This isn't a great movie. It's an okay movie. But that's OK in and of itself because it's an origin story and those tend to be .. not so great. There's an occasional outlier but the weakest movies in franchises tend to be the origin stories.
I like Supergirl being messy. She should be messy. She's had horrible things happen to her and she has to learn how to cope with being the only person they saved. Superman doesn't count in this moment. She had to watch the people she loved die before being hurled into space to where her cousin, who she's never met, was sent. She wanted to die with her family. She was forced to live.
She's also young. She's in her early 20s in this movie. She's spent maybe half her life to this point on another planet. She has to learn the language, the customs, and learn how to deal with powers that only one other person on the planet has. That's a lot and anyone who doesn't think running away from it all is a coping mechanism is lying.
Having said all that they show her living her life. She's not growing up in Superman's shadow. He got the prize. He was sent off before he knew anything, landed with loving parents, and knows everything about his home. Of course she's going to be resentful of him and of course she's going to flame out.
The inclusion of Clark here is good. It's not too much. It's him trying to be a good cousin and being the dweeb he is. And she gets to say what everyone has been saying for too long - asking why Superman runs around in his underwear.
Having the movie set in space isn't a bad thing. It gets a little Star Wars with the sheer number of alien races but I'm not going to ding them for that because it generally swings the other way with too many human-types. We don't know when she decided to head out on her own. We find her there. She's comfortable in space.
The plot of the girl looking to avenge her family may be the plot of a comic book (I dunno) but it's kind of insulting here. Of course the family is Oriental. (If that's no longer a polite term I apologize.) Of course the family makes swords. Of course the bad guys kill the family for no reason because they'd cooperated fully. And we find out later of course the girl can do sick fight moves. Honestly I'd rather they chose any other ethnicity than they did for that part because it doesn't age well.
I adore Lobo. You can tell Jason was having a field day in that role. I love his fangs. I love his glowing red eyes. I love his absolute sheer confidence and joy in life. I'm going to find out the best comic books to read to get to know more about the character. He's honestly the spot of sunshine in this movie. He's not actually integral to the story, they could have done it without him, but I'm glad they didn't.
Here's something. Supergirl kills. Oddly enough she only does that once she's on her way to dealing with her trauma. My guess is that it was something Clark stressed with her when he was teaching her how to live on Earth. When she left she kept that part. When she got past it she chose her own way. It's refreshing to see a superhero that kills on the big screen and who doesn't angst about it. She just does what needs to be done.
OK. Here's something that peeved the ever-loving heck out of me. They're dealing with the BBEG. The girl wants to kill him to avenge her family. Supergirl wants the antidote he carries to save her dog, which he poisoned. Um. She probably could have gotten that antidote from others in his group but we'll skip that, shall we?
Oh. The "ever-loving heck" part. When she's fighting the BBEG there's lots of weapons and punchy-punchy. She's Supergirl. Put the guy in a headlock, head straight up, leave him as orbital debris. Problem solved. I hope I'm not the only person who thought of that solution. It would have been refreshingly different.
There's also something about her being on a planet that has a binary yellow and green sun. A brief internet dip has that as a comic book relevant thing. So she's stuck there and the green sun is killing her. The dark veins under the skin to show it's killing her thing. Of course the yellow sun dawns to save her. It's a metaphorical saving as well.
During the last big battle she finally talks the girl out of killing (she'd been doing that the whole time), then she kills the guy instead after sending the girl away. Like I said, refreshing. Before that she was doing a bunch of killing saving the girl but I guess that's irrelevant. They had her hanging out with the girl after but luckily she's left with what's left of her family.
After she exorcises her demons, mostly, she heads back to Earth to be with Clark.
The thing is I wasn't invested in this movie in the slightest. It's a tough thing to get emotional investment when it's clear that there's no danger to any of the characters. It's even tougher when the story is a redemption arc so you know things will turn out well in the end. I think the movie was necessary to bring her into the DC universe, whatever it's called.
Hopefully they won't chop the idea of having her around for future movies. She may not be able to carry another solo movie but then again she doesn't have to do that. She's fine as an ensemble character. The superheroes work best as ensemble casts, which is why origin stories are so difficult. She contrasts nicely with Superman's wholesome thing because no matter how healed she is this girl is messy.
Anyway. I don't plan on ever watching it again. I did. I'll know why things happen in future movies. I'm good.
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