Kara Zor-El is a grungier, drunker Kryptonian in "Supergirl." Handout
Kara Zor-El/Supergirl is celebrating her 23rd birthday by going on a “pub crawl” across the galaxy, visiting different planets with red suns so she can get drunk. At her latest stop, she meets a young alien girl, Ruthye Marye Knoll, who is seeking revenge for her family who was killed by the space brigand Krem of the Yellow Hills. Kara does not want to be involved in Ruthye’s quest but an encounter with Krem leaves her dog, Krypto, in mortal danger. Kara and Ruthye must now journey through the galaxy to find Krem so they can save Krypto and exact revenge.
That’s the nuts and bolts of "Supergirl," the new DC Studios movie by "Cruella" director Craig Gillespie and produced by James Gunn and Peter Safran. Only the second movie in the new DC Universe, "Supergirl" clearly wants to expand the DCU, with a story that takes us to different corners of the galaxy including a planet with both a green and yellow sun and a pitstop that looks ripped from "Guardians of the Galaxy."
Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley) is in a heap of trouble during her mission of revenge. HandoutThere’s an undeniable Mad Max meets Star Wars/Nightbreed vibe to the whole movie, with creature designs that take to heart the otherworldly design work of Bilquis Evely in the "Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow" series, which serves as the blueprint for this entire movie. It seems DC Studio’s design team took the Mos Eisley cantina scene, went insane and crafted an entire movie out of it, with monsters such as a slug that poops out alien popcorn and one monster that had a mouth that looked suspiciously like a crab. George Lucas and Clive Barker would be proud.
Memo to the bad guys, do not mess with Supergirl's dog. Handout
Kara Zor-El, played by Milly Alcock, is the antithesis of her more famous cousin, which she spells out with the line: “He sees the good in everyone, I see the truth.” This is a broken, rebellious Kryptonian, who has not made her mark on Earth after being traumatized by the slow death of her planet. Unlike Kal-El/Clark Kent, Kara survived the destruction of her planet after her father built a forcefield that protected their floating city Argo from the destruction of Krypton. Instead of dying instantly, the citizens of Argo have to endure the slow painful death from exposure to Kryptonite, the sole element fatal to Kryptonians. Kara’s space bender thus makes sense; unlike her cousin, she had to witness the slow death of her parents while she was sent off in space before Kryptonite poisoning could kill her.
Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts) is a very scary villain in Supergirl. Handout
Kara and Ruthye’s journey are fraught with peril as Krem’s cunning proves he can be a match to the Maiden of Might. The movie also wisely starts off with Kara out of her comfort zone: she’s drunk, depowered, her dog is poisoned and her adversary is always two steps ahead of her. She also can be a bit headstrong and blunders into traps because of overconfidence as the most powerful metahuman in the DCU. When we finally do come to the inevitable fisticuffs courtesy of a yellow sun, the effect is immediate: there’s simply nothing that can stop her. Even an assist by Lobo the last Czarnian (a returning Jason Momoa) shows that Supergirl is more than capable of taking on all comers once she’s in full strength.
Jason Momoa returns as Lobo, the last Czarnian. Handout
Gillespie adds yet another [super]girl power movie to his resume after helming "I, Tonya" with Margot Robbie and "Cruella" with Emma Stone. This is even more punk rock than the latter movie, with Krem and the Space Brigands looking right at home in the Mad Max universe.
The Mad Max influence extends to more than just the Brigands’ design, though. During the movie, I kept thinking back to the "Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow" series by Tom King and how the space epic is essentially a character study of Kara Zor-El. In the series, Tom King was focused on the bigness, the enormity of evil in all its shapes and forms throughout the galaxy, and how Supergirl deals with it.
Kara Zor-El comes face to face with Krem of the Yellow Hills. Handout
Gillespie and screenwriter Ana Nogueira, however, chose to focus on a very specific evil -- the tyranny of depraved men and the violence they inflict on women.
I felt uncomfortable at times because Krem and the Brigands are absolutely cruel to women, not just Kara and Ruthye. The threat of violence towards women is always there -- a scene showing the Brigands taking captive brides cribs from "Mad Max: Fury Road" but without Immortan Joe’s shocking visuals. Kara may be traumatized by the death of Krypton but the other aliens in the galaxy are also dealing with their own trauma, brought on by the murderous, rapacious Brigands. Yes, Krem gets his comeuppance but there is always a cost.
A supercharged Kara Zor-El/Supergirl takes to the skies. Handout
A revenge space opera with a galaxy full of weirdos, "Supergirl" is a worthy follow-up to James Gunn’s "Superman" and is absolutely essential not just to DC fans but all comic book fans in general. Your mileage may vary but truthfully, I might like it even more than Gunn’s movie. Go see it at the theater near you.
"Supergirl" opens in Philippine cinemas on June 24.