Deconstucting classic superhero tropes is nothing new, and we have seen plenty of these revisionist live-action takes in DC movies alone, from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy to Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, Todd Phillips’s Joker, and Matt Reeves’s The Batman. Adding to the roster is Supergirl, marking the second big-screen solo movie featuring the Girl of Steel in the lead role in over forty years since the Jeannot Szwarc-directed 1984 critical and financial failure.
Directed by Craig Gillespie, whose filmography covers diverse genres across comedies (Mr. Woodcock, Lars and the Real Girl), biopics (I, Tonya, Dumb Money), and supernatural horror (the 2011 remake of Fright Night), he and screenwriter Ana Nogueira take an interesting route by loosely adapting Tom King and Bilquis Evely’s acclaimed Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comic-book miniseries. This is especially true with the comic’s tonal departure, notably its blend of sci-fi Western and the road-trip fantasy, while Kara/Supergirl is portrayed as a cynical protagonist rather than a bright and wholesome optimist.
Milly Alcock, whose rebellious stoicism as the younger Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen in the House of the Dragon series, makes her the right fit for playing the deconstructed version of Kara/Supergirl. Gillespie doesn’t waste time establishing Kara’s distinct characteristics that stray away from Helen Slater and even Melissa Benoist’s familiar beacon-of-hope personalities, right from the get-go. She’s a mess, who is either spending time sleeping or numbing herself with alcohol from her prolonged trauma.
The trauma in question stemmed from her tragic backstory, which is told at one point during an extended, emotional flashback from her time as an adolescent. She barely bothers to talk to her cousin (David Corenswet, reprising his role as Superman), who’s been trying to reach out to her. But despite her constantly drunken state, she doesn’t neglect her beloved dog, Krypto, who’s been a loyal companion by her side. Their unshakeable bond highlights Kara and Krypto’s codependent dynamic; both share similar traits — one is a hardened cynic, while the dog’s untamed nature made them a perfect match. When Krypto attempts to attack Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts), the ruthless leader of the space marauders shoots the dog with a poisonous dart.
This is where the stakes escalate, or so I thought, particularly after the devastating Kara learns that Krypto only has three days max. And the only way to save her beloved dog is the antidote that Krem has with him. But first, she needs to locate his whereabouts, and complicating matters is Ruthye (Eve Ridley), a young girl who’s been trying to track him down as well. Her reason isn’t about getting the antidote, but rather a quest for vengeance after Krem brutally murdered her family. Now with her family’s sword, she’s hoping for any interested mercenary who would help her. She then tries to recruit Kara, but the latter doesn’t want any part of this.
But Ruthye refuses to give up, as she keeps pestering her until Kara agrees. Then, following the Krypto incident that ends with Krem stealing Kara’s spacecraft, forcing the latter to join forces with Ruthye. The two don’t get along at first. But as the movie progresses, they form a sisterly bond with the otherwise messed-up Kara serving as an unlikely moral compass to ensure that Ruthye’s innocence isn’t shattered by the hasty act of revenge since killing Krem won’t bring her closure, only to intensify a cycle of rage and trauma.
With the mission in place, I was expecting the movie to drive a forward-momentum narrative as the two begin to travel from one planet to another while encountering various setbacks along the way. Sure, they do face the obstacles, like the scene aboard a bus being hijacked by a team of female space pirates and their mechanical spider drones, and even cross paths with Lobo (Jason Momoa). The latter brings a devil-may-care energy to his cigar-chomping intergalactic bounty hunter role, whose comic-accurate appearance is one of the best things in the movie.
Too bad the rest of Supergirl falters with a grungy visual palette attempting to ape a Mad Max style, but it looks visually drab. Matthias Schoenaerts tries his best to look menacing in his antagonist role, but I can’t help finding that his character feels more like a garden-variety villain straight out of the assembly line. Gillespie’s attempt to balance the slow-burn character drama within the road movie tropes, echoing the work of the Woman of Tomorrow comic-book miniseries, doesn’t quite gel with the movie’s so-called ticking-clock scenario.
The pace often flags with the otherwise shorter-than-expected 107 minutes feeling like it’s going in circles. And for a big-budget superhero blockbuster, the action is surprisingly flat, lacking the much-needed immersion that at least James Gunn manages to bring in his last year’s Superman reboot.
So much for the decades-long wait for a solo Supergirl movie that’s more disappointing than an overall triumph, despite Alcock’s committed performance and some of the aforementioned positive feedback.
