Film: Supergirl
The world needs more messy superheroes. Don’t get me wrong, we don’t need an influx of Homelander messy, but the messy that is expressed in the new Supergirl film, by Craig Gillespie and written by Ana Nogueira, is exactly what we need. It shows that enhanced people can be ‘human’ and are more alike to us than they are given credit for. It allows the audience to find a unique way to connect to them and find the strength within ourselves to be our own version of a superhuman.
What I love most about this film and this version of Supergirl/Kara is that it doesn’t try to place her on a pedestal, even if others continuously try to. Kara doesn’t try to live up to what others think, like Clark tends to do, but instead just tries to handle her own shit in her own shitty way. She doesn’t think she’s better than anyone else; she’s just trying to find how she fits in the universe. With that said, it’s hard not to see her as elevated because of her abilities, but in Supergirl, they aren’t thrown in your face. Milly Alcock’s version of Supergirl/Kara was refreshing because she never shied away from them, pretending she couldn’t take care of business if needed, but she didn’t flaunt it. If anything, she tried to forget about them, wanting to separate herself from her cousin in any way she could.
That adds to the interesting direction the film takes. This isn’t a film about how a hero can use her power for good, finding her savior status. This film is about a person looking beyond her trauma and displacement to find her place within herself. Supergirl revolves around a complicated pairing of Kara and stowaway Ruthye (Eve Ridley) as their diverse motivations align as their interstellar quest brings them together. Multiple storylines cross with other varied characters, like Lobo (Jason Momoa), and the quest is filled with clashing interactions. That’s not a bad thing, for the multiple storylines don’t make you too uncomfortable, they don’t get in the way of the main plot, including the fact that the villain for both truly is malicious and sets the conflict up for a worthy battle.
Supergirl is the perfect blend of lighthearted excitement you expect with a superhero film, but also hones in on the character’s internal struggles, making it a well-rounded film. The fight scenes were fun and not always polished, which made for several unique scenes. The acting was wonderful, and Alcock is perfect as Kara. I also think that Ridley was able to blend her character’s motivation and her acting presence well with Kara/Alcock, allowing for them to create the perfect hero/sidekick relationship. Going back to the villain and his malicious intent, Matthias Schoenaerts, as Krem, was extremely unpleasant, as it should be for a main villain. It was one of the rare instances where I was happy when we were away from his scenes because they made me so uncomfortable. The brilliant thing about that, though, is I can’t tell you exactly why I was antsy. Maybe it’s because you knew there was much more evil underneath the surface, and you did not want to witness it. This might not be a James Gunn film, but it’s in his universe, so the music choices were fun and allowed the elemental connection with the previous Superman to be seamless. In short, all the things that make a film a film worked very well within Supergirl, which makes the film worth watching, especially on an IMAX screen.
Now comes the point in the review where I take a slight detour from the structure of the ones I usually do. This also might be the point where you skip over a few paragraphs if you aren’t a fan of spoilers. I know, I’m not a spoiler review writer, but I feel like this film is an exception. The emotional throughline of the film is what makes Supergirl unique and an important film for superheroes and for female superheroes, especially.
What made Supergirl such a wonderful film for me was the exploration of grief. Grief is not something that has a universal order of steps that everyone adheres to, but if you’ve ever been in the throes of it, you understand what it looks like. It’s not pretty, and it’s never the same day to day, and the way it’s handled by two of the characters in Supergirl was personal to them. This gives the audience a chance to connect to their pain where they can and see beyond the spectacle of it and into the pain swirling around each of them.
Like most people, I’ve dealt with grief at multiple moments throughout my life, each one different than the one before. Yet, with Supergirl, I felt seen and understood. I wasn’t talked down to, dictating how I should be handling my grief or how I was acting when I was in the middle of it. Grief is such a personal experience, so the fact that this film could make you feel like you were seeing your plight on screen was impressive. What was also impressive about Supergirl was the fact that it was blended seamlessly within an action-packed movie. If you didn’t want to go down the emotional rabbit hole, you didn’t have to, though I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to. Nothing was thrown in your face, from grief to the malicious villain, and you could easily just tune things out and have an enjoyable time.
It's refreshing to see the humanity behind a superhero. It makes them feel grounded and more relatable. We got a taste of it, even though it was through more humor than what is presented in Supergirl, with Thor during a portion of the final Avenger movies (commonly known as Fat Thor). Like in that movie, there is a delayed reaction to how impactful Supergirl is with Kara’s grief; everything ties together with a simple line at the end. That one line hit me like a freight train and made me feel all the feels. You realized that the film you just experienced was a heartfelt emotional evolution. Unexpected and yet exactly what you needed.
One of my favorite things to do when I’m privileged enough to attend a press screening is bringing along a friend who has knowledge about the subject matter. For Supergirl, one of my comic book enthusiast friends came with me. After the film, we had a wonderful conversation about the fact that this complicated storyline was actually from a relatively recent comic book. I love that out of all the storylines that have been written about Kara over the years, the production team decided to do this one. They went with the messy, complicated, emotionally impactful film instead of using this opportunity to release a polished, perfect version of Supergirl.
I really enjoyed this movie. There were so many elements that made it not only the perfect summer superhero film, but also an emotionally engaging, character-driven film. It’s exactly what we need right now. It’s also exactly the type of female hero we have been looking for. It’s about time a woman can show how not only badass and strong she is, but also show the range we are capable of without being pigeonholed as one who is ruled by emotions.
Supergirl opens nationwide on Friday, June 26.
Written by Lisa M Mejia
Images provided by Warner Bros.