Movie Review: Supergirl

We went to see the new DCU Supergirl today. We liked it, but for me at least not quite as much as I enjoyed Superman last year. My wife, who has been a big Superman fan since she was young, really liked it a lot. Flynn, my 18-year-old (yeah, he's that old already) thought it was OK. 

For parents, googling if there are "curse" words in the film and getting linked here, yes, there are some. Not a whole lot. And I guess it must be PG-13 in the US rating system, because I think I only caught one F-bomb in it. 

So how was the movie itself? Honestly, the plot was kinda...small? For a movie that sets most of its story, and all of its action, in outer space, hopping from planet to planet, the story itself was not so thrilling. A simple revenge story. Kinda like a cross between True Grit and Big Trouble in Little China. Now, those are both excellent movies. But for a film about Supergirl, a Kryptonian, the stakes just seemed kinda small. I don't want to spoil things but I will say, the stakes are emotional. And the ending did conjure up the emotions in me I think the filmmakers were hoping for. 

I think the big problem for me is that the bad guy is really underdeveloped. I don't know if this is a character from Supergirl comics (never read them, honestly. Flash and Batman were my typical DC reads, and my DC reading paled compared to my Marvel reading back in the days I was collecting comics). --brief pause-- I looked it up. The bad guy is taken from the Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comics. But if he was set up properly there, they seemed to drop the ball here. Very one dimensional. 

The acting was good, I'd say. I liked the sidekick character Ruthye and Millie Alcock isn't as cheerful a Supergirl as Melissa Benoist was in the Arrowverse show, but she sells the character as a younger, less experienced, and traumatized* version of Kara. And Jason Momoa was much more fun as Lobo than he was as Aquaman.  

The action was good. A couple of the fights were a little bit of a mess, with it unclear how everything fit together at times, but mostly they were fun to watch. 

There were some plot holes, and a few moments where characters make stupid decisions that are necessary to further the plot. So it's not perfect. But overall, it was enjoyable. 

Last year, I think DC beat Marvel in the Superman/Fantastic 4 contest. This summer, I get the feeling Marvel will win with Spiderman Brand New Day. But we'll have to see about that when it comes out later.

 

*By the loss of Krypton/Argo City