I think its all time for studios to ask themselves, does the audience even care anymore? The short answer is, no. Very few people have cared about the homogenized cape flick machine since 2019. Supergirl is the second official movie in the relaunched DCU and quite clearly the 38th movie in the MCU.
In Supergirl, Kara Zor-El is sewing her wild oats as she drinks through her early 20s on planets that will help her get drunk. While on one of her benders, she meets a young girl who seeks help in getting revenge. It turns out that the guilty party also happens upon Kara and poisons her CG dog Krypto.
With only 3 days to get the antidote, Kara and the girl pursue the bandit to serve him some justice. That’s it’s. That’s the story.
I’m tired, boss.
Who wrote this script? Who approved this? There are actual answers to those questions, but let’s go bigger. DC is trying to shake the confusion of the past and move forward with a fresh new take on super hero flicks. They made Superman the gee-golly boy scout and with this movie, attempt to give his counterbalance with the apathetic Kara. However, this is not the kickstart to a franchise that they expected it to be.
Kara goes through three moods throughout the movie. Not character changes; moods. She’s drunk and tired in the first 1/3. She’s monotone and melancholy in the second act. And finally she’s confident and remembers the theme of her character in the last act.
The movie rests on Milly Alcock’s shoulders and she’s fine. She’s the salisbury steak of actors. From a storytelling point of view, each of her three moods makes sense, but she shows no nuance. There is nothing about her that makes you root for the character. There’s no real emotion behind the performance, which also prevents any real moments of triumph near the end. Super flicks need big moments of triumph. She is a worthwhile actor, but the script fails her in every way.
The villain is as bland as can be. Krem (the walking pin cushion/Pinhead’s second cousin/junkie from Streets of Rage 2) seems like he got kicked out of the Ravagers (from Guardians of the Galaxy) three movies ago and somehow got the lead villain role here.
To salvage the movie, they throw in a few side scenes with Superman (David Corenswet) and Jason Momoa (Jason Momoa). It feels trite to keep inserting Clark as the do-gooder whipping boy, but his inclusion actually felt like a breath of fresh air. Many critics see the use of Lobo as a saving grace for the movie. He brings a necessary amount of charisma and energy to the movie, but his role is pointless.
I’m including David Corenswet as a positive for the movie just to be clear. Also, I liked the flashback scenes of the last days of Krypton and its people. It brought some near genuine emotion (and for that I’d credit David Krumholtz) to the story.
It seems as if director Craig Gillespie just didn’t care. If feels like he was working with his boss (James Gunn) hovering over his shoulder. There are countless scenes where characters just show up because the script magically needs them to. The plot conveniences and contrivances are littered throughout the experience and it only seems to create just as many plot holes.
Also, this is an ugly motion picture. The first half dabbles into some creativity that relies on how much the crew liked the Mos Eisley Cantina scene from Star Wars. But the movie either happens in grimy bars or a hideous brown CG background. The action scenes should be fun, but they’re hard to follow and the camera cuts away when there’s any impact. Let’s not forget the cheat code that James Gunn loves to employ. There’s a needle drop that punctuates every action scene. The most egregious example being a misplaced cover of Jimmy Eat World’s The Middle.
Supergirl is anything but super. I don’t understand how a movie of this quality is supposed to halt the decline of the comic book movie genre. Nothing happens in this movie and no one seems all that happy to be there. This wants to be every movie by stealing parts from every movie. In the end, it has no identity. Milly Alcock is fine with the very little she gets to work with. If you happen to pay for this movie, it will be two hours you’ll never remember. D+
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