Supergirl

DC

Supergirl is not a good movie. It is a pale imitation of the films of the man running the DCU, James Gunn, full of needle drops and smirks, but lacking any of the heart and artistry that took overlooked characters, from the Guardians of the Galaxy to Peacemaker, from obscurity to center stage. Supergirl, a more prominent character than usual, is badly damaged from the attempt, which does not feature Gunn writing or directing, only jubilantly endorsing what is an extremely subpar film.

Kara Zor-El is adrift in space, having met up with her cousin Clark years after she was originally supposed to, her baby cousin now older than her. But rather than stick around Earth to become a co-hero with Clark, bounces around red sun planets getting trashed by herself.

Here, she randomly meets a young girl seeking revenge against a brigand, Krem, for slaughtering her family. Kara does not want to make it her problem until Krem steals her ship and poisons her dog, Krypto. Then it’s personal, and the girl is helped by default. Lobo is there too, for some reason.

When I first saw Milly Alcock as young Rhaenyra Targaryen in House of the Dragon, it was clear she was going to be a star. But in her extremely prominent breakout blockbuster role as Kara in Supergirl, the actress is so hamstrung by the writing and direction of the film that it’s hard to even fully judge her in the part.

I have not read the Tom King source material that inspired this story, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, but I know it’s considered quite good and brilliantly drawn and inked. Supergirl is neither of those things. A dull blend of Guardians and an attempt to be Mad Max, but shot with increasingly ugly special effects that have been plaguing many blockbusters and layered on top of a script doing the original source material, and its actors, no favors.

The action is limited, not executed terribly well, as the film prevents Kara from using the full extent of her powers until the movie’s final ten minutes, which is also, of course, when she puts her suit on for the first time. Superman was helped by the fact that it did neither of these things. On top of that, one of these actually good action scenes is destroyed by what is, without question, the worst needle drop song choice for a final fight I’ve ever seen, another Gunn-imitating moment that goes disastrously wrong.

Through all this, I believe Alcock will probably be good in the role if she can escape this kind of writing and direction. When she shows up in Man of Tomorrow, perhaps it will be a redemptive moment. But here, she’s forced into a lifeless film that only has the bones of what could have been a good story about trauma, either being consumed by it or working through it. Kara is an imperfect hero, and she remains one by the end in a way that feels necessary for her character, but this all could have been so much more compelling. There’s not a truly emotional moment to be found in the film, and I can only feel so much empathy for suffering CGI dogs.

Supergirl is so bad that it makes me fearful for the future of the DCU if this is the kind of project that gets approved, and the writer of it so impressed Gunn she’s now assigned to two more films, Wonder Woman and Teen Titans.

There is something to be found in both this character and the actress who plays her, but Alcock’s Kara did not have a chance to shine here in a lacking feature, and deserved better.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.