The next cinematic entry in the new DC Universe, Supergirl, is a solid movie, but it feels a bit slight and like off-brand James Gunn at times.
Milly Alcock, introduced at the end of Superman, plays Kara Zor-El, Clark Kent’s cousin, who is less interested in heroism and more in traveling the galaxy with her beloved dog, Krypto, and partying on planets with red suns. While on one of these planets, Kara encounters both Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley) and the Brigand Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts), who Ruthye has vowed to kill in revenge for Krem killing her family. While Kara has no interest in getting involved with either, her hand is forced when Krem poisons Krypto, which gives Kara 3 days to track Krem down and get the antidote that can save him. The plot is pretty straightforward and hits most of the beats you would expect as Kara discovers her inner heroism and bonds with Ruthye. It feels a bit disjointed at times, and it seems like things just happen sometimes. Jason Momoa’s Lobo, for instance, while extremely fun and the role he was born to play, could be written out of the movie completely without really changing anything. The one bit that the movie did nail, though, was the flashbacks to Kara’s life on Argo City, which is protected by a force field during Krypton’s destruction and survives floating in space. David Krumholtz and Emily Beacham do a great job as Zor-El and Alura In-Ze, and they introduce another, more reasonable side of Kryptonians, contrasting Clark’s parents who wanted him to conquer and rule Earth with his increased might. One of the big differences between Clark and Kara is that Kara remembers Krypton and had to watch everyone she loves die, and Supergirl does a great job of showing how that messed her up and contributes to her drunken partying.
Milly Alcock does a great job as this version of Kara, delivering a harder-edged, sadder character who contrasts, usually to hilarious effect, with her bright and optimistic cousin (every scene David Corenswet cameos in Supergirl is a delight). Her evolution into a more heroic figure is fairly predictable but still satisfying. Eve Ridley is fantastic as Ruthye, who kind of acts as a conscience to Kara, and they have some great chemistry and banter as they reluctantly team up to track down Krem. Speaking of Krem, Matthias Schoenaerts delivers a truly creepy and disturbing performance, maybe a bit too much at times. I would maybe put him at the same level as Christian Bale as Gor in Thor: Love and Thunder, since he has the same energy, but I’m not sure how memorable he will be in the near future. As mentioned, Jason Momoa was absolutely born to play Lobo, and his scenes are great, but he is also barely connected to the main plot.
Supergirl features some solid action, including a clever sequence involving a teleporter on an intergalactic bus, but at times it feels like reheated James Gunn beats. Gunn is the overseer of this new DC Universe, but some sequences and choices feel like things we’ve already seen Gunn do better in either Superman or the Guardians movies, like musical choices or how certain action sequences are shot or staged. The movie also has a kind of dark look that alternates between brown and gray tones, which isn’t the most fun to look at, especially compared to the bright, colorful look of Superman, and many of the planets feel similar and fairly uninteresting. There are lots of fun alien species spread across the different planets and bars that Kara and Ruthye travel to, though, and it feels more like a Star Wars movie at times than The Mandalorian and Grogu.
Of all the entries in the new DC Universe, including the TV shows, I would probably rank Supergirl as my least favorite so far. That doesn’t mean it’s terrible, and there’s quite a lot of fun to be had, but it doesn’t do a lot new and is much smaller scale than Superman. If you’re looking to catch in theaters, maybe do a matinee, otherwise you’re probably fine waiting until this hits HBO Max.
