Let’s get this out of the way: Supergirl is not the disaster some critics have made it out to be.
Is it great? No. Is it uneven? Absolutely. Does it show some of the scars of a film that may have gone through too many creative hands in post-production? You can feel that in places. But taken on its own terms, Supergirl is a fun, entertaining, surprisingly relatable sci-fi action movie anchored by a very strong performance from Milly Alcock.
Three Ballpoint pens feels about right.
At its core, the film is basically John Wick in space with a cape. Kara Zor-El is not out to save the universe in the traditional superhero-movie sense. She is on a mission to save her dog, Krypto, after he is poisoned by the villainous Krem of the Yellow Hills. That simple emotional engine gives the movie a clean, pulpy drive: find the bad guy, get the antidote, save the dog.
Honestly, sometimes that is enough.
But beneath the chase movie is a more interesting story about a 23-year-old woman trying to figure out who she is. Kara is lost. She is powerful, traumatized, angry, reckless, and running from the idea of home. She parties across planets, keeps Superman at a distance, and seems more comfortable in motion than in stillness. Her drinking problem is not just a character quirk. It becomes part of the larger portrait of someone numbing herself because she has not fully processed what she has lost.
That is what makes the movie more relatable than expected. Strip away the Kryptonian mythology and the space battles, and Supergirl is about a young woman trying to outrun grief, responsibility, and herself.
Kara’s trauma lives in a different lane than Clark’s. Superman was sent away as an infant and grew up on Earth. Kara lived long enough to know her people, her parents, and Argo City before losing everything. That distinction matters. Her pain is not abstract. It is remembered.
When Kara eventually crosses paths with Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley), a young woman seeking vengeance after her family is murdered by the villain Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts), the film finds its strongest emotional dynamic. Ruthye wants revenge. Kara wants to stop her from becoming consumed by it. But Kara is also carrying her own rage, which gives the relationship more weight than the usual reluctant-hero-and-sidekick setup.
Milly Alcock is the film’s biggest asset. She does not play Kara as a polished symbol of hope. She plays her as wounded, sarcastic, impulsive, and still searching for the person she wants to become. Alcock embodies the role with a rawness that works. She makes Kara feel young without making her feel lightweight, and she gives the character enough vulnerability to cut through the cosmic noise around her.
The fight scenes also deliver. There is a blunt, physical quality to the action that keeps the movie moving even when the story gets a little thin. The film has a scrappy rhythm that separates it from some of DC’s more bloated recent efforts. It may be a superhero movie, but structurally it plays more like a revenge western or assassin thriller.
The dynamic between Alcock’s Kara and David Corenswet’s Superman is another highlight. Their scenes work because they are not trying to turn the movie into a Superman sequel. Clark is concerned, but not controlling. Kara respects him, but does not want to live in his shadow. There is a nice cousin energy there, and the film is smart enough to let Superman be present without swallowing the movie whole.
The visual effects are decent, too. Not flawless, but far from embarrassing. The different planets, alien cultures and cosmic landscapes give the movie a bigger canvas than expected, and the space-opera elements help distinguish it from the usual city-destroying superhero template.
Jason Momoa’s Lobo is where the movie stumbles a bit. He is clearly meant to be a big crowd-pleasing comic-book wildcard, but his presence feels more like setup than necessity. Momoa has the right physicality and swagger for the character, but Lobo does not add enough to the main emotional story. He pops in, makes noise, helps move the plot, and then mostly reminds you that DC is still building toward something else.
That is one of the larger problems with Supergirl. At times, it feels torn between being Kara’s personal story and being another brick in the larger DC Studios wall.
The script by Ana Nogueira is serviceable, but not especially memorable. There is nothing particularly special about the writing on a scene-to-scene level. The story works because the structure is clear and Alcock gives Kara a strong emotional center, not because the dialogue or plotting constantly surprises.
And then there are the needle drops.
James Gunn’s musical fingerprints are all over this thing, and not always for the better. Gunn has built a career out of using pop songs in superhero storytelling, sometimes brilliantly. But here, the constant needle drops can feel more imposed than organic. Instead of deepening the moment, some of the music choices call attention to themselves. The movie does not need to keep reminding us that someone has a playlist.
Still, the good outweighs the bad.
The final act presents Kara with a moral test more complicated than the usual hero speech. She pleads with Ruthye not to kill Krem, arguing that revenge will not heal her pain. Then Kara makes the darker choice herself. That contradiction is interesting. It is messy, maybe even morally uncomfortable, but it fits this version of the character: someone who wants to be better, but is not fully there yet.
By the end, Kara returns to Earth and tells Superman she wants to stay. That moment works because the movie has been about more than saving Krypto. It has been about Kara deciding she does not have to keep running. Earth can be home, not because it replaces what she lost, but because she finally chooses it.
That is a solid emotional arc.
REELated:
Inside the creative “bake-off” behind the Supergirl mess
Supergirl is not on the level of the best superhero films, but it is far more watchable than the online pile-on suggests. It is more entertaining than Blue Beetle, more rewatchable than Birds of Prey, more coherent than Green Lantern, less exhausting than Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and more emotionally engaging than Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
It has flaws. Plenty of them. But it also has a strong lead, solid action, a clear emotional hook and a version of Kara Zor-El worth following.
Bottom line: Supergirl may not soar, but it does fly.
Geek out.
BOTTOM LINE: Supergirl is messy, uneven and clearly overworked in places. But Milly Alcock gives Kara heart, and the action works. The film is a REEL STREAM.
The Geek is a working screenwriter, director and screenwriting instructor.
