- "Supergirl" offers a refreshing take with Milly Alcock's emotional portrayal of Kara.
- The film excels in action scenes, delivering some of DC's best superhero moments.
- Despite uneven humor and quirky attempts, "Supergirl" presents a hero worth rooting for.
SALT LAKE CITY — I walked into "Supergirl" carrying some baggage.
I wasn't the biggest fan of the latest "Superman." It looked great, sure, but it left me strangely cold. I never really connected with the story; many of the jokes felt like they were trying too hard, and by the time the credits rolled, I found myself wondering why I wasn't having more fun.
So, when "Supergirl" was announced, my expectations weren't just low, they were somewhere beneath Krypton's core.
This made the movie a pleasant surprise.
Not because I think it's a great superhero flick, but because somewhere underneath its uneven humor, bizarre alien detours, and occasionally exhausting attempts to be quirky is a character I actually wanted to spend time with.
Maybe not like a whole weekend, but a long lunch, maybe.
That at least makes "Supergirl" a step in the right direction.
A hero worth rooting for
The biggest strength here is simple.
I cared.
Milly Alcock brings an emotional vulnerability to Kara Zor-El that makes her feel distinct from her famous cousin. She's tough without feeling invincible and carries enough emotional baggage that you understand why she's making the choices she does.
The film wisely spends time exploring her past, giving us more than just another super-powered alien punching bad guys.
It's not groundbreaking storytelling, but it gives the action emotional weight.
When the movie remembers that this is Kara's story, it's at its best.
The action delivers
If you're buying a ticket hoping to watch someone throw spaceships through mountains, don't worry. You're covered.
Several action scenes are genuinely impressive, particularly the climactic showdown, which delivers some of the most exciting superhero action DC has put on screen in a while.
The visual effects aren't perfect throughout, but when the movie commits to spectacle, it commits.
Unlike "Superman," where I occasionally found myself checking out during the action, "Supergirl" kept pulling me back in because I actually understood what was at stake for the character.
Turns out explosions work better when you care who's standing in the middle of them.
Jokes are hit and miss
Unfortunately, the movie also inherits some of the same habits that frustrated me in "Superman."
It tries. So. Hard.
Nearly every serious moment feels obligated to undercut itself with a joke.
Some land. Many don't.
The movie often seems terrified of simply letting a scene breathe, as if audiences might become uncomfortable if ten consecutive seconds pass without someone making a sarcastic comment.
That constant need to wink at the audience starts to wear thin.
The same goes for much of the alien world-building.
Some of it is imaginative and a lot of it simply feels weird for the sake of being weird.
There's a fine line between creating a unique sci-fi universe and throwing random ideas at the screen to see what sticks.
"Supergirl" crosses that line more than once.
Lobo is ... there
Jason Momoa's Lobo has been one of the movie's biggest selling points.
I didn't dislike him. I also didn't love him.
Momoa clearly looks like he's having a blast, and he's certainly committed to the character's over-the-top personality. I mean, he's pretty much the same as he is in every other movie. But you know what you're getting with Momoa and that's OK.
But for me, Lobo often felt like he wandered in from an entirely different movie.
His energy occasionally clashes with what should be Kara's emotional journey, pulling attention away from the story every time he barrels onto the screen.
Some audiences will probably love him.
I mostly found myself waiting for the movie to get back to Supergirl.
Conclusion
"Supergirl" is a strange movie.
Parts of it are genuinely exciting. Parts of it are frustrating. Some jokes made me laugh. Others made me wish someone had simply trusted the moment instead.
But here's what surprised me most:
I left wanting to see this version of Supergirl again.
That's more than I could say after "Superman."
The movie doesn't completely escape the franchise's tendency to confuse constant quirkiness with personality, but when it focuses on Kara herself, it finds something worth building on.
It's an imperfect superhero movie that succeeds for one important reason:
It gives us a hero worth caring about.
