It seems that whenever a new comic book movie comes out these days fans get really nervous. With Marvel releases it is about whether or not the film will go back to the glory days of Marvel and with DC it’s nervousness about what James Gunn is going to do with the DC universe next.
I’ll admit that I was one of those fans that felt like I had a comic book ripped out of my hands unexpectedly when DC announced that the Snyder-verse was done and that Gunn would be moving it to creator’s seat. But if you remember my review for Superman I was more than impressed – however the final few minutes of the film made me a little nervous about his plans for the character of Supergirl.
For me growing up with the 1984 Supergirl film I always felt that Supergirl was simply a female version of Superman – there were no real differences in character other than the fact that one was male and one was female. But with Gunn’s Supergirl (played by Milly Alcock – House Of The Dragon) we suddenly had a character with a seemingly bad attitude so where this character would end up was anybody’s guess.
Well here in Supergirl, directed by Craig Gillespie (Cruella) we soon find out that she is a hard-drinking 23-year-old who prefers to go off planet so she can feel the full effect of the alcohol on her body.
However, her plans of drinking herself into a stupor on her birthday are soon destroyed when she finds herself having a chance meeting with Ruthye (Eve Ridley – The Witcher) – a young girl on a mission to kill the ruthless Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts – The Danish Girl) in an act of revenge for the murder of her family.
At first Kara Zor-El/Supergirl is reluctant to get involved but when her beloved pooch Krypto’s life hangs in the balance she too enters the chase across the galaxy in pursuit of Krem and his band of barbicans who are kidnapping young girls across the universe.
While Kara and Ruthye find themselves coming up against obstacle after obstacle on their planet-hopping adventures they soon find themselves with a powerful Allie in their corner – the motorbike riding, cigar smoking bounty hunter Lobo (Jason Momoa – Aquaman) who also happens to be chasing down Krem.
Perhaps the smartest idea that Gunn, Gillespie and first-time feature screenwriter Ana Nogueira had with Supergirl was to take the action away from Earth. Not only does it open up a whole galaxy of planets and characters for fans to explore – something we haven’t seen Green Lantern – but it also provides a good separation from Kara’s cousin Clarke Kent (David Corenswet – Pearl) that prevents Supergirl simply becoming a female clone of Superman.
The film itself does it times feel like it borrows from a lot of different sources. Krem and his team feel like they have origins in Farscape while a lot of the planets that Kara follows him to feel like they have a basis from Mad Max or even John Carter – but still the film does more than enough to give itself its own identity.
It is a relief to see Nogueira’s screenplay allow Kara to grow as a character but having said that at times it does feel like this is more of a Ruthye origins story than Supergirl’s own story. Does that mean we will see Ruthye again? I’m not sure but the latter half of this film does see Kara’s characterisation shine through even if perhaps she isn’t tested as much as they could of without her powers.
The highlights for me with Supergirl though was the brilliant fight sequence that saw Supergirl go up against Krem and his men in an ultimate do or die battle. The slow-motion sequence will remain etched in my mind despite the fact that I pretty sure we saw something similar in Wonder Woman.
Then there are also the performances of Matthias Schoenaerts and Jason Momoa. Schoenaerts is sensational as Krem and once again he reminds us of just how evil DC villains can be while Momoa seems to have a lot of fun playing Lobo – perhaps this is a sign that we are more than likely to see Lobo appear again in the Gunn-verse.
What I loved the most about Supergirl is the fact that it feels like Gunn is ready to take the DC universe and its characters into some dark places. While I won’t spoil exactly what happens in the finale we do see Kara/Supergirl tested to how far she will go and what she does will probably surprise a lot of audience members. It does promise that we should have some interesting times ahead for the character and that has me excited for the future of DC.
Supergirl proves that perhaps DC is in safe hands with James Gunn. There are some unexpected moments here and I love the fact that it feels like perhaps once again we are going to see some darker comic book movies that will test the morals of the characters involved. This is a film for the hardcore DC fans.
3.5/5 Stars
