Supergirl

I admit I was a little worried about going to see this because I have a long history of disliking DC movies. They tend to be dull and fraught and moody which has always set my teeth on edge. Heroes should be heroic because they want to do good, not because they have so much trauma in their life they can’t do anything else. But CFR and I had gone to seen Superman last year and I was astounded how much I liked that so of course we went when this one opened.

Where Supergirl appears for only a moment in Superman, this film is her origin story. As befits a DC film, we first see Supergirl being just Kara, a nasty drunk on a red sun planet living with her unruly dog and a bad attitude. I got the impression her breath was atrocious, too. Sometimes she would take off in her spaceship/home and play out of orbit with her dog. One day at the neighborhood dive, a wisp of a girl arrives at the entrance waving a huge, fancy sword and promises anyone who can kill a certain bad guy can have the sword. I think it takes five seconds for someone to take it away from her. Chaos ensues, and at one point there is an extended flashback that totally tells Kara’s backstory. I really appreciated that, because DC was never my jam.

Much like last year’s Superman, this hero isn’t always able to hero because she is repeatedly waylaid somehow or another. This creates a need for her to be rescued, or at least have the bad guys fended off while she recovers. You might think this would be mostly done by her superdog, but he is not with her for most of the movie. Okay then, you might further think, her wisp of a sidekick with the huge family sword must do a lot to help. This leads to my second biggest problem with the movie.

The girl, a scion of a generational sword making family, can pull the sword out of its scabbard, wave it around without cutting off her own head, and carry it in a back sheath without hanging up on low hanging limbs. I kept waiting for her to suddenly start using the sword like someone from a sword centric family. You know, help out a little. As a sidekick I found her very frustrating. The next biggest issue I had was with the main bad guy. He swaggers, he rolls his eyes in his swivel-y face while he brags and threatens to do really bad things. Okay, he really does bad things, but he reminded me way too much of Saturday morning cartoon bad guys. I think he may be the cousin of Dennis Hopper’s character the Deacon in the movie Waterworld.

Again, the backstory for Kara is very well done and made me a lot more sympathetic to this sodden drunkard. The filmmakers made sure to juxtapose her to goody two shoes cousin Superman to further point up how different they are, and why. This was one of the highlights of the film for me. Great character building in the middle of a solid character arc. I love me some good movie writing.

There must be a shoutout to another recurring character in the film, played by Jason Momoa. I like to brag I’m sorta related to someone who went to high school with him, but mostly I will say I’ve loved watching him since he burst onto the scene in Stargate: Atlantis. You probably know him better as Aquaman, that he looks absolutely nothing like in this movie. He even has vampire teeth. I couldn’t decide if those, or his awesome instalight cigar was cooler.

Something I don’t often talk about is how well done the 3D and CGI in general is done with this movie. Everyone is used to people making 3D movie just thrusting stuff directly at the audience. Usually that works pretty well, and it’s used a time or two here. Even more impressively, the 3D is very well used in the fight scenes, which tended to be of the roundy round style. It gave those scenes a nice depth that made the circle of bad guys seem just a touch more dangerous, and gave me a chance to watch without getting vertigo. There is also a poignant moment that is made loads heavier because of the 3D. Beautiful work, that had to have been written that way. I love me some good movie writing. I also noticed the cgi people deal exceptionally well with weight. Don’t you just hate seeing an obviously heavy object (usually someone jumping or falling to the ground) landing light as a feather and maybe bouncing just a touch? Well, I hate it, and I didn’t see any weight seem off at all throughout the film. That only took 40 years.

Milly Alcock (Uptight, House of theDragon) is Supergirl, and she has preternaturally crooked teeth. Once I noticed that I couldn’t stop looking away from her mouth, and also wondering how much her dentist hates her. She’s great in this role, which has to go from boiling hot to freezing cold. This super is not a 1950s baseball playing, mumblety-peg playing annoyingly moral person like her cousin.  She has seen the world. Many worlds. She knows what real people, especially the low lifes, are like and even speaks their languages. This Supergirl is a wonderfully well rounded person who goes through some stuff before settling into her calling.

So yeah, I have watched and enjoyed a second DC movie in a row, in my least favorite DC universe. The actors are good, the writing is excellent, and the special effects make things look like they should. I recommend seeing this. It may work better seeing Superman first, but I don’t think you’ll have a problem is you don’t.

Triggers: mean deaths, many fight scenes and some of them don’t end nicely, heavy drinking, and a pet is in danger.

Available: in theaters only as of this writing.

LINKS:

• Supergirl – Official Website
• Supergirl – IMDB
• Supergirl – Wikipedia
• Supergirl – Instagram
• Milly Alcock and Squirrel Landing Vid

CFR: In Addition: In Two Parts

Part One:

I love you Cranky. I love you so much right now. I had so much I wanted to say about this movie, so much love to pour upon it and you did some of that for me. THANK YOU!!

I smiled so hard during this movie. I felt so uplifted. Now I will let you know that I was very worried about this movie BECAUSE I started reading the source material, comic series called Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. [SPOILERY] I gleefully purchased and began to read and then, WTF, the dog dies in the first few pages. No no no no no. I stopped reading. I was very upset. I did not know if I could see a movie where the dog dies. I was expecting Supergirl to go John Wick but she didn’t.) [END SPOILERY] However I saw in the trailer that Krypto is poisoned and needs rescuing and I thought oh yeah I’m going baby!

I was happy the whole time. I loved watching Kara Zor-El (Supergirl’s actual name) go from absolutly understandable despair to well, becoming Supergirl. Identifying and saving someone else, enjoying the power given to her under a yellow sun, loving on Krypto. Ok, I felt the character accepted herself and her life. It was wonderful. It felt real.

Yes, the girl catalyst, Ruthye (Eve Ridley) did not display the sword swinging ability one would think would be displayed by a sword master family, and it would ahve been nice to see make a few slashes before being robbed. Then again, her vulnerability made the movie work. If she were tough, well, Kara/Supergirl wouldn’t have needed to help her. I did like her vulnerability and I thought she was adorable and a great contrast to to Kara’s unflappable I don’t care attitude. Yes it was odd she couldn’t swing that sword but good that she was so vulnerable and naive. Plus when she hangs out with Supergirl at the end it is wonderful.

Thank you Cranky for honoring the acting chops of Milly Alcock. Girl has some CHOPS! You can’t carry a movie without skill and charisma and Alcock has both. Lots of skill. She managed all of Kara’s moods, cockiness, despair, and cunning assuredly. She easily moved through all of Kara’s mood and tribulations. She’s good people. She was perfect. I can’t wait to see more of her!!!!!

My heart is so happy with this movie, I am tongue-tied. I am going to see it again. And again after that. It made my heart happy. I neeeded Supergirl and she came through.

Oh and Cranky, just one note: Krypto may be a “bad dog” but he is PERFECT!!! I love him!

Part Two:

To all of the idiot, misogynistic, so called “fanboyz” who want to sh*t all over a movie about superheroes who are women,

STFU!

SHUT UP!

Congratulations you don’t like women. Wow, profound, NOT. You are pathetic! You and your bots spent months pissing all over the Supergirl movie before you even saw it. Now you get on your mics and clutch your pearls and go oh my me the DCEU is over. Get therapy.

I mean wow, you make videos insulting Milly Alcock’s looks. Have you looked at yourself in the mirror? No wonder you aren’t an actor.

STFU STFU STFU

And to the haters screaming “that’s not Supergirl” I shall say,

HAVE YOU NEVER READ A COMIC BOOK?! See I have. I’ve read a comic series spanning over a decade and I know that characters change. That’s because the writing changes. The timeline/universe/reality changes. IT HAS TOO BECAUSE IT IS A STORY THAT MUST CHANGE TO BE RELEVANT TO THE READERS BECAUSE THEY SPAN GENERATIONS! That’s why there are different titles for the same character(s). Changes. If you like one writer/setting, cool. If you don’t, hey I get it. I lvoe the Claremont X-Men comics (know who that is?) and I’m not familiar with the news and may not like them as much. That’s ok. Life happens.

So if you are angry and pissed off that Alcock is your Supergirl, chill the eff out! Go read and enjoy what you do like. There is plenty for all.

Also hey, challenge yourself! Can you just simply let others be and let yourself be without spreading your nastiness and negativity? Give it a try. I know life is hard. Just ask Kara. Maybe one day you can find a way to live, like her.

Long Live Supergirl!