By George & Josh Bate
After last year’s release of the box office hit and critically acclaimed blockbuster that was Superman, James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new look DCU continues with its second theatrically released film, a miscalculated Guardians of the Galaxy rip-off that fails to soar to the heights of its leading actress.
From director Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya, Cruella), Supergirl stars Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El / Supergirl, Superman’s jaded cousin who watched everyone she knew die on Krypton when she was young. Kara travels across the galaxy with her beloved dog Krypto to celebrate her 23rd birthday when she meets Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley), a young girl who wants to recruit Supergirl on a mission to avenge her family’s deaths at the hands of Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts). While reluctant to do so, Kara agrees when Krypto is poisoned by Krem, giving her three days to track down the villainous bandit and secure the antidote that will save her dog’s life.
For as interesting of a character that Supergirl is, perhaps best evidenced in Tom King and Bilquis Evely’s superb comic book miniseries Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, the new DCU movie is startlingly dull and derivative. From having a wise-cracking superhero who always has headphones on them as the main character to a story that sees the heroes visit a variety of planets and interact with all manner of crazy looking creatures to frequent needle drops of beloved songs, Supergirl borrows heavily and primarily from James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy.
The striking Guardians of the Galaxy similarities invite comparison and highlight just how devoid of wit, visual flair, charm, and heart Supergirl is. Ana Nogueira’s screenplay frequently reaches for comedic beats, only to miss the mark on nearly every occasion. There is only so much comedic mileage one can derive from Milly Alcock stumbling around intoxicated or Jason Momoa with white face paint shouting, “Woorah!” while riding a motorcycle and, as such, the humor wears thin very quickly. Numerous scenes are punctuated by uninspired punchlines that fall cringeworthily flat and are more likely to elicit eyerolls than chuckles from moviegoers. It is not an exaggeration to say that Supergirl is one of the most painfully unfunny comic book adaptations in recent years.
Gillespie and cinematographer Rob Hardy’s visuals, meanwhile, feature overlapping mid-tones, primarily grays and browns, that give the film a murky, lifeless look. Coupled with occasionally spotty VFX, Supergirl aesthetically lacks the vibrancy of its source material and the rich intergalactic worlds it attempts, but largely fails, to bring to extraordinary life. Simply put – Supergirl makes James Gunn’s overly bright and commercial-like Superman look like Barry Lyndon by comparison.
The story, meanwhile, is refreshingly straightforward, especially when compared to the convoluted narratives that dragged down DC movies of the past. Gillespie, however, fails to take advantage of the character opportunities afforded by such a streamlined approach to storytelling. Engrossing flashbacks tracking Kara’s time on Krypton all the way to her eventual arrival on Earth give the film much-needed excitement and dramatic weight, but, otherwise, it lands on an overly simplistic characterization of Supergirl that relies on the overdone drown your sorrows’ idiom far too much.
Anyone who has loved a dog or a pet in their life will emotionally connect to Kara’s plight in the film (i.e., hunting down a bad guy to retrieve an antidote for a poison that is killing her dog), although any resonance that comes from this story can be attributed to viewers’ pre-existing relationships with dogs, rather than actual work the movie puts in to make moviegoers care about what’s happening. In other terms, Krypto appears in the movie so infrequently and is reduced to a mere plot device so egregiously that any investment one has in Supergirl’s mission derives solely from one’s love for dogs.
The film attempts a big sister-little sister plotline with similarly little success. Eve Ridley brings energy and determinism to Rutyhe, a young girl desperate to avenge the death of her family members, and yet the screenplay does disappointingly little to flesh out her burgeoning bond with Kara. The two banter at times, argue at others, and (surprise to no one) come together in the end, all due to the stiff and predictable mechanics of an uninspired screenplay, rather than the result of organic and deserved character journeys.
Much has been made of Jason Momoa’s brisk return to the DC Universe after putting Aquaman aside in favor of Lobo. Momoa has long been fan-cast as the alien mercenary and bounty hunter, primarily due to their uncanny physical likeness. When Lobo eventually comes into the film, he promises to inject some spark in the proceedings, although he ultimately represents the movie’s greatest disappointment.
Momoa is a fine actor when given the right material (check out See or Chief of War if you haven’t), but his performance in Supergirl is cringeworthy, at best. Momoa plays Lobo exactly as he played Aquaman, rendering the new DCU character essentially Aquaman with white facepaint, red eyes, and a motorcycle. Admittedly, Momoa is certainly not aided by the mundanity of the dialogue he’s tasked with delivering, and yet there is nonetheless something that feels so tired and uninspired by his turn here. Momoa winking at the audience and shouting loudly as he kicks ass may have been a sight to behold years ago. Now, it is more fatiguing than exhilarating.
Also grating on the soul is the film’s use of licensed music. Supergirl goes for all kinds of needle drops and achieves a success rate that pales in comparison to the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. There is no needle drop in particular in the film that feels so ill-fitting that it retrospectively made a beloved, decades-old song less appealing (yes, it’s that bad).
Similarly ill-fitting, albeit admirable in its boldness, is the inclusion of several unexpectedly dark plot elements. While handled rather routinely, positioning alcoholism as a core obstacle for the protagonist of a PG-13 superhero movie to tackle demonstrates the filmmakers’ willingness to dip their toes into darker, more grounded material.
This willingness becomes especially evident as the film introduces a group of villains, led by a one-note yet admittedly menacing Matthias Schoenaerts, who kidnap young girls to use them to produce male heirs. If that sounds similar to Immortan Joe and the Brides in Mad Max: Fury Road, that’s because it is an almost identical story point. Coupled with shades of Rogue One and the aforementioned aggressive borrowing from Guardians of the Galaxy, the Fury Road parallels render Supergirl desperately derivative and unoriginal almost every step of the way.
All of Supergirl’s flaws make the misuse of Milly Alcock feel all the more like a Kryptonian exposed to Kryptonite. Alcock commits wholeheartedly to her jaded, sarcastic protagonist and remains resolute in the face of subpar dialogue and storytelling thrown her way. Much like how Superman squandered an incredible Superman in David Corenswet, Supergirl squanders an incredible Supergirl in Milly Alcock. Both Corenswet and Alcock are done a disservice by the poor quality of the movie that surrounds their standout performances.
VERDICT: 4.5/10
Supergirl can be best characterized as a below average Guardians of the Galaxy movie devoid of wit, charm, visual flair, and creativity. Director Craig Gillespie’s film falls frustratingly flat with its startlingly low hit ratio of effective jokes and features overlapping mid-tones, primarily grays and browns, that give it a murky, lifeless look. Engrossing flashbacks give the film much-needed scale and emotional weight, while attempts to elicit emotion from a big sister-little sister storyline and a sick dog plot rely heavily on audiences’ pre-existing thoughts and feelings to achieve the intended effect. Although admirably encroaching on unexpectedly dark material at the times, the film proves startlingly derivative of other films, namely Mad Max: Fury Road. Jason Momoa produces a cringe-worthy turn as Lobo, playing the alien bounty hunter exactly like how he played Aquaman, albeit with white facepaint and red contacts. All of these flaws make the misuse of star Milly Alcock feel all the more egregious. The House of the Dragon alum commits wholeheartedly to the role of a jaded, sarcastic superhero, and yet is let down by subpar dialogue and storytelling. In turn, Supergirl makes the same grave mistake that last year’s Superman did – achieve pitch perfect casting of the leading superhero, only to position them in a movie that fails to match the quality of their performance.