Directed by Craig Gillespie – Starring Milly Alcock, Eve Ridley, and Jason Momoa

Supergirl and a young alien girl travel across the galaxy seeking revenge and an antidote.

Supergirl wasn’t as bad as advertised. It wasn’t great either. It’s a very middle-of-the-road comic book movie that has some genuinely good stuff in it but never quite finds its rhythm.

Milly Alcock is very good as Kara. She handles all the different sides of the character well, whether she’s being funny, angry, reckless or dealing with some of the movie’s more emotional moments. The problem is that the movie doesn’t always give those emotional moments enough room to land.

We’re introduced to Kara already deep into her drinking and depression era, without really seeing how she got there. The movie eventually fills in some of that history through flashbacks, but by the time we understand what she’s been going through, we’re almost at the end. It makes it harder to connect with the character at the moments when the movie really wants us to.

Sometimes it even felt like this was Ruthye’s (Eve Ridley) movie. She’s an important part of Kara’s story, and their relationship works, but the balance occasionally feels strange for a movie called Supergirl. There’s so much happening around Ruthye that Kara herself can start to feel like she’s sharing the lead in her own movie.

The world-building was probably my favorite part. There are strange aliens everywhere, weird technology, interesting locations, and a visual style that worked. I liked being in this world even when I wasn’t particularly invested in everything happening in it.

The action is fine, although it gets repetitive. The movie repeatedly finds ways to reduce Supergirl’s powers so she can be put in danger, and after a while it starts to feel more like something the plot needs than something that makes sense within the story. The finale gets especially messy, with some odd-looking action and more extended peril sequences than the movie really needs.

There’s also something about the way the movie handles its central ideas toward the end that didn’t quite work. It spends a lot of time establishing what Kara is trying to teach Ruthye about revenge and the consequences of violence, but the eventual resolution doesn’t completely follow through on those ideas. It left the ending feeling a little muddled when it should have been bringing everything together.

Momoa is basically born to play Lobo. He’s having a great time, and I enjoyed watching him. The problem is that Lobo feels like he’s stuck in an awkward middle ground. He’s in the movie too much to be a fun cameo, but not enough to feel like a substantial part of the story.

There were even moments when it seemed like the movie just wanted to remind us that Jason Momoa was in it. There’s a whole stretch where he’s watching Supergirl fight, and I kept thinking, show me Supergirl fighting. I don’t need to watch Lobo watching Supergirl fight.

The villain is pretty forgettable, but honestly, that’s fine. I don’t need the villain to be the most interesting person in a superhero movie. I just need the movie around them to work.

And Supergirl works enough to be entertaining..

Verdict: Good Time