'Supergirl' A Review

Supergirl is a superhero movie about the titular hero Kara Zor-El(Milly Alcock) as she deals with the grief of losing her family and planet(shown through flashbacks) as well as facing off with a cyborg gang of slavers who have poisoned her dog.

Alcock is perfectly cast- she's funny, charming, handles the action with élan, and conveys her emotional arch with a realism and poignancy this genre typically doesn't bother with. The supporting cast is uneven- Eve Ridley as Ruthye really struggles mostly a fault of the script which pretty much reduces her to a plot device, Matthias Schoenaerts as the heavy is two-dimensionally evil but doesn't seem to have any actual personality or motivation, Jason Momoa as Lobo as wonderful and under used, David Krumholtz and Emily Beecham are really excellent and effecting as Kara's parents but the flashbacks are truncated.

Visually the movie has a lot of cool planets and backdrops and embellishments but there's not enough action and the fight sequences that there are it's hard to see what Kara is actually doing. The script is derivative it starts off John Wick(bafflingly sidelining Krypto one of the breakout stars of last year's Superman) then makes it's way to Mad Max: Fury Road as Kara faces off against the gang enslaving women as their 'brides'. The influence is so transparent it comes across as derivative. Ultimately it's just overly plotted and doesn't seem to realize the potential star at it's center Alcock, she doesn't need the multiple McGuffins in order to shoulder the movie, in fact all the add-on's and convulsions detract from what she's doing.

An incredible lead weighted down by the classic studio exec misconception: more plot = better movie. Still, worth it for Alcock alone.

Currently in theaters.

Rent It.