Supergirl (2026) – Review

Quick thoughts:

1. Milly Alcock is wonderful.
2. Jason Momoa is Jason Momoa.
3. Between green suns, poison, kryptonite darts, and red suns, the film does its best to prevent the OP Supergirl from crushing all the villains who get in her way. It gets excessive
4. I wish director Craig Gillespie and writer Ana Nogueira had more faith in Milly Alcock and her character. Kara Zor-El gets lost amongst revenge-driven teenagers, angry immortals, hungry villains, flashbacks, and Superman cameos.
5. The action scenes blend together into a blob of punching, throwing, and smooshing.
6. The human trafficking plot doesn’t blend well with the cheeky tone. It’s an odd mix.
7. Grade – 5.5 out of 10 CGI smack-em-ups
8. Never eat alien poop snacks

Adapted from the 2021 comic miniseries Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow by Tom King and Bilquis, Supergirl is a decent superhero film that promises bigger things for star Milly Alcock.  Director Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya, Lars and the Real Girl, Dumb Money) has proven that he can successfully direct big-budget fare like Cruella and Finest Hours, but he seems more comfortable crafting character-driven indies such as I, Tonya and Lars and the Real Girl. In his smaller films (and in shows such as The United States of Tara), he loves exploring the lives of damaged people who find themselves in unique situations involving broken legs and odd love interests. So, on paper, Supergirl is a nice match with Gillespie, but the biggest problem with Supergirl is that Gillespie and writer Ana Nogueira used their filmmaking superpowers to sideline the adventures of Kara Zor-El (Alcock) by frequently taking her out of the action and cynically shoehorning in Jason Momoa’s Lobo (who doesn’t appear in the 2021 miniseries). It’s like they didn’t trust the Supergirl character to carry the 108-minute film, so they didn’t solely focus on the interesting alien with a unique backstory.

The film revolves around Kara Zor-El celebrating her 23rd birthday with an intergalactic pub crawl that takes her to planets lit by red suns, which allow her to get lit (AKA super drunk). Her trip is loaded with drunken nights, hungover mornings, and a mid-afternoon yellow sun refresher (it’s like a hangover IV bag for humans) that recharges her super batteries. Her ship is a mess, she ignores messages from her cousin Kal-El (David Corenswet – very funny), and she shares her cereal with her dog Krypto. All of this is understandable because her home planet is gone, her parents are dead, and she doesn’t spend enough time on Earth to make it feel like home. It’s a deserved birthday bender that ends when she comes across Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley), a sword-wielding teenager who is trying (and failing) to avenge the death of her parents. Ruthye’s parents were killed by an irredeemable space pirate named Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts), who is the leader of a gang of rogues named the Brigands.

The plot kicks in when Krem steals Kara’s ship and shoots Krypto with a poisoned dart that will kill her beloved pet in three days. This forces Kara and Ruthye to hitch a ride on an intergalactic bus that’s hijacked by techno-space pirates (lots of pirates in this film) who conveniently know Krem’s whereabouts. Once they arrive at Krem’s supposed location, Kara beats up dozens of cantina patrons, which leads to a CGI smack-em-up involving kidnapped female teenagers and a bounty hunter named Lobo (Jason Momoa) who is hunting down a Brigand mark. After the brawl, Krem escapes to a planet with a green sun, which leads to an uninteresting brawl filled with dust, slow-motion action, large explosions, and a cover of the Jimmy Eat World song “The Middle.”

The rest of the film plays like Guardians of the Galaxy met Mad: Max: Fury Road, and they started a band with Momoa’s serial killer character from Fast X. The result is a mess of comedic and dramatic tones that follows an orphaned superhero battling space pirates who prowl the galaxy looking for young female slaves to carry on their line (it’s odd). It’s obvious that Momoa’s character was shoehorned into the film for future DC installments, but his loud shenanigans undermine Kara’s adventures and do nothing for the plot. Jason Momoa rules, but it would’ve been nice if the Supergirl creators had more faith in the lead character.

The best parts of Supergirl involve Kara’s tragic backstory, which explains her booze-fueled intergalactic benders. She’s a 23-year-old with no people, home, or friends, and was forced to figure out who she is in a new world. Supergirl is an interesting character in a not-so-interesting film. Other highlights include a space bug that poops out candied pecans (or something similar), and a sassy intergalactic bus driver voiced by Seth Rogan. The makeup and creature design are fantastic as well, and I thoroughly enjoyed all the creatures that inhabit the world.

Final thoughts – If there’s a Supergirl 2, I hope they have more confidence in the Supergirl character.