Supergirl is a comic book (NOT super hero, more on that later) movie. It is the second film in the new James Gunn universe, following the strong opener, Superman (2025). It takes you on the existential crisis of Kara Zor-L, Supergirl, as she struggles to find her own identity in a universe with Superman. (much like the movie itself) On this journey she is forcibly recruited by a young girl, Ruthye, to seek vengeance for the murder of her family. Luckily for Ruthye, Supergirl's dog is also a victim of the murderer Krell, requiring Supergirl to hunt down Krell to retrieve a unique antidote. We stumble upon Lobo, the gruff immortal bounty hunter, and through insertion of Kryptonian plot points crucial to future movies, we do eventually over take Krell, retrieve the needed quest item, protect Ruthye from her own vengeance, and find Supergirl's self.
Supergirl is an adapted HEAVILY inspired by screenplay, based heavily off of the Woman of Tomorrow (WoT) comic book series. Seems like a natural choice considering that WoT is generally heralded as the best depiction of Supergirl of all the many, many attempts DC has made to reboot the character. Which is exactly where we run into our first, and in my opinion, biggest problem. WoT is visceral, tragic, and harsh to the realities of the universe. This does NOT fit the Gunn DC Universe at all. Superman was fun, bright, and exciting. Shoe horning WoT into that package was a blunder. It would have been much better served with the Dark Knight treatment in it's own standalone feature. (for the comic nerds, New 52 or DC all in Era would have been much better, or just a fresh take on Supergirl all together). Edit: They announced that it is not adapted, but "inspired by." Pick a lane folks. If it's not adapted from then it is HEAVILY inspired by.
Milly Alcock (Supergirl), Eve Ridley (Ruthye), Jason Momoa (Lobo), David Corenswet (Superman), and Emily Beecham and David Krumholtz as Supergirl's parents were all FANTASTIC. The casting director should win awards as they all understood the assignment. Despite all the problems of the film, this group visibly pushes through it all and crushes it. Every single one made me wish they had more on-screen time. Supergirl feels heavy, in desperate need of a life reset, but unsure of where to go and what to do to find it. Consistent and constant subtle nuances in nearly every frame carry this through to the film's satisfying conclusion of personal, internal redemption. We don't deserve this master class in a comic book movie, and like with Corenswet's Superman, we are yet again blessed with it. AND THEN, we get another; Ruthye. I assume that this child actor forced herself into the production and made Milly be her partner and sister, because that is exactly what we got on screen, and then the shifts to tear jerking climaxes were effortless. I could go on and on about the rest of the cast, but i'll just mention that Momoa was made to play Lobo. Every other movie he's been in now seems like an afterthought and yes i mean Aquaman and Dune.
BIG MISS. The gritty universe, melded with the pallet of the Gunn universe is just weird. As previously mentioned this is a failure in mission from the start, but man. PICK AN AESTHTIC! PLEASE! Feels like I watched 3 different movies....
Is it characters? is it a big universe? should we just jump cut through a plot point? Sure why not?!? the rest is a total mess mine as well. While we're at it, lets tell the actor to look in the wrong direction during a build up to a critical action sequence (lead up to the bar fight). Good or bad, It's often difficult to tell the impact of a director on a movie. Not this time. 👎👎
Pacing is usually a screenplay OR a directing issue. This time it's such a mess i think it needs it's own category. I felt like i was watching a marathon that had five 100 yard dashes unevenly distributed through out it. I don't know who messed this up, but you're fired.
I didn't mention Matthias Schoenaerts as Krem of the Yellow Hills because i can't tell if he failed or if the entire support system collapsed around him. The character was poorly adapted from WoT. I expected an evil Conan the Barbarian character accidentally thrust into the galactic stage. But instead i got a bland male chauvinist that did evil things just because and exists only because they showed up on screen. Every scene he was in seemed like an intern, or an AI, was tasked with making sure we didn't forget him. I suspect the actor has very little of the blame, but man is it bad. I'm sorry Matthias.
We just spent like 15 years acclimating to Super Heroes via Iron Man and the Avengers, and Man of Steel and the Justice League. They DOMINATED the action movie category to the point that an entire generation will be bored by Terminator 2. I LOVE that James Gunn is flipping the script and showing us what comic book adaptations/movies really can be. But he's climbing mount everest trying to convince everyone that Marvel's way is not the only way. Supergirl... especially WoT Supergirl.... immediately after Superman? HUGE, MASSIVE, UNFORGIVABLE mistake. Give us Batman. Give us Wonder Woman. Heck give us Superman 2... but Supergirl? suffering an existential crisis? It's Batman vs Superman following Man of Steel all over again. Please, James, show me on the doll where they hurt you.
Omg it was so much fun! Superman's voicemails and vid calls were filled with buckets of nuance. The exploration of kryptonian powers under different suns... chef's kiss. The pirates high jacking a space bus? I was on the edge of my seat. Supergirl punching people into the stratosphere.... Lobo dragging bad guys behind his motorcycle... I mean by the end of it i wanted to impale Krem for Ruthye myself. This movie was made for someone... ...and that someone was me.
Releasing it on the same day as the PERFECT Toy Story 5 was a huge fumble as to a cinephile who isn't invested in the universe, you should for sure pass on it. But for the pure fan, which is me, it is a fun adventure 100% worth your time. I can love a movie that is a 2 out of 5. Mighty Taco is delicious, Idc that's it's not actually a taco, and I love Supergirl (2026).
Why didn't i mention Krypto? I hate Krypto and I always have. The best part of the movie is how he leads off in the first 5 minutes, and then how we don't see him again until the movie is over. 🤮