MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Supergirl’ Is Worth It

Supergirl is a big risk for DC Studios. The new DC Universe is only just finding its footing and is still rebuilding its image after a recently failed cinematic universe led by controversial director, Zack Snyder.

Rebooting DC so soon might not have been the best idea. Though, so far, in my eyes, with the release of Superman and Supergirl, DC is off to a good start. James Gunn, co-CEO of DC, said that they wanted Supergirl to be one of the faces of their universe. So, why not take a risk and introduce Supergirl, played by rising star, Milly Alcock?

Personally, while I know this movie is controversial, or at the very least divisive, Supergirl is a great movie. There is genuine heart in the film, without trying too hard to make you feel bad for the lead, Kara Zor-El (AKA Supergirl). The movie is surprisingly humorous at parts in a witty manner, rather than just cracking jokes to pass time. The action is choreographed well and never feels redundant.

It reminds me a lot of the first Thor movie. You have this all powerful being in Thor and Supergirl, and yet, they have to prove themselves without their powers. We see early on that Kara is physically capable of holding her own against anyone in any situation. It’s mentally that Supergirl struggles, with all the trauma and self-doubt that she has.

The movie is not perfect. While I personally like the villain, he probably could have been written a bit better. Though, in my eyes, he is there to help the narrative but is hardly written to steal the show. People in the movie talking about how evil he is, is more enticing than the actual villain himself. I had no qualms with this, but audiences might be expecting more than what they are given.

The way I see it, we cannot always get a Thanos, or Joker every time a comic book movie gets made. If every villain were the same, it would get boring and we would become numb to them after a while.

It is a bold move financially to make the second movie of your cinematic universe based off a character audiences are not very familiar with. But it is adapted from a beloved story, so making it was not such a far-fetched idea.

Just like in the comic that this movie is based on, one of the main characters is a young girl named Ruthye. Ruthye goes through a tragedy and seeks revenge, thus settling the table for Supergirl’s arc in this movie. Before Ruthye comes along, Supergirl is spending her time drinking herself into a stupor to “celebrate” her birthday. We find out as the movie goes on that Kara is not actually a party girl, and more of a drink to cope with pain type person.

There is a great contrast between Supergirl and Superman. While both have powers, only Clark chooses to go out every day to protect people. Kara runs from her powers because she is still coping with the loss of her planet, something she saw first-hand.

The movie makes you wonder if Kara should have to go out and help people. After the tragedy she went through, does she really owe anyone anything? That is her arc throughout the movie. She has significant trauma yet has to overcome that because she has the ability to help others in ways that nobody else can.

Kara is able to go to different planets that have different colored suns. Each sun does something different to her. Yellow gives her superpowers, red takes them away, and green can kill her. We see that while having abilities may help her to easily defeat enemies, she can still scrap with a red sun. She is a better fighter than Superman is, even if his powers are stronger than hers. Early on, when Kara is on a planet with a red sun and has to fight, she easily beats a few people that are bigger than her. Clark probably would not have been able to do that on a red sun planet.

A new fan favorite, Krypto is back in this film after stealing the show in Superman last year. He is the driving force of the plot, as Supergirl is on a mission to save him after he is poisoned in the first act.

There has been a lot of talk about the villain of this movie, Krem. While Krem is hardly Heath Ledger’s Joker, he is far from a bad villain. Krem is in this movie to show how bad people can be. He has no motivation other than to serve himself and spread fear.

For myself personally, I loved the film. It had great writing, great performances, and felt like it was telling something fresh. It is a story about a flawed, yet good woman making peace with her past. Is it perfect? Not by any means. However, it is based off of the famous Woman of Tomorrow comic book arc and it serves it well. The colors are not as vibrant in this movie as they are in the comics. But it still has enough heart and suspense to make up for it.

Milly Alcock being cast as Supergirl was met with some excitement, and a lot of skepticism. She nails the role. I am not sure I would go to say she was born to play the role, because that term is very overused. But she was a great choice, and she really plays the vulnerable side of Kara Zor-El well.

4 out of 5 stars.

While it is not perfect, it will age like fine wine over time.

There’s been a lot of discourse about if Supergirl was the right choice for DC, who is still finding its footing. But if people are going to give DC a tough time about Supergirl being the wrong choice for DC’s second movie, they should also remember that Iron Man 2 is as the MCU’s second film. So, even if Supergirl does not end up going down as a top 5 comic book film of all time, it is hardly a misstep. While this movie will either end up losing money, or barely profiting, Supergirl is an important character to introduce. She is rumored to have a big part in the next Superman movie, Man of Tomorrow. So introducing Kara Zor-El and hitting the ground running will serve DC well in the long run.

If you are a genuine film fan, this movie deserves a fair shake. Not everyone will love it, but it is far from a bad movie.