Review: The Film, Supergirl…

“That’s Really Super, Supergirl,” is an old alternative British pop-rock tune from a band I listened to in my younger, more carefree years, XTC. It’s about the singer/speaker bemoaning, via superhero tropes, his disappointment after being dumped. 

Kind of like how I felt after I saw Supergirl (2026). But I don’t need to use superhero analogies here to express my disappointment. 

The film itself is a victim of poor script and story choices. With a wealth of lore the D.C. Universe proffers, why was the ball dropped so blatantly here? Who was really in charge, ultimately, of what made it to the screen? There were countless opportunities here for the film to tell a compelling story, but, alas, it did not. 

There are three major flaws with this film, as I see it. And I’m not going to just say it’s the script, I’ll illustrate what’s in the script that makes it all so unwieldy. 

First, it’s the introduction of not one, but two heroines, two main characters, so to speak. This is not in any way an ensemble film, so there should be one protagonist, with one big hurdle to overcome, with baggage that keeps them from doing so, but they somehow find a way to meet the task anyway, hip-hip-hooray! Yeah, no. Not here. Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock, House of the Dragon) is adrift, grieving, and wallowing in alcohol–for reasons the film takes its time to elucidate. Then there’s Ruthye, (Eve Ridley, The Witcher), a character with her own superhero genesis, yet she’s not the superhero here, nor is she the protagonist. Are you confused yet? Ruthye soon becomes the catalyst for Kara Zor-El’s arc. That and her dog Krypto slowly dying from a poison arrow the villain shot into him. Thanks, John Wick. 

Kara’s backstory–why she’s so down in the dumps and drinking–leaves much to be desired as well. We know from Superman (2025) that the planet Krypton was destroyed by its core exploding. But here, in this film, some crafty Kryptonian scientists got the nifty idea that if they shield Argo City and blast it into space, shield and all, then the Kryptonian race could survive. But it doesn’t. And here’s where it starts to get murky. The ground under the surface of the city, which blasts into space along with everything else, is, for some gods-known reason, rich in Kryptonite. Which slowly yet effectively begins to poison and kill the Kryptonian survivors. In their floating city. Wouldn’t they have been poisoned already, planetside? Did no one go digging on that planet? You would think that the brainiacs (tee-hee) who figured out the city-shield-and-blast-into-space thing would think of a follow up idea like, I don’t know, sending the floating city to another planet? Zor-El (David Krumholtz, Oppenheimer), her scientist father, takes a page from his brother and decides to blast his daughter, in a pod, to Earth. Alura Zor-El (Emily Beecham, Hail Ceasar!), Kara's mother, imparts to her daughter, from her deathbed, to remember to be good, which is a turnaround from what Kal-El’s parents told him. But they die, Kara’s sad, and so she drifts, and so she drinks. 

Are you still with me? 

Then there’s the villain, another completely missed opportunity. Conventionally, villains are only supposed to suck in a sequel, not the first film. I don’t think I’ve seen a stupider villain in cinema since that Tommy Wiseau (The Room) movie, The House That Drips Blood on Alex. Or maybe Enchantress in Suicide Squad (2016). Two-Face in Batman Forever (1995) isn’t far behind, either. Consider for a moment, Supergirl, Kara Zor-El, is up against a merciless mercenary, Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts, The Regime, who, try as he may, made the best of what he had), who captures women simply for procreational purposes. Now if this is not an opportunity for illustrating a misogynist villain–perfect for a feminist story arc like Supergirl–I’m not sure what is. But it’s not explored. At all. Furthermore, Krem makes questionable choices as a villain. I mean, if you’re a villain, then be a villain! Lean into it for heaven’s sake! At one point in the film, for no apparent reason, he Hey-Koolaids into a family’s dwelling, to make a deal for their daughter’s life. He then kills the entire family later. Later. He also tells a prisoner that she will be killed “later in the day,” not then and there, pronto. Later. In. The. Day. I mean, come on!

Also, during this house-crashing scene, Krem makes the prisoner transports–that are filled with young, soon-to-be-breeders–crash planetside, freeing said prisoners, only to have his crew recapture them. I mean…what? Why the hell did this happen? What does it do to drive the storyline? Was it only included to add an action set-piece? Methinks so.

Feminists don’t appear to buy the film’s “girl boss” archetype, and they question Kara’s beginnings in the film as a trauma-ridden disillusioned drunk, especially if it even offers a progressive female role model. Critics also expressed that the feminism herein feels fake. Furthermore, commentators have suggested that the strong, empowered female image is presented to audiences without providing any real substance.

The only saving graces of this film include the performances by Milly Alcock and Eve Ridley. They made this film viewable. If only they were cast in a better film. Director Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya) has the wherewithal to keep the action going. The editing, by Fred Raskin (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Tatiana S. Riegel (Cruella), was above par. Although the film stank, it didn’t drag. It is a thoroughly watchable piece of crap. 

Lastly, because of the extremely flawed script, the emotional impact it sought to evoke from the audience simply wasn’t there. I mean, who cares? This film was not so bad that I wanted my two plus hours back, but I will not see it again, nor will I recommend anyone to pay to see it. Watch it on a Sunday afternoon. When it’s raining. When you’ve nothing else better to do. For me? I’ll just go listen to XTC and be done with it.