James Gunn released his first film entry into his DC Cinematic Universe just about a year ago with Superman. The film was relatively well received from fans but didn’t light the box office on fire, like people thought they would. However, as a first cinematic entry into this world, even though it actually did better at the box office than the first Iron Man did. The film did go on to have a big cultural impact, with lots of people praising Corenswet’s wholesome hero. Supergirl is the second film entry in this universe, and had a brief cameo at the end of Superman.
Supergirl sees Kara celebrating her birthday across the universe, when she is interupted by a girl who is seeking revenge on a man who killed her family. When the man, also poisons Kara’s dog, Krypto, she must seek him out to get the cure.
I haven’t read the Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comic that this film is based on. I know a lot of people praise it, particularly how bright and colourful it is and the story bringing new life into a character that has struggled to get out of Superman’s shadow for general audiences. What I was particularly worried about from the trailers, was that it had lost what people loved about the comic, a little bit of originality. The film very much painted it as something we have seen multiple times before in the likes of Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel. The film is rammed full of an okay soundtrack that feels like it’s playing almost all the time. I think recently with the success of Project Hail Mary that had a fantastic score by Daniel Pemberton, the likes of Hans Zimmer and Ludwig Goransson doing consitently fantastic work, it feels a waste not to do with more a strong score. I think it’s becoming more and more difficult to do these type of films that rely on a soundtrack, or at the very least we have seen too many of them that aren’t doing it well. The composer, Claudia Sarne, had a chance to come up with something iconic like what we have had for Superman, but I don’t think was given a chance in favour of songs.
The rest of the film follows a similar story, areas we’ve seen before. It isn’t just the Marvel movies that make it feel all too familar. I think the similarity it should’ve leaned into more and would’ve been the most affective is the comparison I saw to John Wick. Supergirl is similarly about a woman who basically wants revenge on a man because they did something to their dog, doesn’t that sound familar. To be able to adapt that idea, and make it more family friendly and sci fi, I think could’ve been a great chance to do something special, but certainly doesn’t have the originality for that, aiming to go for safer bets. Perhaps not something we should’ve been overly surprised with as the write, Ana Nogueira has never written a feature film before this one, and yet is slated to be writing for a Teen Titans film, and a Wonder Woman film.
David Corenswet obviously set a high bar with his performance as Superman in his film, so there was a lot of pressure on Milly Alcock to do the same. The only role I’ve previously seen her in was as young Rhaenyra in House of the Dragon, which she was fantastic in and I wish we had seen her in before the time jump in series. The issues that I have with her character are nothing to do with her, and I think she does a very good job in the role. I think she will just need more time to be on the same level, and would like to continue to see her pop up in other projects, which we already know that she will be making an appearance in Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow next year.
Unfortunately for Matthias Schoenaerts his villain character, Krem, will only be remember for having a name that people thought might be cream. He is an underrated that does put in some good performances, particularly in one I enjoyed called The Mustang. Again, perhaps not his fault.
The only other people in the cast that get any significant screentime are Eve Ridley and Jason Momoa. Eve Ridley hasn’t done too much acting before, her character is fairly simple and predictable but she does an okay job for a child actor. Jason Momoa obviously isn’t a new face to the DC universe having been Zach Snyder’s choice to play Aquaman in the universe, something he surprised people with how well he performed his version of the character. Lobo was a character he was always asked about even before playing Aquaman, and even during that tenure as well. Again, doesn’t have a huge role, but he’s had his turn at being a big role in this universe, he can afford to take a backseat. Also shoutout to David Krumholtz who is fantastic for his 5 mins as Kara’s father
Overall, I don’t want to sound too much like there was only things that I didn’t love about Supergirl. I did have a good time with this film thanks a lot to Milly Alcock’s performance. It just could’ve been so much more, and unfortunately will likely end up being fairly forgettable. I hope we get to see more of her outside of Superman’s next film, as I do think there’s more you can do with the character.
What did you think of Supergirl?
Let me know in the comments or via social media @floodersfilms
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