CineCorner review: Milly Alcock flies high as Supergirl crash-lands

Right, let’s cut to the chase. We’ve got a new Supergirl film in the mix, meant to help launch James Gunn’s shiny DC Universe, and on paper, it should feel like a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, when you actually sit and watch the thing, it’s more like déjà vu with a bit of a hangover.

If You’ve Seen One, You’ve Seen 'Em All

The story itself? About as boilerplate as it gets: Eve Ridley plays a determined young girl trying to drag Supergirl (Milly Alcock) into a revenge mission. Her family’s been wiped out by some cartoonishly evil space pirate called Krem, played by Matthias Schoenaerts. Cue your Mission Impossible music, because when Krem poisons someone close to our heroine, it turns into a frantic hunt for the antidote.

This script could’ve been plucked from almost any second-tier superhero film in the last decade, but where it really tips its hand is just how clearly it cribs from other, better movies. There are shades of Mad Max: Fury Road everywhere you look. Everything from Krem (who’s basically a watered-down, more ‘family-friendly’ Immortan Joe) to the dry, yellow-tinged colour palette.

And, let’s not ignore the elephant in the room: whatever Gunn and the studio intended for ‘new universe energy’, hasn’t materialised. Sure, Superman’s reboot didn’t flop, but it wasn’t exactly a cultural reset either—not even matching the box office of Snyder’s version back in 2013, and that’s before you even talk about inflation.

Where's the Personality?

Director Craig Gillespie knows how to make memorable films—I, Tonya and Cruella have proper bite. Even his Fright Night remake had a bit of fun with the format. Here, though, Gillespie’s personal stamp is nowhere to be seen. It’s as if he was asked to do the best James Gunn impression possible, and the result is about what you’d expect: loads of slow motion, speed-ramped action, and a soundtrack so full of distracting needle drops, it starts to feel like a radio station with superhero cameos. Honestly, this ‘new direction’ plays more like a highlights reel of every superhero cliché we’re supposed to be past by now.

The Good, the Bad, and the ‘We Have That at Home’

• Milly Alcock – There’s only one real reason to bother: Alcock’s Supergirl. Despite all the online squabbles about whether she was right for the part, she’s properly convincing. This isn’t the upbeat, golden-haired hero from the 80s with Helen Slater. Alcock’s Kara is visibly traumatised—closer to a brooding antihero who doesn’t even slip on the famous cape until everything’s nearly wrapped up. She’s better than the film deserves, and her arc actually lands, even if the film doesn’t give her enough to work with.
• Matthias Schoenaerts as Krem – He pulls off ‘nasty villain’ well enough: he kills, he traffics, he’s horrid to Krypto the superdog. The problem is he’s instantly forgettable, the definition of a cardboard baddie. Despicable, but not in a way that’ll stick with you.
• Jason Momoa’s Lobo – Everyone made a racket about Momoa’s arrival as Lobo. Honestly? He spends most of the film lurking round the edges. It’s basically Aquaman again, but now with a new wig. Still, just about the only time the film perks up is when Momoa’s onscreen, particularly once Supergirl gets sidelined and Eve Ridley’s Ruthye takes the wheel for a bit.
• That Needle Drop Overkill – Not to labour the point, but the film tries to drum up excitement by hurling song after song at us like it’s afraid we’ll get bored and wander off. Instead, the tension totally evaporates.

One Standout, Lost in the Machine

It’s not a trainwreck by any stretch—there’s clearly been a mountain of money and attention thrown at getting this right. But the end result is something that could be swapped with a dozen other superhero flicks and no one would notice. The one thing Supergirl does prove is that Milly Alcock deserved the role. You just wish the film had given her a vehicle worth remembering.

'Everything people complain about when discussing franchise fatigue is present here. It’s a small-scale story that feels like a side quest, complete with a disposable villain.'