2026 Reviews – Supergirl

🎶 Superman/Supergirl! Show me your stuff 🎶 Fitting Killing Heidi lyrics to orientate us in the correct mood. Folks, I’m seeing the final showing of Supergirl at my local cinema before it’s yanked off screens tomorrow. I just went to Schnitz and ordered the American Dream burger, so I feel I’m ready to go! An Australian restaurant, making the American Dream; much like casting Aussie Millie Alcock to portray the American way. Although, I know, since being proudly “American” is a dirty thing these days, Supergirl’s edgy tagline cleverly reads “Truth. Justice. Whatever.”

So, what did I make of it? Well, the movie is a little more The Hills Have Eyes than I was expecting 😄 Yeah, these villains show up at an isolated house, and the lead guy swiftly and particularly murder an entire family 😯 Then Kara Zor-El AKA Supergirl (Millie Alcock) is just chilling in the desert of a space trailer park, and her dog gets gunned down! Sure, the movie doesn’t play it all up so much to be gory horror, but it very well could have. And with everyone’s favourite CGI dog Krypto down for the count, now we have our ticking clock, that provides Supergirl three days to right the wrongs inflicted upon her, and Ruthye Marye Kroll (Eve Ridley), who is bravely along for the quest.

A lot has been made of this version of Kara being a trashy drunk. Admittedly, I’m not familiar with Supergirl anywhere else – she seems a straight-edged goodie-two-shoes in the glimpses of TV ads I’ve seen for Melissa Benoist’s Supergirl – but I’m actually down with this characterisation now that I’ve seen it play out. I especially like the variation in Kara’s backstory, opposing Kal-El’s AKA Superman, in the sense that Kara has actually lived on a Krypton-lite portion of the planet and has seen it burn out before joining her cousin on Earth, around the age of 13. I also truly liked seeing the casting of David Krumholtz as Supergirl’s father and cannot think of a better time to say it. It seems Zor-El (David Krumholtz) instils the nobility into Kara that contrasts, still somewhat doggedly, how Jor-El in Superman did not. But I suppose, now we have somewhat of an understanding that where Jor-El seemed to think in terms of dominance, his brother Zor-El was the more rational and compassionate man. This might make for more intriguing byplay if General Zod is ever to come into this universe; if Jor-El is the Kryptonian that put Zod away, and Zod is expecting to battle the son of an arrogant autocrat, while Superman has made himself a protector, and gentler soul. And if Superman is truly parading around in his “pajamas”, as Kara puts it, then that would incense Zod more in the sloppiness of the situation. “You’re the last Kryptonian left and you mock our ways?!” But I digress…. It makes sense that Kara has known another life, and feels abandoned, lost or alone, in a way that Superman never could. In a world where Supergirl could be just a carbon copy of the male counterpart, I like that she is different, and this movie sets her up to be a noble defender of Earth moving forward.

I didn’t really feel the full weight of the relationship between Kara and Ruthye (Eve Ridley) though, especially while Kara is flying around protecting Ruthye from every Brigand in sight. Sure, Ruthye’s tenacity and nobility is what shakes Supergirl out of herself and puts her on her path forward. But when Ruthye is over Krem (Matthias Schoenearts) with nothing left to do but sink in her blade into him… I mean, I think we want her to get her revenge, don’t we? Am I a bad person? 🤔 But no, I guess it’s best she doesn’t; turn the other cheek, save your soul, let go, be the bigger person, and all that. Batman Forever taught us well, the same lessons on the unfulfillment of revenge; and Spider-Man 3, now that I mention it. But then Supergirl gets Ruthye’s revenge for her, and I don’t think any of us wanted that either. Thankfully, we’ve already lived through the Man of Steel snapped-neck controversy of 2013, where Superman kills although he’s not supposed to, and I think less people care about Supergirl anyway, but for me, I was still somewhat disheartened. I thought this movie had perfectly set up the Deadpool ending with Ruthye, where all influences urge our her not to kill her enemy, but she’ll do it anyway; and I liked where we were at, with Supergirl wilting to be like, “okay, I’m no longer going to stop you, Ruthye. Although I strongly urge you not to”. And I think we’d had enough of an fly-in apathetic influence from Lobo (Jason Mamoa) that Ruthye’s act of ruthlessness could’ve been done and remained congruent 🤷‍♂️ Perhaps it might’ve set up a dynamic in the future where Ruthie becomes an anti-hero or baddie that Supergirl has to stop, tracing back to this moment, deciding that it wasn’t the right thing to do. But if Supergirl is our anti-hero, then I don’t know what to make of it. I don’t know what the movie was aiming to ascertain… I do have one teeny-tiny suggestion to improve the dynamic between Supergirl, Ruthye and Krem. How about Krem shows some desperation in finding Kara before the green sun disappears and he yellow one returns her powers? That way, Ruthye is more triumphant in withholding the information that has a stronger sense of urgency. Also, since Ruthye is the one that dragged Kara to her hiding spot, she has also actively saved her life, thus adding to the partnership. Something for the revisionists to consider.

And I thought the villain was adequate – Krem is just a space thug gang leader who is used to getting his way across the galaxy. He is probably light work for Kara on any given day, but since she is out of practice in her heroism and chaperoning a girl that is constantly in the way, the match-up seems even, and Krem has opportunities to figure out how to gain the upper hand. Even Lobo floating in and out of the fray worked well, as he, Kara, and Ruthye, have the same foe with different goals, and don’t work together, sometimes making the challenge of defeating the Brigands easier or harder accordingly. As someone who knows nothing of Lobo other than his design, and considering Lobo is really periphery in this movie, I never felt like he was unnecessarily tacked on, and he flowed well, in and out of the story. Mamoa might even be more suited to Lobo than he was for Aquaman – gosh, remember when his rockstar look was such a departure from the Aquaman we were expecting, from the comics and pop culture? 🫣 I also thought the movie did well at providing enough challenge to Supergirl in dumbing down her abilities at any given time. At first, she’s in with the red sun, and then she’s poisoned, and then she’s dealing with kryptonite. I’m sure a few people out there had problems with the “convenient weakening” of it all, but that’s the knock on the Superman family, isn’t it? That they’re too OP. And I thought this movie navigated it well. A major problem I had with Superman is that it was too fantastical, in the sense that all the superhero paraphernalia (weapons, aliens) already readily existed without much explanation, but by setting this movie in space, it’s so much more easily believable, and these space adventures are so completely in James Gunn’s wheelhouse, following on from the Guardians’ universe – even though I know it’s Craig Gillespe that directed this film. Around the time that Ruthye first falls down in her pink puffy space suit, I realised that the humour and jarring tonal left-turns that existed in Superman (and most of James Gunn’s works) were non-existent, thankfully, because the Supergirl experience is so much better for it.

And well, I liked this movie. Millie Alcock does a pretty alright job, since this is my first experience with her, as I’m yet to watch House of the Dragon. I feel like the movie does get overstuffed within the third act, but overall, the pacing is great, and the cast of characters are enthusiastically interesting throughout. I doubt if the fan engagement is there for James Gunn to continue building out this DC cinematic universe, but I suddenly have more faith in it than I did a few hours ago. Not only did I find this movie worthwhile, but Supergirl seems to compliment Superman very well.

3.5