After the wave of negative reactions this week regarding the new big budget Supergirl, I walked into DC Studio’s latest superhero film hoping to find something audiences and critics had perhaps been too hard on. After all, I don't have any real attachment to the comics or the particular character, nor have I read Woman of Tomorrow, which this film is loosely based on. I wasn't burdened by expectations of faithfulness or decades of investment in Kara Zor-El as a character, so I was ready to judge this movie entirely on its own merits. Unfortunately, those merits are frustratingly few.
On paper, Supergirl, directed by Craig Gillespie (Cruella, I, Tonya) and written by Ana Nogueira (Which Way to the Stage), is full of terrific ideas. As only the second film in James Gunn's new DC Universe following last year's refreshingly colorful and optimistic Superman, it wisely attempts to go in a bit of a different direction. Rather than a traditional superhero story, this is structured as a cosmic revenge western, borrowing as much from True Grit, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and the original Star Wars trilogy as it does from comic book caped crusader mythology. That's exactly the kind of variety a shared cinematic universe desperately needs if it hopes to survive in a post-Marvel landscape where audiences seem to be growing increasingly weary of interconnected franchise roadmaps.
The opening offers some promise. Kara (a magnetic Milly Alcock) spends her days sleeping off hangovers before traveling from planet to planet looking for the next party, caring about little besides her scruffy companion Krypto. It's a fun inversion of the Superman formula. Whereas Clark Kent (David Corenswet) has lived a largely frictionless life on Earth since infancy, Kara is wounded, directionless, and simply trying to numb decades of grief after watching her family and the rest of Krypton slowly die around her before being sent away to Earth. That is, until one day when the young Ruthye (Eve Ridley) barges into the drunk Kryptonian’s frequented bar and demands help to avenge her family at the hands of the dreaded Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Shoennaerts).
Alcock (Sirens, House of the Dragon) is excellent throughout, bringing a naturally cool vibe and angsty vulnerability that keeps Kara engaging even when the material around her falters. Jason Momoa also injects some much-needed energy as the devilish bounty hunter Lobo, clearly having an absolute blast chewing scenery whenever he appears. Krypto also continues to be one of the smartest additions this new DC Universe has made. The moment he's endangered, the movie instantly manufactures more emotional investment than much of the surrounding story manages on its own - which is a considerable problem, considering where it leads.
There are flashes of creativity everywhere. Kara taking an intergalactic bus instead of simply flying everywhere is inspired, and the alien creatures (most of which appear to be practically made) that inhabit it and the various planets are fun to admire. The soundtrack throws everything from Jimmy Eat World to Sleigh Bells, Halsey, Eagles of Death Metal and Modest Mouse into the mix. Various alien languages abound throughout the story, and the human trafficking villain may not be particularly interesting but is especially despicable - the kind of bad guy you can’t wait to see smacked around.
But none of those individual pieces ever come together in a strong enough way. The biggest problem may simply be that Supergirl never finds a true rhythm. Scene after scene feels oddly paced, with moments that should land emotionally instead falling flat. For every genuinely effective character beat, there are two or three awkward exchanges or tonal misfires immediately afterward. Kara's relationship with Ruthye should be the emotional and thematic backbone of the film, but despite a strong premise, it never develops into anything particularly compelling. Ruthye spends much of the movie feeling more like an annoyingly familiar plot device than an actual person.
Even worse is the action. For an outer space superhero blockbuster this effects-heavy, it's depressing how murky and lifeless every major set piece feels. The first large-scale space battle that pits Kara against high-tech pirates immediately reveals the film's fatal flaw. Every punch, explosion and flight sequence is buried beneath sludgy visuals, blurry CGI and an overwhelming sense of weightlessness. Gillespie isn't an untalented filmmaker, but after already struggling with similar visual issues on Disney’s Cruella, it's difficult not to question whether he was the right choice for a project demanding this much large-scale spectacle.
The final act especially - set in a drab wasteland - becomes exactly the kind of gray, overstuffed CGI noise that audiences seemingly grew exhausted with years ago. When the weakest aspect of an action movie is its action, it's hard to recover. There's also an unfortunate sense of familiarity hanging over almost every frame. Despite its strange alien civilizations and creatures, so much of the dialogue, production design, ships, weapons and narrative beats feel like recycled leftovers from countless other science fiction and superhero films. Even Lobo, entertaining as Momoa can be, feels less like an organic character and more like an emergency charisma injection for a movie that's struggling to generate much excitement on its own.
I can't help but wonder whether this story would've benefited from a woman's perspective behind the camera. Besides Nogueira as screenwriter, Tatiana S. Riegel as editor, and Claudia Sarne as composer, the majority of the behind-of-scenes appears to be male-driven. That's not to suggest only women can direct female-led films, superheroes or otherwise, but for a movie so centered on grief, identity and the poignant fact that it features a main villain that specializes in trafficking young girls, it's hard not to feel a genuinely personal perspective is missing beneath all the attempts at spectacle.
Perhaps that’s ultimately what makes Supergirl such a disappointment. Not because it's an inaccurate adaptation (as valid as those criticisms are), but because the ingredients are all here for something that could be genuinely special. Milly Alcock deserves a better showcase, Kara deserves a better film, and audiences deserve a superhero movie that trusts its compelling character more than another barrage of murky CGI and shoehorned cameos (e.g., Momoa's Lobo). This might be passable entertainment for some viewers. But this far into both the superhero boom and an era filled with genuinely great female-led genre stories, "passable" simply doesn’t feel good enough anymore.
‘Supergirl’ is now playing in theaters.
