Supergirl is a 2026 superhero sci-fi/action film directed by Craig Gillespie and starring Milly Alcock, Eve Ridley, Jason Momoa, and David Corenswet. It is also the 2nd film in James Gunn’s revamped DCU following his Superman film from last year. I also did a post on that movie last year when it was released in theaters and it will likely be a suggested post under this one so check that out after if you’re interested! I will preface this by saying I’m not sure that I liked this film as much as ‘Superman’, but that’s not taking anything away from this one either. This movie is getting, for the most part, critically panned since it came out but I was looking forward to it for a little while just being a DC fan, so I had to go make my own opinion still and show my support. Was it as bad as some of the critics and hardcore online fans will have you believe? Let’s talk about it.
I’ll just say right off the bat, no. I don’t think this movie was bad. I actually had a really fun time with it. I saw an afternoon 3-D showing in a pretty empty theater, which was really nice but not great for this movie in an overall sense. There’s a lot of good movies in theaters right now though and more coming out throughout the rest of summer so I’m not saying there’s not some stiff competition this is going up against, but still for a superhero movie it’s a little crazy that I was able to have a row to myself in a 3-D showing a week after this thing came out. Which is a shame because I think early reviews of the movie are turning people away from it, but audience wise it’s really not doing too bad and I honestly think a majority of casual viewers would end up having a fun time with this movie. For one, it feels like Superman but inverse in every way. They’re the same species and family even, but outside of the obvious her being a ‘girl’ instead of a ‘man’, she’s also not the by-the-book ‘do gooder’ that Clark Kent/Superman is at all and spends a lot of her time away from Earth getting drunk in a Red solar system to numb the pain and loneliness of the loss of her home planet. Clark was raised on Earth so it’s all he really remembers, but Kara spent all her childhood and adolescence on the dying planet of Krypton until she was forced off by her family to join her cousin, so the pain feels a little more thick for her. I also liked how most of the film took place off Earth. It gave it its own feeling entirely compared to Superman in that sense as well because a majority of her interactions were with intergalactic species on various planets throughout.
It reminded me of ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ a bit in that sense really. There were bounty hunters in this movie even, and a plot thread that had the lead character and a smaller and younger sidekick on a mission tailing some bad guys across various planets and solar systems. That’s another movie that kind of got pooped on by critics and some hardcore fans but I actually had a really fun time with as well. It is tough to be signed on to write or direct a movie in a beloved universe or franchise in this current era. Expectations are always held through the roof for fandoms nowadays, and if you don’t live up to a preconceived notion they made up in their head before ever even stepping into the theater then it’s a letdown. With some of the “hardcore” internet fans nowadays I honestly think they’ve made their minds up that it’s going to be a letdown before ever seeing it, and that’s with a whole lot of fandoms and universes also. All complaints, complaints, complaints. I try to not dive too deep into that side of things because it always just frustrates me and I would rather just enjoy the content I want to enjoy and not have to feel the need to defend my honor over liking something, but it’s hard to avoid sometimes if you spend any amount of time on social media and have fandoms for things. I’m not saying this movie was perfect by any means either and that I didn’t have my gripes and it didn’t have its flaws, so let’s talk about them. First off, the villains in this movie sucked. They were these intergalactic pirates, and they were certainly disgusting and hateable, but they were also downright forgettable and had no real clear motivation aside from being nasty and evil and taking girls and shooting people with potions that paralyzed them. You definitely wanted to see them get theirs, so it worked in that aspect, but I could’ve used a little more meat on the bone overall with them.
I also thought a lot of the fight and action sequences could have been done to a better effect. I get that it’s neat to sometimes show the capabilities of the hero (especially the Kryptonians) by having them just wreck a bunch of people at once and never really clearly seeing how it all went down, but they relied too heavily on that in this movie. There were a couple sequences where Kara/Supergirl took out a large group of people and in one of them you didn’t see it at all and only heard it and the other time it was all playing out fast and she was moving quickly, and the camera was panning around a character’s head so you couldn’t clearly make out what was happening on purpose. Yeah, it was a somewhat cool effect, but it also felt like a cop-out, especially following the earlier sequence where you didn’t see anything. I thought Milly Alcock was wonderful as Kara though. I’ve been seeing some shade getting tossed her way online following this release and I don’t really get that at all. I’m glad it’s a more up and coming actress who’s on the rise rather than a well-established star in Hollywood that got the role, same for David Corenswet as Superman. That way I can buy-in and see and feel the character rather than the actor portraying the character and I thought Milly did a good portrayal of Kara, transforming from a bit of a selfish drunk who denied and pushed away her abilities to a more thoughtful and caring individual who stepped up when she needed to. You certainly saw Jason Momoa as Lobo rather than just simply Lobo I will say, but My God was he still so much fun as this character. I’ve heard he’s been dying to play this role anyways and fans have been asking for it as well because there was really no one that could’ve made a better Lobo. You can’t go wrong though with Jason Momoa playing a brash cigar smoking, motorcycle riding, chain wielding, intergalactic bounty hunter. He was definitely a good time and a scene stealer in the moments he was around.
I think that just about does it for this one though. If you’re looking for a fun summer blockbuster go check this one out in theaters, and if you’re a DC fan that’s skeptical from reviews definitely go check this one out. I can’t promise it’s going to be for everyone and clearly it hasn’t been and that’s okay, but you should still make your own assumptions as well. It could’ve been better of course but that’s to be said for just about everything. It was still a lot of fun to me and I’m excited to see the DCU continue to build under James Gunn and where this will all head. ‘Clayface’ is the next one up in October and I cannot wait! Make sure to like the page on social media if you haven’t already and/or come back to the website often to see all my latest posts over pro wrestling, new movies, horror films (new & old), and more! Thanks for spending some time with me today and until the next time, be good to one another.
