Supergirl

Let’s hear it for the Supergirl: Milly Alcock makes an energetic addition to the reconstructed DC Universe as Kara Zor-El, whether she’s knocking heads together or offering a glimpse at a tortured past that explains why she’s not as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as her more famous cousin Clark (David Corenswet). What the actress hasn’t been given is a vehicle that deserves her; Craig Gillespie’s Supergirl is a shambolic affair, cursed with underwhelming action and forgettable antagonists.

We open with Kara teetering on the verge of her 23^rd birthday, getting hammered across a series of red-sun planets — Kryptonians need the yellow sun to become Super — in an attempt to drink away her trauma. The current version of the DC Cinematic Universe, starting with 2025’s Superman, gives us a Man of Steel who has no memories of his parents or of Krypton; Kara, on the other hand, vividly remembers watching that world crumble around her, first as the planet imploded and then later as the domed city of Argo eventually gave Kryptonite poisoning to all its other residents, including her parents Zor-El (David Krumholz) and Alura (Emily Beecham).

It’s in one of the film’s many interstellar dive bars that Kara meets young Ruthye (Eve Ridley), whose family has been murdered by a brigand named Krem (Matthias Schoenaearts, saddled with face piercings that scream “Party City Pinhead costume”). Kara wants no part of this quest, but when Krem poisons Kara’s dog Krypto and then leaves with the only antidote, she’s forced to help out her young charge.

So it’s True Grit, with Kara serving as the boozy authority figure and Eve as the girl who forcibly drags her older counterpart toward reconnecting with other people (and aliens). Successful superhero movies have certainly been built upon less, but Supergirl fails to deliver on multiple levels. Outside of its heroine, there’s not a single interesting or vibrant character; not Ruthye, not Krem, and certainly not immortal space-biker Lobo (Jason Momoa), a cigar-chomping fan favorite from the comics who is completely tacked on to what’s happening here.

The fight scenes are dark and over-edited, generally taking place in either dingy space dungeons or in a series of watering holes that all feel like bland reproductions of Star Wars’ legendary Mos Eisley cantina. (At least the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special gave us a Bea Arthur number when they dragged us back into that hive of scum and villainy.) Claudia Sarne’s score never comes to life, and the needle-drops (which, shockingly, don’t include XTC’s “That’s Really Super, Supergirl”) bring very little zing to the action.

At a brisk-by-superhero-standards 107 minutes, Supergirl offers no B-story to cut away to, and without a “meanwhile,” the only plot left to hold our attention is whether or not Krypto will get his antidote in time — and does anyone really expect a summer tentpole to wind up on the wrong side of DoesTheDogDie.com?

Supergirl offers sporadic pleasures, from a comedic interlude–turned–fight sequence on a crowded space bus, to the heroine’s Hangover Chic look, which incorporates Dyan Cannon’s sunglasses from The Love Machine and Jane Fonda’s post-orgasmic Barbarella hair, but overall, it plays like a missed opportunity. Alcock deserves a do-over, but given the current state of the superhero cinematic economy, she’ll probably have to settle for scene-stealing appearances in the next wave of Superman movies.

Director: Craig Gillespie
Screenwriter: Ana Nogueira, based on characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
Cast: Milly Alcock, Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley, David Krumholz, Emily Beecham, David Corenswet, Jason Momoa
Executive producers: Nigel Gostelow, Chantal Nong Vo, Lars P. Winther
Producers: Peter Safran, James Gunn
Director of photography: Rob Hardy
Production design: Neil Lamont
Editing: Tatiana S. Riegel, Fred Raskin
Music: Claudia Sarne
Sound design: Chris Munro, production sound mixer
Production companies: DC Studios, Domain Entertainment, Troll Court Entertainment, The Safran Company
In English
107 minutes