It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s another DC cinematic universe going off track!
Sadly, that’s seems to be the case with this follow-up to last year’s movie depicting the Man of Steel. This time around, the focus is on the titular Supergirl, or Kara Zor-El, portrayed by Milly Alcock. The movie picks up with Supergirl traveling around space to celebrate her birthday by partying it up in intergalactic dive bars.
Though it should be a time of celebration, Supergirl doesn’t appear too happy, as she still hasn’t quite settled in to a life on Earth or wandering in space. However, she finds some purpose when approached by a girl, Ruthye (Eve Ridley), who’s seeking someone to help her get vengeance on the man who killed her family.
Yours truly was in the minority last year with a negative review of the first entry in the new DC universe. While not a huge issue, one of the areas that didn’t quite work was the emotional catalyst being a fake, CGI dog. It felt rather manipulative and lacked any actual meaningfulness since the dog just seemed artificial.
That’s not to say it’s impossible to feel for CGI creatures, but it can cheapen the experience if done poorly. Well, guess what director Craig Gillespie and writer Ana Nogueira decide to make the emotional catalyst for this film? That’s right, the CGI dog is once again in danger, to pull on heartstrings.
No, that’s not the only thing pushing the plot forward in this, but it is a big chunk, and it just causes the flick to stumble out the gates. That’s especially true because this is the second movie in a row using that blueprint. It’s certainly not the only problem facing the movie, though. The film also just has a rather generic story.
Intergalactic, planet-hopping adventures are perfectly fine, but this movie doesn’t really do anything interesting with it. The quest Kara and Ruthye are on is often dull, with little narrative momentum or energy. It feels kind of like a lifeless “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
Tonally the movie is rough, too. What happens to Ruthye is quite heavy, and the quest for revenge is treated with a dire seriousness. At the same time there are plenty of moments with Kara’s antics that are treated for comedy. A good balance is never really struck there.
There’s also the fact that most of the characters really don’t work well here. Ruthye comes across like a cliché precocious British girl from another movie. The concept of putting a young girl who’s acting more mature and serious than Supergirl could be a fun dynamic, but Ruthye is largely underdeveloped and their relationship lacks chemistry.
Matthias Schoenaerts, meanwhile, plays one of the most stock villains put in a superhero movie in a while. His character Krem is like a “Mad Max” series reject who’s bad for the sake of it and is more often annoying than menacing. Jason Momoa, meanwhile, basically spends his time as the anti-hero Lobo chewing as much scenery as possible.
The filmmakers did at least get it right in casting Milly Alcock in the lead role. Her performance is quite good, as the character feels both larger than life as Supergirl and relatable as Kara. Alcock’s work is effective in making the character sympathetic and compelling. One just wishes she was in a better movie.
As for the action, it’s really hit and miss. The movie boasts a few good fight scenes and spectacle. There’s an especially good one early on in the flick where a depowered Supergirl has to be clever to win. The final climactic battle, though, is a letdown, both because it’s not that exciting visually and it features an abysmal needle drop.
The film has some other odd visual choices, too, such as showing the effects of Kryptonite and green stars on Supergirl’s body. Green stuff being a weakness for the Super family is so culturally known at this point that if feels redundant to go into a microscopic CGI view of Kara’s cells turning emerald to show she’s weakened.
The latest DC movie is a letdown. It does feature a good lead actress bringing the Woman of Steel to life in solid fashion. Plus, there is a bit of entertainment value with a couple fights. However, this doesn’t make up for a really poor supporting cast of characters, a majorly bland hero’s journey and a weak emotional core. 2 out of 5.
Photos courtesy Warner Bros. and DC Studios.
