TL;DR – Not a bad film, but still a completely forgettable outing, saved by its lead, who is doing all of the heavy lifting.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Supergirl Review Introduction

Today, we begin our next instalment in the very interesting DCU, not a full-reboot, but definitely more than a soft-reboot. An odd feeling all around, without the hard cut of a proper break-up. However, we have gotten some good out of it already with Superman, so let’s see if they can land another goal.

So, to set the scene, it is coming up to Kara Zor-El / Supergirl’s (Milly Alcock) birthday, a sensitive time for her, given she has no place that feels like home. To help her deal with this, she has taken herself off to a system with a red sun so that she can get absolutely wasted. However, on this planet, the brigand Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts) has just made Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley) an orphan, and she is after revenge, but also completely in over her head, which drags Kara into a whole world that she is not ready for.

What Worked …

While I did have my frustrations with the film, some parts landed. Milly Alcock absolutely nailed the presentation and performance of Supergirl. She made all the weird complexities of the character work when they could have easily been a bit over the top. I also want to shout out the creature creators and art team, because there were a whole bunch of wonderful alien designs throughout the film. Also, all the sets were a delight to see. A lot of the movie was filmed on location, and it shows. It helps give you a texture that uplifts everything. The different types of suns were a nice touch. When Krypto is in the film, he is a delight, which leads us to the flashback sequences that were very well done and might be the one part of the film that connected on an emotional level.      

… But

You can have a coherent narrative, a well-understood intellectual property, a whole bunch of craftspeople, some okay action, and a reasonable pace. However, that does not mean that you will have a coherent and vaunted cinematic work at the end of the day if all you are going to give is bland. Outside of Milly, there is no personality in this film, just a bunch of characters going through the motions until Jason Momoa can pop up to play an alien- Jason Momoa. None of the emotional resonance of the film connects, because you don’t care about any of the characters, worlds, or places. The worst thing I think I could say about the film is that as I was watching it, I think I could see the pitch board they used to sell this film, and all it did was remind me of better films.  

Some of this stems from the fact that every, and I mean every, villain in this film is as dull as home-brand gloopy glue. They were not personable, they were not interesting, they were not meaningful. I saw the film only an hour or so ago, and I could not tell you about a single name in this film without having to look it up. Then there is the unfortunate issue with the Ruthye character, in that the film would have been measurably better if they were not in it. I don’t know if it was what they were asking of her with their performance, or if she was given nothing to work with. But when you have a character whose only job is to hold the lead back like an anchor, and there is no substance to their character, it makes all the screentime they have feel like a slog.    

Recommendation

In the end, do we recommend Supergirl? Look, it is not a bad film, but then it is not a good film either. My one feeling when the credits rolled was ‘meh’. It was like a friend asking you to watch them sink this three-pointer and then watching them hit mostly rim for over an hour. Sure, they got the ball in eventually, but it lost its impact after a while. Have you watched Supergirl? Let us know what you thought in the comments below.If you liked Supergirl, we would recommend Masters of the Universe to you.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Supergirl
Directed by – Craig Gillespie
Written by – Ana Nogueira
Based on – Supergirl created by Otto Binder & Al Plastino
Music by – Claudia Sarne
Cinematography by – Rob Hardy
Edited by – Tatiana S. Riegel & Fred Raskin
Production/Distribution Companies – DC Studios, Troll Court Entertainment, The Safran Company & Warner Bros Pictures
Starring – Milly Alcock, Eve Ridley, Matthias Schoenaerts, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham, Jason Momoa, & David Corenswet
With – Ferdinand Kingsley, Emily Piggford, Diarmaid Murtagh, Thalissa Teixeira, & Kadiff Kirwan
Rating – Australia: M; Canada: PG; Germany: na; New Zealand: PG; United Kingdom: 12A; United States: PG-13