Courtney Howard // Film Critic
SUPERGIRL
Rated PG-13, 1 hour and 47 minutes
Directed by: Craig Gillespie
Starring: Milly Alcock, Eve Ridley, Matthias Schoenaerts, Jason Momoa, David Krumholtz, Diarmaid Murtagh, Ferdinand Kingsley, Emily Piggford, Bruce Lennox, David Corenswet
While SUPERGIRL takes a handful of its narrative cues from author Tom King, artist Bilquis Evely and colorist Matheus Lopes’ graphic novel “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow,” it’s heartening to see the film adaptation doesn’t lose any of its page-turning predecessor’s heart or compelling character drive. Director Craig Gillespie and writer Ana Nogueira deliver a colossally awesome and creatively audacious mashup of TRUE GRIT and MAD MAX: FURY ROAD that fires on all cylinders. With a duo of finely-tuned lead performances and a smart story at the center, it’s another solid, sharp entry in the reinvigorated DC canon.
Reckless rebel Kara Zor-El (Mily Alcock) isn’t in the greatest of spirits, though her mischievous pup Krypto brings her out of her funk. She’s about to turn 23 years old and prefers a drunken bender to using her superpowers to help someone in need. On some level, she’s probably self-aware enough to see the irony of her situation that the strongest woman in the galaxy doesn’t have the strength to process the death of her parents and the destruction of her home planet. She’d rather numb herself to the pain of grief than properly process those complex feelings. However, someone appears to awaken her from her sad stupor.
Enter 13-year-old Ruthye (Eve Ridley). She recently witnessed her loving dad (Ferdinand Kingsley), mom (Emily Piggford) and older brother (Bruce Lennox) die at the hands of the ruthless barbarian Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts) when he visited their home to collect a cache of weapons for his Brigand army. Seething with bitterness and anger, the orphaned teen sets out on a vengeful quest looking for a tracker – someone who can lead her to Krem so she can slay him with her father’s sword. Kara tries to deny the initial call to action, but after Krem (whose said to have the strength of 100 men) shoots Krypto with a poisonous dart (for which only he holds the antidote), it becomes abundantly clear that she and Ruthye must work together to achieve their common goal of bringing down their tormenter.
Gillespie and Nogueira have streamlined the graphic novel quite a bit, excising storylines, losing vestigial characters and overhauling the entire 3rd act. In their place, they’ve added fan favorite Lobo (Jason Momoa) – a cigar-chomping, motorcycle-riding, chaos demon of an anti-hero – for levity and a B-story about Krem and his all-male tribe, the Brigands, kidnapping young women to make them brides. The film also serves as Kara Zor-El’s origin story, with heartrending flashbacks to her engineer father (David Krumholtz) begging her to leave their dying planet, and later, Clark/ Superman (David Corenswet) welcoming the refugee to Earth. Though it’s slightly for the worse that the story’s POV is no longer solely Ruthye’s (as it is in the comics), the film’s additions mesh well with the source material in a rousing, poignant and perfectly paced tale.
Big set pieces like the attempted Sklarian Raider heist on the wormhole bus, the barroom brawl between Kara and a bunch of alien dirtbags, and Ruthye’s jailhouse escape are thrilling vignettes that successfully modulate tonal fluctuations and make intelligent use of character-forward action. The penultimate sequence, set on the Brigands’ spaceship where Supergirl knocks out Krem’s villainous henchmen like she’s in a hammer throw competition, stands as a well-earned moment for her character. The violence showcased is virtually bloodless, yet still lands with maximum impact, informing the propulsive momentum. Scenes with Ruthye’s parents and a frightened potential bride slaughtered by the baddie also carry dramatic weight.
Themes dwelling on grief, retribution, redemption, resilience and forgiveness are subtly displayed, not only tucked away in the margins, but shown through the production design. Production designer Neil Lamont’s constructed environments, most notably on Bilquis (named after the comic’s artist), put dirt, rubble and deterioration at the forefront. Krem’s dying planet, Barenton, is a barren alien world mirroring the Brigands’ lack of morals, humanity and conscience. Gillespie drops the needle like no other. Setting the action to 3rd or 4th generation riot grrl rock, like Wet Leg and Sleigh Bells (to name a few), works as a perfect inner sonic voice for the titular heroine.
Sadly this gem has a few flaws, particularly when it comes to its sparkle being dulled. It suffers dramatically from an over-reliance of The Volume. It kills any aesthetic appeal the filmmakers are clearly trying to conjure as an immersive escapist space fantasy. Ruthye’s disorienting fear, being circled (FURIOSA-style) by a gang of ruffians on their roaring dirt bikes, doesn’t hit as hard as it would if in a practical environment. We can see the unreal artifice, even in a simple walk and talk. Gillespie and cinematographer Rob Hardy (MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT, ANNIHILATION) deploy lens flares as if they’re getting bonuses for each one. They wind up working against the film’s better awe-inciting qualities.
Alcock is a heroine for a new era. She’s like a petite Peter O’Toole: funny, winning, charismatic, and a dastardly cunning hellraiser. Her unapologetically messy party girl pathos, rough-and-tumble exterior and DGAF attitude cloak a unique vulnerability. She turns costume into character. Her casual look of torn jeans, vintage Blondie tee-shirt and old tan trench coat function as her own superhero uniform – unassuming armor to face the world as a rumpled mess. Ridley is a revelation. She holds her own against Momoa and Schoenaerts, in addition to sharing great chemistry with Alcock. In lesser hands, her character might read as annoying, but Ridley instills her with gumption and gravitas. Schoenaerts makes for a decent heavy, ruthless, careless and imposing. For having marquee good looks in real life, he uglify’s nicely. Momoa’s having a blast, enjoying every moment. His scenes are consistently the most fun and he shares in fantastic repartee with Alcock.
Breezy, ballsy and bold, SUPERGIRL might have its faults, yet it’s still a rock solid entry in the refashioned DC Cinematic Universe. There’s a lot to treasure here, from the sentiment that one life can change many to the popcorn-pooping slug. What more could you ask for?
Grade: 4 out of 5
SUPERGIRL will be in theaters on June 26.
