Supergirl is an unapologetic, rough and ready woman out to find herself in this superhero action flick that proves she’s more than just a female Superman.
Producer James Gunn and director Craig Gillespie knew what they were doing when they made Supergirl (Milly Alcock) her own woman.
Superman is all-powerful, confident, and relentlessly moral because he was adopted as a child and grew up with loving parents and friends. Supergirl had none of that. She arrived on Earth as a teenager with no support system, no friends, and no moral guide, except of course for her cousin, Superman, who is Mr. Perfect.
In fact, in this film Supergirl is more like DC Comics’ Power Girl than the Supergirl comic character, who has been strangled with so many interpretations over the past 60 years it’s tough to pin her character down.
Also, don’t expect this Supergirl to be anything like the perky perfect character on the television show played by Melissa Benoist. Milly Alcock plays Supergirl as a frustrated loner so desperate to feel something that she travels to planets with a red sun, which cancels out her powers, so she can go on an intergalactic pub crawl to drink away her blues.
This turns into a hero’s journey when she meets a young girl whose parents were murdered by a sadistic space pirate named Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts). Talk about a character you’ll love to hate, Krem (with a thinly disguised Russian accent) is a monster.
The girl, Ruthye, (Eve Ridley) is a capable character driven by a need to avenge her parents and smart enough to seek help.
Supergirl, unlike her super Boy Scout cousin, is not interested since she is on her own soul-deadening mission.
Once again, Krypto, the scene-stealing CGI canine modeled after Gunn’s rescue dog, provides the incentive to make Supergirl pursue Krem to get the antidote for the poison slowly killing her lifelong companion. Ruthye sneaks along.
The characters are believable, and there is an excellent supporting staff comprised of the the best collection of aliens since Star Wars. The dialogue is terse and witty, all leading up to the exciting climax with an ending that is truly shocking and will have ramifications on Supergirl forever.
Jason Momoa leans into his role as Lobo, a character I generally hate, but in this movie he absolutely works. There is no moment of clarity where Lobo suddenly becomes a helpful good guy, he is what he is: an agent of chaos, a force of nature that sometimes helps but generally brings destruction.
Oh, and David Corenswet appears briefly as Superman if only to point out the huge differences between the cousins.
Go see it.
Mike Sangiacomo is a lifelong comic fan and the former movie reviewer and comics beat writer for the Cleveland Plain Dealer among several other sources.
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