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Review: Supergirl
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The second cinematic entry into James Gunn's DC endeavour has dropped, and it is based on one of the most powerful stories in the DC Universe. Supergirl has had many incarnations and adaptations. You have Golden Age Supergirl, where she's dropped in an orphanage by Clark and left to be his secret. You have Silver Age Supergirl, where the writers were trying to figure out how to use her with a parade of costumes before she was killed in Crisis on Infinite Earth, only to be brought back as a clone before properly returning with the New 52 (if you think this is confusing, this isn't even getting into Power Girl – comic books are weird). On top of this, you have the 80s movie version, the DCAU version, and the 2015 TV adaptation.
This is the strength of DC's universe: with so many variations and stories, you can find what you need to tell the story you want to if you look hard enough. Given the unbridled positivity of Corenswet's Clark in James Gunn's Superman, it was important to have the counterpoint of Milly Alcock's Kara. Both are children born out of grief and terrible loss, and both are coping with that grief in different ways.
The core of Tom King's story, adapted by Ana Nogueira, is the film True Grit, and Kara is very much in the vein of Rooster Cogburn. She is enlisted (reluctantly) by Eve Ridley's Ruthye to seek out Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenearts). A lot is changed in this adaptation and some changes work. The removal of Ruthye's framing narrative focuses the story on Kara, but the changes to Krem, making him far more bestial, I feel robs the character of some of its malice. A cartoonish villain ripped from Guardians of the Galaxy's Ravagers is fine and appropriately scary, but the veneer of propriety of the comic's Krem made him that much more terrifying and a more illustrative counterpoint to Kara's grief, showing that under a colouring of acceptability the heart of a monster may live, while under the stone coldness of a grieving orphan goodness may blossom.
All in all, director Craig Gillespie did an excellent job of fleshing out the DC Universe with a character familiar enough they are someone that people would have heard of but different enough it doesn't feel like retreading ground already covered. Alcock's Kara is nuanced and a tragic figure. When we left Superman, we felt lifted up by the fact Clark embraced his humanity and his family on earth. When you leave Supergirl, you don't have that. You are left with an ache of sadness but a glimmer of hope.
Some of the changes made to the story leave the character in an interesting place, especially as an obvious juxtaposition against her more well-known cousin. But not everything is serious – there are some fun moments, cute cameos, and we finally see Jason Mamoa as the DC character he was always MEANT to play. His turn as the Main Man Lobo himself was interesting. Originally intended to be in the comic series but cut to focus in on Kara, his inclusion was an interesting mirror for the character. Lobo is another indestructible, super-powered, near-god like Clark and Kara, but possessed of a heart riddled with narcissistic self interest and a sociopathic glee. The quips and sass are very in-character for Mamoa and work, but his final scene in the penultimate minutes of the film show his character judging Kara for what truly lies inside her heart, and this is something that I don't think Gunn is just including to toss away. I'm very intrigued to see where Alcock's Kara goes from here. Also, a Lobo TV series in the vein of Peacemaker, please and thank you!
This isn't the sweet joy of Melissa Benoist's Kara or the innocence of naivete of Helen Slater's Kara – this is a thoroughly modern Kara who listens to Wet Leg and has baggage, and I'm here for it.
Tags: Supergirl, Milly Alcock, Eve Ridley, David Corenswet, Matthias Schoenaerts, Jason Mamoa, Craig Gillespie, Ana Nogueira, DCU, Warner Bros.
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