. 

I was excited when I heard that this movie was being directed by Craig Gillespie. Having been introduced to this new spiky version of Supergirl at the end of last year’s Superman reboot it seemed that Gillespie would bring some of the same delightful recalcitrance and sedition to the character as he did so successfully with Tonya Harding and Cruella. 

As it is though Milly Alcock’s portrayal of Kara Zor-El is not railing against the world as much as she has given up on it. So much so in fact that she has actually left it. There is a little bit of her fighting injustice (rather than fighting for justice which is part or her male counterpart’s famous MO, and this is a subtle distinction) but she is sadder than she is angry. It works as a motivation for her, and the context of all of this is nicely explored (her origin story has not been side stepped as it was with Superman’s) but this doesn’t feel like a Gillespie movie in the way I had hoped. 

What it does feel like is a James Gunn movie. Gunn is in charge of this world; he directed July’s Superman and along with Peter Safran is in charge of DC studios current run of comic book adaptations, just like Zach Snyder was until recently (not sad that reign has ended). As such he is a producer on this film but the impression you get is that he has been very hands on. The design and vibe of this is very similar, if not totally the same, as his Guardians of the Galaxy films. I was surprised to see that he is not listed as a writer, just as I was to find that those movies and this one do not share a production designer, a cinematographer or a costume designer. 

In one respect in particular this also feels a lot like George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road as there is a whole narrative element that is lifted, yet undeveloped, entirely from that movie. The purpose of this seems to be to strengthen the feminist theme of the story but making the male characters seem worse does not by itself make the representation of the women better. These bad guys are the most cliched version of toxic space males imaginable. (At least they didn’t have any of them say the line ‘it is a bird?’)

It also didn’t need it, both Kara and supporting player Ruthye are properly rounded out and their gender actually feels largely irrelevant in the way it should. There is a brief discussion of the potentially demeaning nature of calling her Supergirl rather than Superwoman, which is something they had to do, stuck as they are with sexist 1950’s naming conventions, but outside of this none of the gender politics feel forced. It should be noted as well that when she debuted in the comics she was about 16 so she was a girl and it might be that she wasn’t much older when she landed on Earth in this version as well. 

In terms of how it works as a sequel to Superman, there are some familiar faces (one human and one canine) but the point at which it connects most is in an apparent attempt to recreate the best moment from that movie with the camera rotating around during an pop scored action scene but the comparison does not do it any favours.

Unfortunately all of this does make Supergirl feel a bit derivative, without the distinct stamp of any one filmmaking voice. The movie is fun but it doesn’t feel very fresh and the best aspect of it which is Supergirl’s brusque indifference was shared with us twelve months ago so doesn’t come over as fresh as it might have. This is a shame as the comic it is based on is great. Tom King’s 8 issue run on Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow from 2021 provides the basis for the story here but somehow the edge has been taken off it. It actually follows the plot quite closely so I was surprised to see that King is not listed as a writer either. The movie originally had the same title and you’d think if they were genuinely worried about the whole ‘girl’ thing they’d have kept it. 

Before wrapping up I have to mention Jason Mamoa’s appearance as Lobo which is fun but adds absolutely nothing to the plot whatsoever. His inclusion seems to be there just to set up a spin off even more than Alcock’s was in Superman. Funnily enough Mamoa did the same in Batman Vs Superman when he first appeared as Aquaman so this is an odd case of history repeating itself and an unwanted reminder of the Snyderverse. 

Supergirl is a perfectly enjoyable night out at the movies then and it is a more confident handling of the character than we have had on the big screen before but it is little more than that. Milly Alcock is great in the role and I look forward to seeing her return opposite David Corenswet in the future, but not as much as I am looking forward to seeing Gillespie come back with Cruella 2. 

Also, not enough Krypto.