Supergirl
After Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts, "Bullhead") kills her entire family, thirteen year-old Ruthye (Eve Ridley) is hell bent on revenge. She finds a reluctant but extremely potent partner in Superman's headstrong cousin, motivated by the need for an antidote to the toxin Krem shot her dog Krypto with, "Supergirl."
Laura's Review: B-
Working from an origin story script by Ana Nogueira (TV's 'The Vampire Diaries,' 'Hightown'), director Craig Gillespie ("I, Tonya") takes the reins of the latest DC outing establishing Supergirl like the MCU's "Guardians of the Galaxy's" Star-Lord with a dose of "Deadpool's" hard partying irreverence and those aren't the only two films this one has been influenced by (the soundtrack, which includes everything from Blondie, Fela Kuti, Olivia Rodrigo, Françoise Hardy and Eagles Of Death Metal, also is indebted to "Guardians"). Milly Alcock, first introduced at the tail end of "Superman," is just right as Kara Zor-El with her blue eyes, tousled blond hair and no make-up look going hand-in-hand with her flippant demeanor and who couldn't love the exuberant Krypto, but this patched together tale begins to sag well before its umpteenth brawl.
As Sleigh Bells' 'This Summer' plays on the soundtrack, we meet Kara celebrating her 23rd birthday with copious amounts of alcohol on the planet of Holzherr before she comes to in an RV spaceship that reflects the slovenliness of its occupant. Video calls from her cousin (David Corenswet, "Superman") are treated as an annoyance, Kara thinking him a nerdy goody two shoes. Meanwhile, Delilah Knoll (Emily Piggford, "The Roses") warns her husband, swordmaker Elias (Ferdinand Kingsley, "Mank"), that the Brigands are on their way and that they should just give them what they want as their daughter Ruthye listens from the hallway. In marches Krem, his face studded with a pattern of metal balls, a long ponytail protruding from the back of his head, his face lighting up when he spies pie, but after devouring half of it, he takes the weapon he was after and mercilessly slays the couple. Ruthye will march into a bar and announce she needs a tracker to help her find and kill Krem, holding aloft the family sword she intends to use as payment, but although Kara, who is clearly in her cups, turns down the offer, when an enormous alien snatches the sword away and attempts to flee, she won't stand for the bullying of a recent orphan, retrieving it after quite an impressive, if somewhat sloppy, display of brute force.
The next morning Ruthye knocks on Kara's RV door. Kara steps out to continue to resist the young girl's pleas, Krypto joyously frolicking around them, but when Krem enters the RV in search of more weaponry and Krypto charges, he shoots the dog with a poisoned dart and flees aboard his ship. Distraught, Kara takes the dog to a healer who tells her she can do nothing without the antidote which the Brigands use to barter and that without it, Krypto will be gone in three days. Now Kara has a reason to go after the villain Ruthye wants to hunt down.
In addition to illustrating Supergirl's first adventure as a Super Hero, the film is also a literal origin story, backtracking to show how Kara's father Zor-El (David Krumholtz, "Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere") recognized what was about to happen to Krypton and gathered much of its citizenry into Argo City, which he protected with a force field, the city its own entity in space after Krypton's demise. What he didn't anticipate was the radiation sickness that would ensue. Among the first to be diagnosed, Kara's mother, Alura Zor-El (Emily Beecham, "Little Joe"), tells her that she doesn't have to be nice, but does have to be good. It is during her funeral procession that a little puppy finds its way to Kara and Krypto will be all she takes with her when her father insists on sending her to her cousin's adopted planet of Earth.
The orphaning and planet hopping and vast array of aliens don't only recall "Guardians," but "Star Wars" with their sheer diversity and tendency to hang out in bars. Nogueira introduces one too many obstacles to Kara's goal, however, beginning with the Sklarian pirates who hold up a Wormhole bus, promptly stealing Kara's wristwatch. That bus provides some amusement with its bizarre occupants and driver Lloyd (Paul Hunter) who is assisted by a small translator creature and a Galatic Rest Stop with a popcorn-pooping slug. In addition to Krem and his Brigands, who also steal young girls to take as brides to foment their all-male race (um, "Mad Max: Fury Road" anyone?) there is the bounty hunter Lobo (Jason Momoa), who looks like Beetlejuice if he were a cigar-chomping biker from "Mad Max" and who Kara describes to Ruthye as 'an immortal with a god complex,' and, introduced as a bad guy, turns out to be a good one to have on your side.
Everything wraps up on Barenton, which has a green sun for 11 hours a day, not at all good for Kara, and a yellow one for 1, just what she needs. As she's come to feel protective of Ruthye over the course of these three days, Kara is determined to keep her from killing Krem, claiming it will scar her for life, a sentiment that, while 'good,' never really convinces. As Ruthye, Eve Ridley is stoic and determined, perhaps directed that way to present an extreme contrast to Kara, but the character has nothing to her but her revenge plot. With the exception of Lobo, the makeup and effects team has done stellar work, but Rob Hardy's ("Civil War") cinematography trends towards murk during fight scenes.
DC's recent "Superman" was a pleasant surprise. This followup less so. But we have yet to see these two cousins working together and while their interactions here are awkward, they just may prove a dynamic duo.
Warner Brothers releases "Supergirl" in theaters on 6/26/26.
