I’ve been anticipating the new Supergirl film since I first heard about it, and especially after watching Gunn’s amazing Superman film. I finally got to watch it in Hanoi last week. Short, spoiler-free review: It’s good fun, you should go watch it. If you have watched the movie, or you don’t care about spoilers, then read on.
Supergirl
Maybe it’s recency bias, but James Gunn’s Superman is probably my favourite Superman movie. I watched it in the cinema in Kyrgyzstan, and I’ve watched it multiple times since then. The quality of Gunn’s work in the new DC Universe has me excited for everything that follows, and that included Supergirl.
Having watched it last week, I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed the film. It has its flaws, and is not quite as good a film as Superman. But where it works, it works. Milly Alcock is fantastic as Supergirl, as is Eve Ridley as Ruthye. The film’s antagonist, Krem is beautifully horrible and evil, though he is a very one-dimensional character. Seeing Jason Momoa as Lobo is a lot of fun, but his character is kind of just there. If you took him out of the movie, it would have no effect on the plot.
Generally my thoughts align with Steve Shives review of the film, and he’s much better at reviewing films than me, so you should go watch his video. There is, however, one point I disagree with him about: he said that Superman was in the movie too much.
Too Much Superman?
I can see where he’s coming from when he talks about Superman being in the movie too much. Kara’s story is framed around Clark’s in order to show how she is different to him, and how that affects her relationship with him. It would be nice to have a female superhero movie that doesn’t depend on the male version of her character to tell the story. It would be good if Supergirl could stand on her own.
The thing is, I don’t think this movie could work without Superman. He’s a necessary plot device to show how different Kara’s trauma is to Clark’s, and he is used to demonstrate Kara’s arc throughout the movie. And I don’t think that makes him overshadow her at all.
The first time we see Superman in the movie, it’s a voice message left by Clark asking Kara when she is returning home. Kara practically ignores this message, shutting it off before Clark has finished talking. All Kara cares about at this point is getting back to her self-destructive behaviour.
The second time we see him is in a flashback. Kara is the last survivor of Krypton, after her parents manage to preserve a part of it on an asteroid. She witnessed everyone she ever knew slowly dying of Kryptonite poisoning, before being sent to join her cousin on Earth.
Clark here is awkward and fumbling. He’s kind to Kara, and tries to make things easy for her, but Kara is still in a state of shock. She’s confused, especially as she can’t even speak any human languages. Despite being entirely silent during this sequence, Alcock’s performance lets you clearly understand Supergirl’s state at this moment in time.
Later on in the story, Supergirl finally answers a call from Superman. They talk for a moment, when Clark makes a mistake without realising it. He tells her he’s worried about her, and wants her to come back to Metropolis so she can find “her people.” Kara responds that she has no people.
This is the most important moment in Kara’s portrayal for me, and demonstrates why she is different to Superman. Superman was still a baby when he was sent to earth. And, while he mourns the loss of his race, he never actually knew them. He was born and raised on Earth by two great parents who love him. For him, his people are the only people he’s ever known: humans. He even sees himself as Clark Kent first, rather than as Kal-El, or even Superman.
Kara, however, actually grew up with other Kryptonians. She learned their culture, their language, she was loved by them and loved them back. They were her people. People she watched die slowly and painfully. People she didn’t want to leave. People she was forced to leave because she was their last hope.
This moment, this phone call is devastating for both of them. Clark is failing to understand that Kara has lost her people. And Kara is failing to understand that to Clark, he is one of her people. Both are hurt by the things they say to each other, and both don’t realise what they have done.
The next time we see Superman is in a flashback where he gives Kara the suit, and explains it’s so people know she’s good. It’s less important to Kara’s overall arc, but it shows why she decides to do the right thing, and is an easy way for the film makers to get her in her classic costume for the final fight.
The film ends with Kara returning to Metropolis to stay with Clark. They have a bit of a heart to heart. They’re still a little awkward, but you can see that Kara is starting to understand that Clark is her people too, just as Clark is understanding that Kara needs time and space.
How to fix it?
I do get Steve Shives’ complaint that the film focuses a bit too much on Superman. But to me, that’s a minor issue with the film. Could they have used him less? They might be able to trim out a but here and there, allowing the spotlight to stay on Kara for longer. But given how important Kara’s relationship to Clark is important to her character development, I feel that would be kind of difficult.
One suggestion I might have is that, despite Lobo being a lot of fun, he could have been removed from the film. This way, we could have had more scenes that focus on Kara and Ruthye, or even fleshed out the villainous Krem a little more. With more focus on Supergirl in the present, Superman’s scenes wouldn’t have felt like they took up as much runtime.
Another thing they could have done is extended the runtime a little. An interesting dynamic that could have been explored would have been Kara contrasted with Lobo. Kara would be suffering from survivor’s guilt after witnessing the last Kryptonians die out, but Lobo literally is responsible for the genocide of his own species. They’re both the last of their race (well, her and Clark are), but for very different reasons.
Of course, the only way to fix it now is to release another Supergirl movie. Now we know her origin, a story can easily be told without Superman in the film. Make a sequel that focuses on her, and make it a good one.
