Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Film of Yesteryear
Supergirl released Friday as the second theatrical release of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s rebooted DCU initiative, between last July’s Superman and this coming October’s Clayface. Among its lower box office returns in its first week, the film has garnered more of a mixed reception compared to the DCU’s first installation. While I can see where some of the audience feedback is coming from, I do firmly believe Supergirl is not nearly as messy as the punishment it’s been receiving would suggest.
For me personally, I don’t feel like the film attempts a resonant story on the same level as Superman. This does make sense on something of a meta level—throughout the film, Kara (Milly Alcock) makes it clear multiple times how and why she differs from her cousin in so many ways, so it would be strange if it just felt like Superman again. What I felt the two needed to share was the same balance of a character-driven and self-exploratory narrative. While Clark’s story was one of belonging and finding new purpose, Kara’s should have focused more on her displacement from Krypton and subsequent struggle to find that spark anywhere else. Supergirl does show Kara’s planet-hopping efforts to regain a sense of normalcy following her dog Krypto’s poisoning at the hands of Krem, but that’s often just how her own narrative feels. I don’t get enough of a sense of her personal struggle finding her place in the universe, as much as the film tries to loop that into the grander story.
When the film did feel a bit too similar to a previous film, it honestly felt a bit more like a Marvel movie, not in a great way. Quippy lines can have their place in a superhero movie, it’s based on comic books after all, but before every single fight scene? I want to put my faith in someone who takes their motive seriously, and with how grave Krypto’s condition was, I was expecting a bit more urgency from Kara on that front. Especially when none of the planets she fought for Krypto on had red suns!
With all that being said, I really enjoyed the costume design, performances, and dynamics between the characters. I found a lot of the locations in the film to blend together, so it was great to contrast that with a cast that bounced off each other really well. Superman feels bloated at times with how many characters and concepts from the larger DC canon it tries to squeeze in, so Supergirl taking a step back and focusing on its base story with a smaller cast and scope does feel refreshing. Keeping contrast in mind, the appearances of each character popped against the settings of each shot just right. And, of course, I gotta give it to Jason Momoa as Lobo. Was he necessary to this story? Not at all, but he seems like he was having a great time with the character and I’m happier seeing him here than not at all.
Supergirl is now available in theaters worldwide. For more red-clad action films, check out Yoga Hosers on our sister site, Galxy!