The second film to come out of James Gunn & Peter Safran’s overhaul of the DC superhero stable is Supergirl and the incarnation here is far different from what we’ve been accustomed to before.
Supergirl’s story….
Supergirl aka Kara Zor-El ( Milly Alcock) when we first meet her is a scuzzy heavy drinking constantly hungover part Tank Girl part grunge slacker student type. It’s this fondness for drowning her sorrows that’s explored in the flashback back story that intersperse the film. With only her dog Krypto for company (and Superman’s messages to her being ignored) the pair are alone in her spaceship on what is categorized as a red planet meaning that her superpowers are greatly diminished. Soon this will be far more than a girl and her lapdog because we see that story every day with Meghan and Harry. It’s on this same planet that Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts) turns up with a face full of piercings and looking like an S&M Vladimer Putin who kills Ruthye (Eve Ridley) parents and steals the enviable sword and weaponery that her father is renowned for making. With vengeance on Ruthye’s mind she tries to recruit help at a bar where Supergirl is drinking.
Initially reluctant Supergirl is soon to join Ruthye’s cause when Krem shoots Krypo with a venom that puts him through three days of agony before it will kill him and the only way to save him is with an antidote that Krem and his army of ‘Brigands’ carry. Except Krem & Co have stolen Supergirl’s spaceship and zipped off to who knows where but seem to be involved in a kind of interplanetary kidnapping of young women to be traded as ‘brides’. There’s a whiff of Epstein about this story in what becomes a tale of female empowerment.
Does this Supergirl soar?
This incarnation of Supergirl is about as far removed as can be from the Helen Slater starrer way back in 1984 and Milly Alcock carries it well but director Craig Gillespie’s film is not without its issues.
On the plus the size the world building and alien extras has a Guardians of the Galaxy vibe about it with an impressive soundtrack to match and the climactic battle is impressively rendered and at least is not the usual wholesale destruction of a city that has been the back drop for previous Superman smack downs, but its beleaguered by other issues. The back story starts and concludes too late that takes some of the momentum away. Jason Momoa, gives it his rock’nr’oll all as Lobo tearing up the screen whenever he’s on but ultimately once again Jason Momoa IS Jason Momoa and very much oveshadows Schoenaerts’ somewhat charisma-less Krem. There are a number of decent sequences but Supergirl is not going to be up there with the pantheon of really great superhero films and beyond Momoa’s revellery there’s not enough here to make the film standout as one of the summers best films
End credit scene : No, (which is something of a surprise in a superhero film that’s part of a big franchise)
related feature : Superman The Christopher Reeve story – directors Ian Bonhote & Peter Ettedgui takes us BTS
related feature : James Gunn and Superman’s red pants…..
Here’s the trailer….
