A Hot Mess, 'supergirl' Has A Rowdy Spirit But A Too-terrestrial Plot

Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock) tin swill an full sorority’s proviso of booze. As a Kryptonian, her hangovers are instantly cured by a yellowish sun. And truthful head Craig Gillespie’s “Supergirl” follows a way of quiet brew bottles to find Superman’s lonely younger relative marking her day connected a solo interstellar bender, pounding shots alongside her dog, Krypto.

Unlike sweet-natured Kal-El (David Corenswet), a.k.a. Clark Kent, who escaped Krypton arsenic a baby, this traumatized 20-something bore witnesser to their location planet’s agelong and achy extinction. Playing condolences for illustration nan sandblasted absence of emotion, Alcock’s Supergirl isn’t successful nan temper for Metropolis do-gooding. She prefers slumming it astatine extraterrestrial honky-tonks pinch suitors who look for illustration armadillo-plated slugs. She’s astir visibly depressed erstwhile she tries to person herself she’s having fun.

Who doesn’t want to spell connected a “Star Wars” cantina crawl? The opening agelong of “Supergirl” is awesome — Alcock moreover passes retired connected a toilet pinch aplomb. Briefly we dream that Gillespie and screenwriter Ana Nogueira are shaking up nan superhero format for illustration a vessel of gas-station champagne. I’d emotion to spot Alcock’s heroine successful a grotty, silly “Animal House”-style comedy, out-drinking a postulation of alien squids. But nan limits of Hollywood’s imagination compression Supergirl to extremity partying and commencement doing immoderate regular aged rescuing. Sigh. Someone’s gotta prevention franchise movies from themselves.

As usual, there’s a tyke successful trouble: 13-year-old Ruthye (Eve Ridley), a chap orphan pinch a ramrod disposition and a tidy brunet braid that gives distant that her characteristic is modeled connected Hailee Steinfeld’s vengeful teen successful “True Grit.” Ruthye wants to hunt and termination nan creep who murdered her family. Unlike Supergirl, nan kid thinks it’s healthier to exorcize — not imbibe — one’s heartache. The duo sojourn an Epstein-island-like satellite of kidnapped breeding women where, successful 1 of nan script’s subtler sick horrors, nan locals connote that pubescent Ruthye is much valuable than aged 23-year-old Supergirl. (Although immoderate of nan caged extras look to beryllium arsenic ancient arsenic 30.) It’s yet different swiped idea, this 1 from “Mad Max: Fury Road,” for a insignificant communicative hit that’s unnecessary. Still, Alcock reacts pinch precisely nan correct statement of disdain: “Cool,” she croaks. ‘Nuff said.

They’ve travel to this cesspool to find nan villainous Krem, an unrecognizably vile Matthias Schoenaerts with a mug that’s been pierced each complete for illustration he face-planted into a heap of thumbtacks. His biker-scumbag-times-infinity prosthetic creation is fantastic, but what makes it brilliant is that nan constitution squad allowed a mates of metallic studs to autumn disconnected Krem’s forehead earlier his first close-up. You know, for that lived-in barbarian activity trafficker look.

As Ruthye, Ridley’s crisp British elocution is nan cleanest point successful nan movie, which is changeable by Rob Hardy successful shades of mustard smog and latrine brown. Neither Supergirl arsenic a babysitter nor Gillespie arsenic a storyteller fto nan kid transportation her stock of nan action, but I fishy Ridley has nan talent for it. She seizes her mini opportunities to impressment successful nan film’s 2nd half. Spitting connected a baddie, her righteous loogie stings for illustration a civilized disinfectant.

Meanwhile, Jason Momoa swaggers into nan fray from nan screen of an ’80s hard-rock medium pinch Kiss’ makeup, Manowar’s muscles and Meatloaf’s motorcycle. His character, a blue-skinned bounty hunter, only tangentially slots into nan plot. Really, Momoa’s monolithic beingness is present to beryllium that James Gunn was superior erstwhile he announced he was hard-resetting DC Comics’ movie canon up to 2023’s “Aquaman and nan Lost Kingdom.” Momoa arsenic Aquaman is dead. Long unrecorded Momoa arsenic Whoever This Guy Is.

Gillespie likes to champion difficult women, from Tonya Harding successful “I, Tonya” to nan Dalmatian-skinning Disney villain of “Cruella.” Yet arsenic his budgets person mounted, truthful has nan unit to make his problematic ladies celebrated pinch a wide audience. “Supergirl” feels anxious to entertain. The jokes each person nan aforesaid consciousness of snarky humor, nary matter what type is cracking them. One segment moreover has a comic slow clap that, successful my theater, didn’t get a reaction. The camera and cutting gait garbage to relax. Major set-piece action shots are intolerable to follow. You can’t squint past nan distracting lens flares.

Alcock’s wildling Supergirl is nan 1 logic to spot nan film. As successful her too-brief domiciled connected nan “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of nan Dragon” and her rollicking cameo astatine nan extremity of 2025’s “Superman,” nan Australian character is simply a striking operation of grounded condemnation and otherworldly essence, nan perfect one-two for a characteristic who plays anti-gravity fetch pinch her dog. Floating weightless successful nan stars, her hairsbreadth unbrushed and bathrobe-like overgarment shrugged on, she makes nan intolerable look casual. (Supergirl’s iconic red-and-blue minidress is truthful not her style.)

Alas, Krypto nan pup is sidelined early connected pinch a whimper, some from him and us. Maybe he’ll get much surface clip erstwhile nan integer animators fig retired really to make him look much realistic. (Between nan mutt’s anime eyes and that gawky-phony cervid successful “Disclosure Day,” are CGI creatures getting worse?)

Grief tethers Supergirl to Ruthye, moreover though they disagree connected really to grip it, and it besides seems to repel her from Corenswet’s dopey, guiltless Clark Kent. There’s rich | irony successful nan characteristic opposition betwixt nan cousins. Her Kryptonian parents raised her to thief humanity; his parents intended their boy to norm it. But owed to twists of fate, she’s nan miserable, maladjusted one. The movie has nary clip to excavation nan psychology underneath their clash, fto unsocial summon a sniffle for nan other pitiful characters who dice during this escapade. Perhaps it’s holding that hostility backmost for a sequel, but I’d alternatively put successful nan characters now.

A flashback to Supergirl’s first touchdown connected Earth has nan awkwardness of a study-abroad student realizing she doesn’t for illustration her big state astatine all. Despite our satellite seeming to person enforced its monoculture connected outer abstraction — an extraterrestrial dive barroom set moreover does “The Girl From Ipanema” — Supergirl appreciates small of it too immoderate product-placement canine treats and, successful a forced touch, nan popular euphony connected her headphones arsenic good arsenic crammed into nan soundtrack adjacent to Claudia Sarne’s gravelly score. I’ll judge this degenerate Supergirl sporting a retro Blondie shirt, but not her willingly choosing to perceive to mopey modern Earth jams for illustration Rilo Kiley and a twee screen of Jimmy Eat World over, say, Kryptonian decease metal.

Still, nan accumulation creation has imaginatively askew takes connected nan mundane: gridded jailhouse cells, plodding abstraction buses, clumsy oxygen suits that shimmy connected pinch a satisfying squeak. When Supergirl makes a pit extremity astatine a celestial convenience store, she samples a snack that I’m forced to telephone poop-corn. If “Supergirl” sells capable of it, hopefully Alcock tin rampage again successful a much assured sequel that genuinely cuts loose.