from his eyes is also surprisingly absent in Supergirl – who shoots lasers at will with no impact to her body. However, she does appear to be weaker than norm in this iteration as she is poisoned on several occasions, which seems to provide an excuse for projectile vomiting and more bodily fluids to be thrown across the screen. All of which just adds to the sense of the character being at a juvenile stage of development. Supergirl is, therefore, the antithesis to the younger Ruthye who, despite being a liability on occasions, appears to be more mature and honourable than this version of Supergirl! In this sense, they complement each other, but the film should have remained focused on this burgeoning friendship to tighten its structure.
Instead, there are the flashbacks to the slow destruction of the planet Krypton, as Kara left many years later than Superman, with David Corenswet making occasional appearances, and the film is occasionally bathed in an orange tinged glow, which is jarring. There are unremarkable needle drops which serve to dip into nostalgia once more with Supergirl possessing an Ipod Classic, although given that she did not speak any English on arrival on Earth, being in possession of English language MP3 songs is an odd choice! There are also many alien creatures along Supergirl’s journey with Ruthye to find the Brigands, which feels like an extended episode of Star Wars or Dune rather than a superhero film! Plus, the occasional references to kidnapped young women, described as the Brides, seem to reflect the concept of The Five Wives from Mad Max: Fury Road and is a problematic deviation from the source material.
Indeed, there are many elements to enjoy within Supergirl with its good costume design and Alcock’s superb performance but even Ruthye’s question as to why she is referred to as ‘supergirl’ rather than ‘superwoman’ is insubstantial in the development of the female voice within the film. Even though Ana Nogueira is on board as a screenwriter, there is still the noticeable absence of the female gaze with the female characters being badly written. Supergirl lacks a substantial persona and storyline. In some moments, she resembles the rebellious nature of the zany character Harley Quinn from the previous DC Extended Universe (DCEU) from which this new chapter was supposed to be a departure. Still, one cannot help but wonder whether Supergirl would have fared better in the hands of Patty Jenkins, who directed the Wonder Woman films from the previous franchise!
Overall, Supergirl is a fun, flighty but flawed film, with dazzling choreographed fights that will be an enjoyable watch during the summer blockbuster season. Alcock is a flying success in Supergirl and is bound to be a rising star. It is just a pity that she was not given better material to work with on this occasion, although Supergirl’s darker, grittier tone is welcomed but might ultimately prove to be divisive!
