For many of us, seeing the keys to DC Studios handed to James Gunn was more than a little concerning. Yet I remained optimistic, hoping he would do justice to this huge universe that I have long loved. Unfortunately the first film from the rebooted DCU was a souring disappointment. “Superman” was a scattershot mess that was far more interested in being a James Gunn movie than a noteworthy new chapter for one of DC’s most iconic characters.
That brings us to movie #2 in Gunn’s fledgling DCU and sadly the results aren’t much better. “Supergirl” may not be written or directed by James Gunn, but his fingerprints are everywhere. It’s a room temperature superhero movie that is shackled to Gunn’s narrow, self-gratifying style, where more attention is given to irreverent humor and needle drops than meaningful character depth and good storytelling. Even the action fails to energize the experience in any meaningful way.
Many of the problems can be traced directly to the script, which was written by relative newcomer Ana Nogueira (who Gunn has also hired to write the upcoming Wonder Woman and Teen Titans films). Here she tells a fairly generic story that is driven by Supergirl’s rather generic story arc that sees her hunting down one of the most generic superhero villains to date. I wish that were just my vain attempt at clever writing. But honestly, the word “generic” fits this film in so many regards.
Milly Alcock reprises her role as the overtly rebellious Kara Zor-El. If you remember, she was first seen in a cringy cameo at the end “Superman”, when she drops into Kal/Clark’s Fortress of Solitude to retrieve her dog Krypto. “Supergirl” picks up from there, with Kara and her pup leaving Earth to celebrate her 23rd birthday. And what better way than by drinking herself into a stupor on various red sun planets across the universe?
Much of the story leans heavily into Kara’s angst and attitude. It doesn’t take long to get old, but director Craig Gillespie squeezes everything he can from it. There is an attempt at making it a coping mechanism for her deeper trauma. This comes out via a series of mediocre flashbacks that continues Gunn’s ridiculous rewrite of Kal’s parents as villains. Meanwhile Kara’s folks are shown to be empathetic souls who send their daughter away to be a hero to those in need.
Kara’s slosh-fest is interrupted when she crosses paths with a young girl named Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley). Ruthye is dead-set on avenging the death of her family at the hands of Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts). He’s the ringleader of a band of space pirates called the Brigands. Ruthye tries to recruit Kara to help on her quest for revenge but Kara declines. That is until the film uses Gunn’s favorite (and laziest) trick for cheap emotional investment – animal suffering.
After Krem shoots the digitally rendered Krypto with a deadly toxin, Kara agrees to join Ruthye’s hunt. But she only has three days to find Krem and return with the antidote (which he conveniently wears around his neck because why not?). From there it strangely turns into a ‘down with the patriarchy’ story as Kara finds herself fighting a crew of meatheaded marauders who kidnap young “brides” to grow their vision of a male-only society. It’s a twist that adds nothing to the overall movie.
Jason Momoa occasionally pops up playing Lobo, an immortal alien bounty hunter who just happens to be around the same time as Kara. He mostly grunts and growls while bashing in a few heads, ultimately offering little more than fan service. It’s a shame because the menacing Momoa certainly looks the part. But it’s almost as if Nogueira doesn’t know what to do with him, but she throws him into her script regardless.
“Supergirl” is far from the follow-up to “Superman” that the DCU needed, especially for those who were left unfulfilled by the franchise’s kick-off. There’s absolutely nothing original or even memorable about what we’re given here. Even worse, it does nothing to leave us excited for what’s to come. Instead it feels like an assembly line product made in the factory of James Gunn. That may be enough for some. But others will be wondering why they even bothered.
VERDICT – 2 STARS
Keith & the Movies 