The first film in the new DC Universe, Superman, wasn’t designed like an origin story, as we have seen several versions of that story. It jumped straight into a universe where Superman was a mighty figure. When it comes to the second film in the universe, Supergirl, this character is something we have not really seen much in movies, and hence, there was a possibility for an origin story. But this movie, written by Ana Nogueira and directed by Craig Gillespie, struggles to have an emotional grip. With the film trying to maintain this irreverent attitude of the character throughout its narrative, Supergirl almost feels like an inconsequential addition that hardly contributes to a universe-building process.
In Superman, we were shown how grumpy Kara, aka Supergirl, is. This time, we see her taking this space trip to several planets to celebrate her 23rd birthday. During that always drunk trip, she bumps into a girl named Ruthye, who was seeking revenge for the death of her family. Even though it wasn’t her circus and her monkeys, Kara was dragged into this when her dog Krypto’s life depended on it. What we see here are Kara’s efforts to save Krypto by doing what was necessary.
Be it Guardians of the Galaxy or last year’s Superman, there is a vibrant visual tone James Gunn likes for movies, and when you look at Supergirl, it almost feels like they are being restricted by this setting. If you look at the story idea here, it’s like Deadpool meets John Wick, where the character design is somewhat in that Wade Wilson space, and the emotion that triggers the character is built around a dog. Towards the end of this origin story, when we finally see her in that costume, there are these stylish action blocks that use slow-motion visuals and heat vision to create that spectacle like high. But the writing is taking the movie through too many unexciting events to reach that point.
The lack of development that happens in the story is the evident drawback. We see her as this grumpy girl with zero interest, and by the end of the film, it is like she has sorted all her problems. Even though they have used the character of Ruthye to create some emotional layers, we don’t really feel for any of these characters, especially Kara. There is a constant effort to make the events funny. I mean, a certain level of funny elements will definitely make movies entertaining. But this is an origin story, and it also has the agenda of showing a character’s emotional transformation. So when you add quirky humor every now and then in such a concept, it is basically hijacking the space that the emotional elements in the movie deserve.
Milly Alcock plays Supergirl, and she convincingly portrays the character’s indifferent attitude. She has got the swagger to be a superhero, and I hope some memorable stuff will be there for her in future outings in this universe. Voice actor Eve Ridley makes her feature film debut, playing the character Ruthye. There is a naivety associated with that character, and it was communicated through her performance. Matthias Schoenaerts, who is covered in makeup, plays the part of the antagonist Krem, and it was a one-dimensional character. David Corenswet reprises his role as Superman, and we have Jason Momoa coming to the new DCU as Lobo. That role was supposed to add some fun, but it ended up looking like a forcefully added character for star power or humor.
One year from now, we will have the next Superman movie, Man of Tomorrow, and that film will hopefully feature Supergirl in a vital role. And it almost felt like James Gunn greenlit this movie just to make sure the buzz around the new DCU remains. In terms of a larger picture, this film isn’t contributing much, and because of the dullness in the narrative, we can’t even call it a fun experience. I am not saying that last year’s Superman movie had aged really well. But it was trying for something new in terms of treatment, and it offered that theatrical experience, which was consistently fun to watch. The cameo of Supergirl in that movie with that snarky attitude also added to the entertainment, and ironically, a standalone film with that character ended up looking extremely bland.
