The second entry in James Gunn's newly rebooted DC Comics universe is here with Supergirl, the first film with Superman's cousin in the leading role since 1984's disastrous attempt. We were briefly introduced to Milly Alcock's take on the character at the end of last year's Superman, and now we get to see her running the show. Does Supergirl soar to the heights of her cousin's movie? Not really, but it's still a solid introduction to the character.
The film follows Supergirl (aka Kara Zor-El) celebrating her 23rd birthday. Amidst a drunken stupor, a young girl enters the fray seeking revenge on an alien named Krem (Matthias Schoernaerts) for murdering her family. Kara doesn't want to get involved, but when Krem poisons her dog Krpyo she joins the young Ruthye (Eve Ridley) to catch him and take the antidote to save Krypto, all while trying to convince Ruthye that revenge is not the answer.
I'll start with the clear highlight, that being Milly Alcock in the leading role. She is perfect as Kara, showing us a flipside to Superman with the same abilities but a completely different outlook on life. She has a natural charm that instantly connects you with her, and her drunken stumbling around makes you only feel for her more when you realize the sadness she is holding within her. We get a lot more of her backstory here than I expected, something that at times hurt the film's pacing but I appreciated anyways. This is a character people don't know as well, so I think it was a good call to give us some flashbacks to help see how she wound up the way she is.
Along with Alcock taking on a huge comic book role, the film introduces Jason Momoa as the iconic DC antihero Lobo. They nailed the look with him and Momoa brings a ton of fun to this, I do just wish we got to see more of him. Eve Ridley is solid as Ruthye, but I was disappointed in how little they actually let her do in the grand scheme of things. She is wielding a sword the whole time, but the only action she actually gets into is strangling a guard in one scene. She stands her ground as a performer, but I do wish we got to see her use the sword at least once. Sadly Schoernaerts as Krem doesn't help the film much. He isn't bad, but he joins a long list of forgettable comic book movie villains as he never really gets any depth.
Visually I found the film to be somewhat mixed but leaning positive. I appreciated the grungy aesthetic, and it is brought to life through some great costume and set design. Like with Superman, there are a lot of practical makeup effects which I loved, and when the film leans into CGI it looks pretty great. The cinematography does feel a bit flat at times, and there are some moments with very questionable green screen, but on the whole I liked the aesthetic of the movie. The music also delivers a great mix of superhero score and fun soundtrack.
Shockingly my biggest issue with the film lies in the direction. I love Craig Gillespie as a filmmaker and I thought he was a great pick for this, but I found this lacking much of any voice. This is a film that feels like it should be brimming with fun energy, but there are a lot of moments where it just lulls. Some of those moments are the flashbacks I mentioned earlier, but then there are long points where there just isn't enough happening and the energy on screen doesn't make up for it. The action scenes are all pretty great, and any time Alcock and Momoa are leaning into the comedic side I was having a blast, but my enjoyment was limited by the more monotonous in between. This isn't to say the film is bad, I enjoyed my time with it, but it feels like there's potential to make something special that just wasn't quite reached.
All in all, I'd recommend this one if you've been looking forward to it. It isn't getting the best reviews out there but there's enough strengths that I still think it's a good time at the movies. 3/5
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