Back when I was younger, summer was about three things, school break, hanging out with friends and going to the movies. Growing up in a small town before streaming services and on-demand there wasn’t a better way to take in a new film than to stand in line and purchase a ticket. Summer blockbusters were all the rage back then and while many didn’t live up to the hype (looking at you Batman Returns), they were always a fun distraction and a way to escape the heat. Supergirl falls directly into this category.
Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock) aka Supergirl is trying to find her place in the universe. Escaping to a planet with a red sun where her powers don’t exist and her tolerance for vodka is greatly decreased. Content to drink her life away and travel the universe in what can only be described as “van-life” in space, she struggles with who she is and where she belongs. The only constant in her life is her faithful canine companion Krypto.
Her life turns from bad to worse when she crosses paths with a young Ruthy Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley) who’s family has been brutally murdered by a band of brigands led by the ruthless Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts). Hell bent on avenging her family Ruthy arrives at the local bar to recruit help for her mission. Things quickly go awry, as one might expect, and Kara, who would rather not get involved, is forced to intervene on Ruthy’s behalf.
Ruthy, who is desperate for any help at all, pleads with Kara to join her. Kara, who tries desperately to dissuade Ruthy from her mission is forced to confront Krem. Their meeting quickly dissolves into chaos, and her beloved pooch Krypto is poisoned. Krem escapes in Kara’s ship and the local veterinarian/healer informs Kara that without the antidote (which the Brigands carry on their persons) Krypto will be dead in three moon rises. Desperate to find the cure for the only friend she’s ever known, she reluctantly allows Ruthy to join her.
Their journey will take them across the cosmos and will see the unlikely pair team up with an immortal known as Lobo (Jason Momoa), who is in it for the money. With only 72 hours to save Krypto, a young girl hellbent on revenge, and an Immortal mercenary, what could possibly go wrong?
As someone who’s familiarity with Supergirl is based largely on the CW show (and only somewhat knowledgeable of the first film), I went into the movie without much in the way of backstory. Whether the film is true to the comic book characters or not, isn’t something that I can comment on. For all the hate that Milly Alcock has taken regarding Supergirl, she does an outstanding job bringing the life of an emotionally scarred, party girl to the character. Anyone who has partied their way through school after leaving home will be able to directly relate to her.
Jason Momoa brings his typical humor and outstanding acting to the screen. While his character is extremely limited and doesn’t share a lot of screen time related to the other characters, it wouldn’t be a surprise if there is enough fan excitement to potentially do a spinoff of the Lobo character into its own feature film.
Matthias Schoenaerts brings a humorous take to the blood thirsty villain. While some will argue that as a villain his character doesn’t really deliver, the film very much is keeping with a lighter, comedic tone. If you are going into the film with a preconceived notion of the character he is portraying, or expecting the likes of Thanos, then you will likely be disappointed.
The real show-stealer, however, is Eve Ridley who does a phenomenal performance for her first big screen debut. Known mainly for her voice acting and theatrical works in the UK, I’m certain we will see this as a breakout role for her. She brings real heart and soul to the character, making those of us in the audience sympathetic to her plight, and rooting for her the entire film.
Now we get to the real elephant in the room, which is the CGI version of Krypto. Again, a lot of the hate revolved around using a CGI dog versus a real dog, and I think a lot of that criticism is fair. Crypto looks like a comic book character, which I believe is partially the point, but that also makes it hard to tug at your heart strings when you see him suffering. That’s not to say they did a bad job with the CGI, at all, but it does tend to pull you out of the scenes he’s in. Is he cute? Absolutely. Is he a joy to watch? For sure. Do you get an emotional attachment to him like you would to Benji (you kids out there can google that), No. I still believe that a highly trainable animal (like a dog in this instance) is better portrayed by a living breathing animal, than CGI. I get it, animals are hard to work with, but when you are trying to draw sympathy from your audience, nothing works quite like the real deal.
Supergirl is a fun movie, and when did that become a bad thing? So many times, people go to the movies expecting some sort of revelation. To come out of the theater with tears in their eyes, or to have an introspective conversation of what was just experienced. Supergirl won’t rank in the top 10 superhero movies of all time, and that’s ok. It’s the perfect summer Saturday afternoon matinee, where you want to escape the heat, with a big ol’ bucket of popcorn and an ice-cold soda and sit back and just enjoy a movie. There will be plenty of discussion and poor reviews about this or that, about how the movie didn’t take the character in a meaningful direction, or that she didn’t live up to her comic book personae. I even heard a few women coming out of the theater who were disappointed that it didn’t feel like a “girl power” movie. Maybe it doesn’t, maybe it doesn’t take the discussion of what It means to be a strong, powerful female lead. Then again, maybe it’s not meant to.
At the end of the day, you should temper your expectations about the film. If you were excited when you saw the previews, you’ll no doubt enjoy the film. If the previews just didn’t seem to do it for you, that’s okay too, but I wouldn’t write the movie off because of that. It’s kind of like if you took Guardians of the Galaxy and combined it with Old Yeller and most of all it’s a fun time…what more can you ask for?
4 out of 5 stars
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