This movie will make you get up, up and away from your theater.
It’s official: Superhero fatigue is here.
While critics have been pointing at 2019’s Avengers: Endgame as the turning point, the mass audience has been checking out since the 2022 Black Adam debacle. I never bought into the formula to begin with; it’s all the same glossy, ‘save-the-world’ caped crap. At least with horror or comedy, you can switch things up—but here? The hero wins, evil loses, and the audience leaves bored. But hey, I’m just a guy with an opinion; plenty of people write about this stuff who actually enjoy the genre.
Supergirl is just more of the same—a wash-rinse-repeat entry in decades of tired tropes. It’s got that safe James Gunn vibe, designed to keep the tweens smiling and the soundtrack accessible enough that nobody gets confused. I’ll keep the spoilers to a minimum, but I’d bet a box of Hot Tamales you can already guess exactly how this plays out.
Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El (Supergirl) and her dog Krypto
Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock) is Superman’s cousin, but unlike Clark Kent (David Corenswet), she actually grew up on Krypton. The planet is all good, but it’s valuable resources are carelessly mined and Kara’s dad launches her to Earth, dog Krypto in tow, to find her cousin. She lands on Earth, learns English, figures out the yellow sun gives her powers, and tries to live a normal life.
Fast forward to her twenties: she’s a hardened, booze-guzzling mess drifting from planet to planet. She sticks to red-sun zones to keep her powers in check. While she’s nursing a drink at a dive bar, a girl named Ruthye (Eve Ridley) comes in searching for ‘The Krem’ (Matthias Schoenaerts), the space pirate who killed her family. After a scuffle where Kara has to intervene, she gets dragged into a revenge mission. Why? Well …Krypto gets shot with a poison dart, and suddenly, they’re on a quest to stop the bad guys. This story is as fresh as flatulence after a chili cook-off.
Jason Momoa’s Rob Zombie, ehh Lobo, shows up, feeling like a late-game reshoot addition—stilted, out of place, and given nothing to do. James Gunn’s influence feels like a gimmick at this point. If he were attached to something that didn’t feel like this, I’d be shocked.
Jason Momoa as Lobo, getting ready to slam in the back of his dragula.
Comparing Supergirl to a bad movie feels like calling all slashers trash. The formula that worked for Marvel for years just doesn’t land anymore. It doesn’t matter what company’s name is on it. You can’t just keep partying like you’re twenty because the hangover eventually hits.
What really sucks is that Alcock seems like a decent person in interviews and is happy to be part of the DC universe. She comes off as confident and cool, wanting to make Kara her own. When asked about not looking at previous Supergirls for guidance, she said “They’re just people living their lives. It’s not like we have this blood bond,” which I can respect.
The movie has crash landed at the worst time. Based on the box office thus far, audiences are sick of superheroes, not just female superheroes, as was being touted. It’s clear that people want less polish, more filth. They want something, anything different. It’s pretty clear why movies like Obsession and Backrooms are obliterating the box office on budgets that this movie spent on water: It’s different.
Supergirl is the final nail in the coffin.
“What re you looking at, butthead?” The Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts) and Supergirl square off.
Side note:
Why was Superman portrayed as a whiny Aunt? He’s Superman. Yeah, I get having him call Kara and wish her happy birthday but he is annoying in this. I just rewatched Superman after viewing this and he doesn’t come off that way in the movie. It would appear that sometimes actress and second script ever writer Ana Nogueria wants to diminish men to being pathetic and wants to tell the world. The reshoots calmed this down but still: The feeling is in the air.
Supergirl is now playing in theaters
Directed by Craig Gillespie
Written by Ana Nogueria
Starring: Milly Alcock, Eve Ridley, Matthias Schoenaerts
Genre: Action
Runtime: 107 mins
Classic American Movies 
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