Kristian Harloff's Supergirl Reaction: Enjoyable But Forgettable

Milly Alcock's Supergirl left me emotionally connected but ultimately underwhelmed. That is the short version of my out-of-theater reaction to the latest DCU film, and it is a mixed verdict that comes with real praise for the lead performance alongside some pointed criticism of the villain and the overall story.

I never read the graphic novel, so I went in without built-up expectations

I have not read the Supergirl graphic novel and do not know enough about it to compare. Going in, I wondered whether I would be blown away the way so many people talk about the source material. The answer was no, I was not blown away, but I did feel emotionally connected to the story they presented with Kara. The tone was different than I expected, and it was not nearly as goofy as I thought it was going to be going in.

Craig Gillespie's direction and the Kara-Ruthye relationship worked for me

Craig Gillespie brought his own style to this film. The humor, when they attempt it, does not really land, but I did not feel like they tried to overpower the movie with it the way something like Masters of the Universe did. The relationship between Kara and the girl, Ruthye, worked really well, and I felt like they had built real history between them. The Krypton material actually worked better here than it did even in Superman, and the scene where Cor-An shows up had a dynamic that worked for me.

Milly Alcock is great, but the villain is the worst part of the movie

Milly Alcock is great as Kara, and you really do get her emotionally as far as why she is going through what she is going through. On the other side, I like Matthias Schoenaerts a lot as an actor, but the villain in this movie is not good at all. It is the worst part of the film. Describing the character, I said, "All he's doing the whole movie is this. Not good." I do not really understand why he is supposed to be a threat to Kara at all.

My overall verdict: it is not the Guardians knockoff I expected, but it is forgettable

My bigger criticism is that while the emotional core worked, the overall story they were trying to tell kind of lost me, and the humor does not play the way they were hoping. Still, anytime the film dove deep into character and emotion, it had me, and it does that often, with a tone that stayed mostly consistent even if a little choppy. Jason Momoa is good as Lobo, though I am not sure this is as impactful a film as I think DC needs it to be.

I was surprised going in because I expected a Guardians rip-off or knockoff, and it did not play that way to me, even though I heard other critics say it did feel that way to them. Overall, my take is that "The movie to me is enjoyable, but forgettable."

What did you think of Supergirl's tone compared to what you expected going in?