The news of the “Supergirl” movie release undoubtedly came as a major point of anticipation for my fellow DC fans at Vanderbilt. The film was a project that followed the major commercial hype surrounding 2025’s “Superman,” the first standalone reboot movie directed by James Gunn in this new universe.
Granted, I have not seen the latest “Superman.” Nevertheless, my best friend’s glowing review of it only added to my expectations for the next film to come along in the series. The last well-made DC movie to come out was the first “Aquaman,” with several disappointments since then, but I was certainly not influenced by my biases stemming from those previous dissatisfactions — this was a movie I was genuinely excited to watch. Be warned: The rest of this review contains spoilers.
The film focuses on Kara Zor-El’s off-world adventures following her traumatic experiences as an earthbound Kryptonian refugee. Based on the trailer, the film seemed to have everything I wanted in a DC movie: terrific immersion and CGI, the portrayal of an underrepresented DC superheroine and meaningful themes instead of shoot-outs and cluttered action scenes. The inclusion of Krypto, the most adorable DC dog, was the cherry on top. I knew myself well enough to know that even if everything else went wrong with this movie, I would be content witnessing Milly Alcock’s guaranteed stellar performance as Kara Zor-El. Really, I should’ve come out of the movie theater with nothing but high praise. Allow me to break it down.
My favorite DC production is “The Dark Knight” trilogy, which gives a foundational idea of what I’d characterize as “good.” I enjoy DC movies that deal with human-focused themes of heroism and feature directors who fully flesh out the complexities of the characters’ motivations. To me, these elements constitute the most important pillars of plot strength and linearity, which allow the viewer to fully follow the deeply personal and greater societal frameworks of the events unfolding in the movie. No one wants to see a Mary Sue who effortlessly overcomes their challenges with their distinctly superior meta-abilities or interacts with their antagonist in a one-dimensional, conflict-driven manner.
As long as these aspects are covered by the performance of their cast on screen, the action scenes and the CGI designs do not have to be spectacular by any means for me to enjoy the movie. That is where “Supergirl” fell short.
The movie started strong: Visual storytelling of Krypto relieving himself on a pile of newspapers next to a severely hungover Kara showed us the protagonist we were dealing with.
Those of us who came into the movie theater as DC fans already knew of the immense superpowers Kara was endowed with by virtue of being a Kryptonian, but Alcock did an exemplary job portraying a very relatable young woman coping with long-buried trauma and grief.
The derelict interior of her spacecraft, her excessive use of alcohol, her dry humor as a coping mechanism and her self-imposed isolation from the only family she still had in the universe were all details revealed to us through a series of well-executed “show, not tell” directing choices. Alcock blew it out of the park with her portrayal of Supergirl throughout the entire movie, and my dissatisfaction is solely tied to the script itself.
Before the halfway point of the film, we learn the heart of Kara’s turmoil through her dialogue with Ruthye: her survivor’s guilt, her suppressed grief over losing all her loved ones, the abandonment of her roots and her complicated relationship with her cousin Superman, who was, in essence, a human with no trace of Argo left behind.
The setup successfully conveyed the emotional journey and character arc that Kara was meant to undergo, but an inconsistent plot progression and undefined theme focus ultimately made the movie feel lackluster and emotionally underwhelming. There was a clear struggle between balancing Kara’s internal characterization and DC Studios’ explicit desire to include as much superhero sass and action as possible, and the latter seemed to prevail.
Kara’s powers were also inconsistently scaled throughout the entire movie — her takedown of space lady pirates established her first “girlboss” moment as the intergalactic apex predator, yet she failed in multiple avoidable attempts to take down Krem. Can these inconsistencies be attributed to in-universe explanations – her inexperience in intergalactic combat, her long-term residence on a red-sun planet that inhibits the full expression of her powers – or are they simply plot holes to extend the conflict between Supergirl and the villain? Who knows?
As opposed to Superman, who was her natural foil in heroism style, Supergirl’s role appeared to be defending the truth in righteousness instead of unconditionally believing in the best of the world. The execution of this role fell flat in the scene in which she saves kidnapped child brides in Krem’s intergalactic trafficking ring. Her girl powers, both literally and figuratively, juxtaposed with the girls’ helplessness just felt lazily executed as she delivered final justice to their tormentor. In fact, it was quite difficult to take a lot of her action sequences seriously. Some parts were unnecessarily over-the-top with floating set pieces in the background, while other scenes included cheesy “girlboss” lines that were meant to be witty but only weakened the scenes.
The film tried to make gender and feminism a central point, which only distracted the directing focus that should have been more engrossed with Kara’s internal journey. The same gender justice conversation in Marvel’s “Black Widow” felt powerfully profound, since the Red Room and Dreykov did not feel far removed from reality and given the exposure of the Epstein files around the time of its release. The same source material in “Supergirl,” on the other hand, felt lackluster and cliché with no deep feeling evoked. And one side complaint — I still do not know what Jason Momoa’s character Lobo contributed to this movie.
What I can give the film credit for, however, is the depiction of Kara’s trauma in her flashbacks. The themes of family, heritage and parental love really shone through in these scenes, which became my favorite of the entire movie. The architectural beauty of Argo, the civil responsibility of Kara’s father toward their people and the raw humanlike bond in Kara’s family all showed us the pieces of what Kara lost when she stepped into that pod. The decimation of Kara’s loved ones and Argo’s way of life stood in stark contrast to Kal-El’s pod, which was sent to Earth well ahead of time for him to be the planet’s savior.
The actors all outdid themselves through the sheer magnitude of tenderness, love, pain and anguish they expressed in a made-up language. The plot tying back to Krypto — Kara’s last remnant of home — also solidified the super pet as a powerful emotional motif. I am pleased DC Studios adapted the comic material for this movie and hope that they will not be discouraged by the mistakes made in this film moving forward. Kara Zor-El was a teenage girl who retreated into the comfort of headphones like so many of us who are overstimulated and left alone by the chaos of this world, and she was a young woman who was simultaneously hardhearted yet soft, detached yet courageous. She may not be nice most of the time, but she is always good for those in the world who need Supergirl.
