JONESING FOR FILMS

James Gunn and Peter Safran kicked off the DC Comics relaunch at Warner Bros last summer with Superman (2025), giving audiences hope that there might be a path forward in making their version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe relevant and profitable. One of the most well-received moment of the film was the cameo at the end of Milly Alcock’s disaffected take on Kara Zor-El, Superman’s cousin. It raised my anticipation for Supergirl.

This spinoff standalone in the new DC universe has Supergirl planet-hopping to celebrate her 23rd birthday, with her dog Krypto along for the ride. On one planet with a red sun, where she doesn’t have her powers, she crosses paths with Ruthye (Eve Ridley), a teenager whose family has been massacred at the hands of the Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts), the sadistic leader of a group known as the Brigands. Ruthye seeks vengeance and Kara reluctantly takes her up on the cause when her ship is stolen and Krypto’s life is threatened.

In their journey to retrieve an antidote for Krypto from the Brigands and avenge Ruthye’s family, they also cross paths with Lobo (Jason Momoa), a lethal intergalactic bounty hunter on the trail of a Brigand. Flashbacks to Kara’s backstory and how she made it from Krypton to Earth are littered throughout the story, mainly meant to explain why she is different than Superman and to deepen her connection to Krypto.

Generally, speaking, I like the persona they have given Supergirl of being emotionally stunted young adult saddled with a whole lot of baggage that her cousin managed to avoid. She experienced more displacement in her backstory, as an orphan and as a refugee. She drowns her sorrows in alcohol and by not getting too attached to anything (except Krypto), but she also has enough self-awareness to know that she’s kind of damaged and tries to protect Ruthye from experiencing the same fate.

The film makes note of every location that the action takes place in, when a new planet is introduced, most of the time the type of sun in that solar system is also displayed on screen. It’s a simple and efficient way to explain its impact on Kara and her superpowers without having to rely on clunky exposition.

While I was skeptical when they announced that they were re-casting Jason Momoa, discarding his Aquaman from the DCEU and making him Lobo, Lobo is a plus in this movie. He brings a very different energy whenever he is on screen, a bit of chaos and unpredictability to the festivities, made me think of Beetlejuice. Momoa also looks like he is having fun, snarling out his dialogue and munching on a cigar in the process.

Sadly, Momoa’s Lobo feels like he is in a different movie entirely than everyone else is when he is on screen. He seems like the only one truly enjoying himself. A lot of the movie feels flat and generic and doesn’t give our heroine much to do that is interesting. She gets underestimated for being a petite girl a lot. At one point, she gets poisoned, rather obviously, and she stumbles around a lot.

The best action sequence of the movie happens about a third of the way into the movie when Supergirl is onboard a bus that is attacked by space pirates. A lot of the other action falls victim to drab visuals and an over-reliance on slow-motion moments and needle-drops. It does not have to be a hard and fast rule that just because the protagonist hero is a female that the majority of the soundtrack choices have to be female vocalists.

Nearly everything involving Ruthye and Kara reluctantly taking her under her wing did little for me. It reminded me of video games I have played where the main character has a NPC that tags along and follows them wherever they go and doesn’t add much value to the game and more than anything just gets in the way.

And the main villain, Krem, is the most generic and uninspired aspects of the entire movie. Schoenaerts is someone that I think is a quality actor, but Krem is bland and forgettable as the big bad of the movie.

It’s not that any of this is outright bad, but it’s all just muddled and generic and uninspired. A lot of it also looks like very obvious green screen. Ultimately, I don’t know whose feet this film lands at, be it director Craig Gillespie (who made one of my favorite films of all time, Lars and the Real Girl), writer Ana Nogueira, or Gunn and Safran as producers. It did not feel like there was a fondness for the character here like I have seen in other superhero movies that some directors have made.

I think there is still something that can be salvaged with this character going forward. Milly Alcock made a strong initial impression in Superman last year and I still think she is the right casting choice after seeing Supergirl. But the next step forward in telling her story needs to be handled by people who are passionate about the character. Hopefully that results in something better, something that loosens the chains that constrained Alcock and her character this time around. There were embers here for something to catch fire, it just never quite sparks.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars