Supergirl is a really solid, colourful time at the cinema for anyone interested in fight scenes and cool girls kicking ass. This, I cannot take away from it.
However, I felt deeply disappointed by it. Themes of resilience, goodness, what it means to be kind and pursue justice, were all there, and in some measure, well-formed – just underdeveloped, in my opinion. We see very little change in Kara, and much of the plot is spurred on by a completely unbelievable sidekick, who predictably gets herself into trouble that Kara has to fix.
The plot, and its performance, gives the impression that very few people knew what to do with Supergirl, really. Craig Gillespie ran to the tried and true format and created something great to experience, but not so rich to dive into. I can't help feeling another filmmaker might have had more to say.
I don't know that I thought Supergirl would supersede Superman in my esteem, but I have to say, it was surprising to me how much less interesting the themes of this film were to me than the ones we have gotten used to in the Gunn-helmed DC Properties. Though there are attempts at deeper meaning, they're abandoned in favour of very cool shots of Supergirl, and Gunn-esque pastiches like the slo-mo soundtracked fight scene, which were welcome but not new.
Kara Zor-El is ultimately a character meant to represent generations of 1st Gen Immigrants who remember the before times. In that sense, the film is very affirming. This, however, is just a small section of a much larger, much more encumbered plot.
I wanted to love it, I promise I did – but there wasn't too much beyond style that hooked me.