I saw the movie on Saturday and I am going to do my best to wrap my head around my thoughts in a non-spoiler way (above the fold) and a little deeper once we get inside.
I will say, based on the source material and some stuff that I had heard before hand, I went into the movie with low, almost no expectations. And perhaps going in that way, I found that I liked it more than I expected.
There is an underlying theme throughout almost all the movie that Kara is kind and good. Despite the self-destructive journey she is on during the majority of the movie, that continues to bubble up to the surface. So I felt in many ways, the core of Supergirl was present in the story. I was not expecting that.
But there is a Zach Snyder-esque event at the end of the movie that seems to completely unravel that message. An act that seems so out of character from what we have seen before that it comes as close to ruining the film as it can. And it is completely out of character for who I think Supergirl is.
I think Milly Alcock is solid in the role, showing the pain Kara is going through and then having her come out of it in the end. It is a tight rope of 'party girl', 'sad girl', and 'hero' that worked. Alcock is probably the best part of the film. I thought Lobo, played by Jason Momoa was fun to see and quite comic accurate. But he seemed to be sort of tacked on. I wonder if in one of the earlier versions of the movie (remember it had 10 pre-showings and therefore probably multiple edits) he had a bigger role in the finale.
But the movie itself feels sort of episodic with Kara tracking Krem and luckily running into people who know where to point her next. The film is incredible dull looking with most of the planets and sets very dark, shadowed, and dull. There are plenty of things that happen in the movie that are hard to hand-wave away (non-powered Kara beating up an 8ft highly muscled brute, innocent Ruthye being combat ready in one scene and choking out a brigand with ankle fetters, overpowered Lobo somehow 'trapped' and stuck in a brigand prison).
Even those plot issues didn't seem important next to the 'be good' core. But then that Snyder moment happened. So I guess it lands as a 3 out of 5.
I think the cast was solid. Alcock is very good as Kara. Momoa is great as Lobo. And Matthias Schoenaerts makes the most of the rather bland role of Krem, filling him with Tim Roth like mannerisms and energy. Krem is basically just a bad guy with no personality or story himself. I also liked all the Superman scenes.
The movie basically tracks with Tom King's Woman of Tomorrow with Kara dealing with the trauma of surviving Krypton.
But Kara is doing this while on a binge drinking pub crawl on her 23rd birthday. In flashbacks, we see how Argo City was saved by Zor-El, how she was born 8yrs later (no 'older than Superman' nonsense), and how the people there die from Kryptonite poisoning. There we see her as happy, playful, loyal to family.
Most importantly, we see her parents love for her and the lessons they give her. They tell her to be kind and good. That she must protect people. That she is meant for something. In fact, the clearly call this out as the opposite of Jor-El's more conquering thoughts about Kal. What a wonderful thing to show, perhaps making her more like the Earth-raised Superman than she thinks.
Throughout the movie, we see that kindness and goodness, mostly in how she protects Ruthye in their adventures. She doesn't want Ruthye to suffer or to do something Ruthye will regret.
Along the way, we see Lobo is on the trail of another brigand so the two semi-team-up.
Finally Kara realizes she needs to do real good by rescuing a captured Ruthye. At last, with just 15 mins or so left in the movie, she dons the Supergirl uniform. We get a large action sequence with Lobo and Supergirl taking out the brigands.
But then that moment.
Kara stops Ruthye from killing Krem, saying that Ruthye will haunted for commiting murder.
Finally facing her trauma, Ruthye breaks down and cries.
And then, once Ruthye has run off, Kara kills Krem.
That's right.
Kara kills Krem, stabbing him in the neck with Ruthye's sword.
Kara kills Krem, stabbing him in the neck with Ruthye's sword.
Kara kills. So much for kindness and goodness.Yes, I know it ends with her back on Earth, calling it 'home' (a big moment), and clearing things up with Kal.
But she kills.
You think DC would have learned from the Zod neck snap from the end of Man of Steel. You think they would want to stay true to the character they have shown us up to this time.
Nope.
I have to say though. I wonder if in earlier versions Lobo kills Krem. At one point, Lobo asks if there is a bounty on Krem's head. Was that because in another version Lobo kills Krem to gain that bounty? Why would Lobo stick around that Brigand fight after killing his bounty?
Or any other way to end this without Supergirl being a murderer.
It would have made more sense for Kara to say 'I am taking you in to face justice Krem'.
Or any other way to end this without Supergirl being a murderer.
It would have made more sense for Kara to say 'I am taking you in to face justice Krem'.
She could have put him in the Phantom Zone.
She could have called in Green Lanterns.
Or Lobo could have killed him with Kara looking at Lobo and saying 'I don't want to become him.'
There are a million ways this could have ended without Supergirl killing him.
But she did and that probably ruined this for me ...
Supergirl is a killer in this movie.
Which is tragic because despite the dull colors, the lack of S-shield, the drunken sadness, the movie was working for me because that 'good' core was there.
There are thanks.
I will sarcastically give my deepest gratitude to Tom King for bringing us to a place where a killer sad, drunk Kara is on the big screen.
But it is an interesting mix of names. Cool to see Otto Binder and Al Plastino called out.
I would love to hear what everyone thinks.
32 comments:
Preface, I do enjoy Woman of Tomorrow, but don’t think it’s the end all be all of Supergirl stories. I’d largely agree with your takes, and like some of the changes. Such as toning down the amount of trauma events. However, I think the original story’s take of Krem getting Phantom Zoned and then encountering Ruthye later works much better for me than what we got. I would have liked more of the high color epic fantasy moments of the book. A few more big sisterly moments Supergirl like her teaching Ruthye about hygiene would have been nice. Also the reveal of Krypto never really being in danger just an excuse to lead Ruthye to realize that revenge is no way to lead your life in the movie.
From a movie perspective I’m glad that this wasn’t high stakes world ending.
Nice review, Anj. We’re on the same page, I generally enjoyed the film more than expected, and didn’t think it was as episodic as the comics story. Like Freep, I was glad the trauma was dialled down - no weeping in the sun, no stoning, no Maypole - but missed such things as the handwashing and the piggyback.
The ending, though, was just out of whack with everything we’d seen previously as regards Kara’s morality; your suggestion of a reshoot makes sense, I certainly thought we were heading to a Lobo resolution. Otherwise, what was the point of him?
I wasn’t overly keen on the Earth arrival flashback, Clark seemed a bit dim… but Argo City was great!
I can see why King’s story appealed to James Gunn, because Superman notwithstanding he favors stories about broken people dealing with trauma and finding family and home. Combine that with the Zack Snyder color pallet and it was a very drab, joyless movie. I agree that Molly Alcock was great in all three incarnations you described: drunk girl, sad girl, and Supergirl.
I don’t think Momoa was great as Lobo; I think he was fine. Lobo, to me, is such an uninteresting character that I think anyone in Hollywood could have given the same performance. I think Momoa was more charismatic as Aquaman, as crazy as that sounds.
Krem… Did he have any dialogue? I don’t remember him speaking. Ruthye…. She was fine in this role, but this actress is no Hailee Steinfeld. Also, I know it’s from the comics, but the green sun kind of needed an explanation.
The movie wasn’t bad, but there wasn’t much I liked about it. I am looking forward to seeing more of Kara in the next Superman movie.
Okay, I logged in, not sure why it posted as anonymous. Previous comment was from me.
(A comment from Ryan! That’s gold dust…)
Thinking on, people applause at the end, I know sometimes American audiences clap?
So: Kara actually kills Krem "for Krypto", or does she just
hurt him?
I'll be going back a few times to see what I missed the 1st
time, because, quite frankly, I didn't believe what I thought
I saw. It didn't help that the theatre was almost empty
(I counted only 5 others with me in a later showing on Friday).
I re-read WOT 1-8. Specifically, on the last page, at least
visually, it seems that old Ruthye does it. Yet, based on the
"words" by Ruthye (based on the statement "SHE said" (ie: "It's
too big. We're too small")), Kara does it "through the chest".
I also don't understand Krem's "300 yr period" in the Zone?
And no Comet?
So I'm not quite sure exactly what happened in either.
Also, check out these URLs (and LOTS more, most all negative?):
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/supergirl_2026
https://screenrant.com/supergirl-movie-2026-reviews-negative-explained/
I was surprised at so many negative comments. Surely the ending
contributed to them?
In the comic, Ruthye reveals herself in the final issue as an unreliable narrator, we’ve been reading her memoir all along. When she talks about Supergirl killing Krem, which she first did in the opening issue, she was apparently putting that out there to protect herself from any pirates that might want revenge upon her. On the final page, it does look as if Ruthye kills Krem with her walking stick, just look at the blood spatter, but it’s all in silhouette so we can’t be sure,
- yet the twitching and then the final dead stop of the figure certainly seem to say he is dead. So much so that Tom Kinh came along later and said that no, according to his script she just battered him. The editor should’ve clarified things on the page when the art came in.
Thanks for all the early comments.
Yes, the ending of the comic is not clear. It looks like she kills him and the 'battered' piece I think is a 'crap, I am getting bad press that he is killed' excuse. Of course, Krem has served 300 yrs in the Zone, comes out elderly AND repentant. So even a battering seems wrong.
But no denying what happens in the movie. (sigh)
Haven't seen the movie yet but from what you saying and seeing with the comments it tracks with all the reviews i seen, a drab run of the mill supehero story that borrows some elements from the WOT comic but does not commit to it.
And that's i think is one of the major problems with the movie, whatever you think of the source material it would be beter if the stictk with it if not visually at least the core of the story, from what i read they scraeped most of it just to make a run of the mill superhero movie, supergirl deserved beter than this.
The fact that the thought that a supergirl movie was the right move after superman is also baffling, as much as a love supergirl she's not the most popular character out there and definitely not the one to make a big blockbuster movie for your young cinematic universe, what where they thinking?
They sould had build her character in man of tomorrow and then make a small budget movie, one that would not get so much atttention and scrutiny with some promising young director and not this corporate crony that make a lite GotG movie stripping supergirl of her uniqueness.
Also i don't know what's going on with WB this year but it seems that they don't care about their movies as much as last year when they had an excellent run, i wonder who had the bright idea to put supergirl between two animation juggernauts like toy storyand minions?
I am convinced that even if the movie was good it would still under performed against those two, it seems to me that they only cared about the merger and they don't care what will happent after that since the new leadership would certainly make big changes, and this was not exclusive to supergirl they fumble mortal kombat 2 also by putting it again the devil wears prada 2 on mothers day no less like what?
It's so sad seen all the negative headlines the wasted opportunity and most importantly i am sad beacuse milly seems to be a great supergirl and i hope this does not squash her chances to play kara in future movies.
Well let's hope that MoT will work and turn this around, and that we see a version of supergirl we know and love and so will the general audience.
At least we have the MAWS supergirl can't wait to see your review of the latest episode, that song number between kara and lois was awesome.
The ending didn't bother me as much as the Superman one. He did it out of anger & frustration with Zod, she did it to protect Ruthye from losing her soul. I think that's kind of heroic. It's the bargain that people in the military always make- taking it on themselves.
The main things I didn't like was the rock music cuts - so boring, I'm tired of that.
And the Production Design. The comic art was just so exceptional. They were trying to make it look like the first film I guess, but it's a shame..
This is a blue-er somewhat raunchier definitely more foul-mouthed version of Lauren Faust's DCSHG Supergirl...y'know the one that gives off a Powergirl vibe. But then again its a Powergirl vibe that I find hilarious...so there is that. But once you have that filter in place a lot of the movie clicks into place...for a while anway. I do think the creative decision to reboot the entire 1959 origin (right down to the ghastly "On The Beach" style end of Argo City) was pretty gutsy...or superfluous depending on your perspective. My perspective is that there is meta-context to all this, once Sarna is cruelly slain by Krem certain action movie rules come into play to wit: "Deliberate murder of a child is an automatic death sentence for the captioned killer, there is no appeal". From that point on, Krem's death warrant was signed and sealed, but it was all a question of who would do it? The three candidates were, Lobo, Ruthye or Supergirl. Lobo would have been the easiest and most logical "out" (indeed I half hoped this was the reason for his inclusion), Ruthye's arc was always seemingly about giving her that one last chance to veer off the path of retribution, that left Supergirl. If Lobo did the deed, then it is no longer Supergirl's story...(I wonder if any scenes were shot depicting this, I'd be intensely curious on this point)...sooo in a bid to save Ruthye's soul, Supergirl crosses the line and finally kills someone. Do I understand the storytelling logic, yes, do I like it? No. And thats sad, because Alcock is a feisty Supergirl in many ways the one we need maybe...just not a killer okay? Momoa's debut as Lobo indicates interesting things to come assuming the Gunn-universe is allowed to propagate...based on the current box office and the pending change of leadership at the WB...who knows? The funny thing about this movie is, other than it gruesome out of character ending, it's a veritable feast of "Kara-tharis" she is knocking the daylights out of everyone from Mongo to Alderaan and thence to The Shoulders of Orion, with or without her powers, that part was special for me anyway. When this film was first announced, I thought "success and failure hold equal peril", if successful, this could propagate a morose off character Supergirl, if a failure it could mean another reboot at the hands of some new jack Junior College dropout with a flashy resume...once again we've reached that uneasy crossroads "Kara-Junction". To one and all I remain JF
Thanks for continued comments.
I know the situation around the Zod/Krem deaths are different but the outcome is the same. A hero killing. Friends have said that Kara has put the burden of killing on herself to spare Ruthye, which is somewhat more noble than something bloodthirsty. But I still wish someone not wearing an S-shield did this.
If this was a Batman movie and he killed Krem, would people be so eager to accept? If Superman did it? I get that Supergirl is more malleable than those characters but she is still a hero.
And I agree JF, Supergirl does kick the snot out of a lot of people. In particular, seeing her in the last battle in the suit - upper cutting, high kicking, and heat visioning everyone in sight - was fantastic.
Plus, I cannot overlook the optimistic ending - calling Earth home, being friendly to Superman, stopping the pub crawls, befriending Ruthye. Going in, I said to myself that I would be thrilled if this was a redemption story and it was.
Movie personally was better than the comic in terms of writing I think Ana Nogueira understand the character more than Tom King ever did in his book but Krem's killing in the end was not good choice especially after that big speech and also unimpressive visuals for most of the movie and few other things makes overall a decent at best film
Hi Anj, it's been a while! I thought of you and wondered what you thought. I really hated this movie. I agree the actress was good and did the best she could with the material.The Argo city scenes and the scenes with Superman were good and to me showed what this movie could have been. She just made so many stupid decisions driven by the plot ( why are you drinking that tea?) The backdrop of trafficking was a throwaway and the women had very little agency. I agree about Lobo. I thought he was going to be the one to kill. I think this was plot driven not character driven. So Kara behaved in ways that felt completely out of character. I was hoping for better than the source. Instead this was a muddled mess ( in my opinion). --Maya
Anj, Anj, Anj. I thought about you all during the lead in (you deserved invites to the premiere/screenings). I had no hope for the movie because of the material that inspired it, AND I hate Lobo (at least he wasn't wearing the original skin-tight orange and purple leotard). Maya (hi!) and trailers convinced me maaaaybe it would overcome that.
Let me start with: I did not *hate* it. I admit I never read WoT (from snippets, previews, and reactions, I wanted no part of it - oh yeah, and prior experience with King's writing).
I didn't like it, but I didn't come away seething. Millie is terrific, I loved Superman's cameos, and good grief, have you ever seen a film Krypton look so much like the spirit of comics Krypton? Loved loved loved the Krypton/Argo City scenes; highlight of the film.
Supergirl, being not an infant when Argo was destroyed, would naturally have trauma that was never explored in the old comics (hello Comics Code).
The film was structured around Lobo killing Krem. What's the point of even having him in it otherwise? Kara kills right after her big speech about how you can't kill: trauma, regret, just as bad as the bad guys, whatever - and then she does it. For an entirely different character, that could work, no argument. What part of this is "being good"? Cavill's Superman at least had a reason: he couldn't stop Zod from killing the innocent, they were too evenly matched. A regrettable scene, but one that was earned. And Clark did indeed grieve over what he had to do. Kara? Not so much.
Not as bad as I expected, but just not good. Though I understand how some people who don't know the character from the comics have embraced the killing.
WOW! Lots of comments, lots of options.
I thought of another option, which is probably what I'll do from now on.
For me, it happened in an alternate universe, kinda like the Injustice
animated movie where "Superman" killed the Joker and his "children".
If this is ever brought up again, maybe in the current comic issues,
I'll just pretend that, for whatever reason, we are observing the alternate
universe.
This is probably a lousy option, I know, but, for me, it's better than
what happened. I've been reading Supergirl since ACT#322 in 1964, and I
can't remember anything similar ever happening.
I re-watched the Superman movie and I forgot that Hawkgirl killed that
old white-haired guy by dropping him from the sky. And, as others have said,
even "our" Superman killed Zod (to protect others like Kara did). And I agree
that Krem deserved to die anyway (he seemed MUCH worse in WOT). But heros
shouldn't do it. As Batman said in Injustice, "it always starts with one".
Let's hope there's no more (if it's NOT an alternate universe ;) )...
Saw it today. Thought it was magnificent. Absolutely loved it. All your points are valid and accurate but none of that takes away from the impact and sheer heart of the movie. The ending is problematic in many ways but they're interesting ways. I was wondering as Kara was standing there over Krem what possible solution she could come up with that would make sense to an audience that wasn't made up entirely of comics fans and before I could come up with anything that might have worked, she solved the problem for me.
I suspect there might be a version of the script where Lobo steps in and does the deed but that would be an infinitely weaker ending. Bad enough he had to save her from Krem a few scenes earlier. I grew up reading Supergirl in the 1960s. There have been many, many versions of her. I like most of them but I might like this one the best. Unfortunately, given the relatively poor performance at the box office, I imagine I'll be dead before we get a third Supergirl movie. I'll just have to enjoy re-watching this one.
Otherwise based on everything I am seeing I think this is another "Helen Slater Exercise" insofar as its "Right Actress, Wrong Script"? Maybe just maybe after this and the MOS debacle, the DCEU will be more hesitant to blithely let their namesake supers take human lives. JF
Well, better late than never. I suppose.
It's been a few days, but I'll probably see Supergirl for at least a 3rd time before theater exhibition pulls it after the customary two-week contract window. Overall, the movie turned out okay; however, it needed to be more of a 'must see' event in this still volitile film exhibition marketplace. Behind-the-scenes rumorbait is now claiming that WBD/DC Studios knew months in advance that Supergirl was undercooked, but they rushed it out anyway.
General thoughts, partially based on the latest 'news: - Tom King didn't write Supergirl killing in WOT (it's a purposely ambuguous ending); that was screenwriter Ana Nogueira's doing, and it always part of the story pitch for the Supergirl movie, and James Gunn had approved it.
-Director Craig Gillespie didn't get final cut on his own movie. The studio overruled him, and put out their own creatively compromised version of the flick instead, which sorta explains the choppy pacing and editing (at least 3 editors?).
-Milly Alcock was fantastic, the best reason of all to see this new Supergirl flick. She's got this.
KET
Thanks for continued to comments and critiques!
Seems like one universal is Alcock being a great Kara, hampered by a tough script (how tough is not universal).
Can't wait to see her and Corenswet together fighting Brainiac.
I saw it again yesteerday, and I was the ONLY ONE in the theatre!
“Yes, the ending of the comic is not clear. It looks like she kills him and the 'battered' piece I think is a 'crap, I am getting bad press that he is killed' excuse.” I’m afraid your KDS is showing here (as it does in almost every post, even when it’s basically a non sequitur). It’s abundantly clear for any thoughtful, attentive reader what happens on that last page. That so many comics readers are neither thoughtful nor attentive is not King’s fault, nor is it justification for calling him a liar as you just suggested.
I had to laugh at KDS.
But many people, not just me, have talked about the ambiguous ending. Even the screenwriter assumed she killed Krem in the book. Perhaps everyone else wondering are suffering as well.
Glad you liked King's take and saw clearly the intent of the last page. Truly. Supergirl needs as many fans as she can get.
And I was being honest. Not snarky. KDS is a funny and perhaps apt term.
If you are the first to use it, you should trademark it. I don't think I am alone.
Anj, your responses are more pleasant and courteous than my comment probably deserved, so thanks for that. Glad you liked KDS. I coined it on the spot while making that post. For those of us who adore King’s work, the unremitting negativity gets very old. As for Ana Nogueira misreading the book’s ending — per interviews, director Craig Gillespie did the same. To me, that is just further proof of what was already all too clear from the film itself: These were absolutely the wrong people to undertake this project.
Honestly, how could anyone fail to catch the intent of a scene presented in silhouette from a distance?
I dunno what King is saying this week but it still looks to me, a thoughtful, attentive reader, that Ruthye has bashed Krem with her stick, blood spurts out, he moves, he stops moving, so he’s dead. If King wanted it to be clear Krem was still alive, how hard is it to show him standing up after being bashed to the ground, or otherwise not incapacitated? It’s generous to call this scene ambiguous, ridiculous to claim it’s clear Krem lives.
It’s even more clear Ruthye has murdered Krem in the DC Go! Version on DC Infinite, which has everything in super close-up.
Always crystal clear to me from my very first reading, Martin. Dunno what to tell you on that one.
You do realize if she kills him, it negates the entire character, emotional, and thematic crux of the book, right? Since King would have no conceivable motivation to cut the legs out from under his own story like that on its closing page, that’s a pretty clear indication to err on the side of life, even if you find Evely’s imagery ambiguous. (I did not.)
I might take your suggestions for clarification a bit further, however. Perhaps Krem should have not only stood back up, but proceeded to dance a cheery little jig, beneath a large flashing neon arrow announcing, “Still Alive!”
But I’m not sure careless readers, including certain screenwriters and directors, would have gotten it even then.
You know, it is possible to have a difference of opinion without insulting folk.
I agree. My comment was in the spirit of your own, which was hardly innocent of snark and sarcasm. Anj showed us both how to be better just above.
Snark? As if. I am the prince of mild irony…
Okay, that made me laugh. Truce?
Yeah, have a lovely day.
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