Shadows on the Wall

Supergirl

dir Craig Gillespie
scr Ana Nogueira
prd James Gunn, Peter Safran
with Milly Alcock, Eve Ridley, Matthias Schoenaerts, Jason Momoa, David Corenswet, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham, Diarmaid Murtagh, Ferdinand Kingsley, Emily Piggford, Thalissa Teixeira, Kadiff Kirwan
release US/UK 26.Jun.26
26/UK DC 1h47

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Adopting the vibe of DC show-runner James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy romps, this action comedy plays to a lively pop beat as messy heroes take on ruthless thugs. And director Craig Gillespie and writer Ana Nogueira are telling a story with echoes of John Wick, as an imperilled dog causes the deaths of countless henchmen. It's never very original, but it does breath sparky life into the franchise.

On a distant planet, Kara (Alcock) celebrates her 23rd birthday by drinking herself to oblivion. Then she meets Ruthye (Ridley), a determined teen seeking revenge against Krem (Schoenaerts), who mercilessly killed her family. When Krem attacks Kara's dog Krypto, she wants him too. The fact that he is kidnapping girls to further his all-male brigand band is almost incidental. As they chase Krem around the galaxy, they run into mercenary biker dude Lobo (Momoa), who barely helps them but is hugely entertained by these feisty women. And they continually find themselves in enormously challenging situations.

Each planet presents its own challenges for Kara and Ruthye, as Kara requires a yellow sun for strength (a green sun is trouble) and Ruthye is a prime catch for Krem's minions. Along the way, Kara begins to rethink her life, harking back to childhood with her parents (Krumholtz and Beecham) and fleeing to Earth, greeted by cousin Superman (Corenswet). These scenes provide a journey into her identity that is never remotely in doubt.

Alcock has fun as the hilariously reckless Kara, selfish and dismissive, but of course she good deep down. The best thing here is her reluctant connection with Ruthye, and Ridley has terrific presence as a steely girl who knows her mission but hasn't a clue what it will cost her. Everyone else in the movie is in their own orbit. Schoenaerts' Krem is a fearsome brute, a role written with very little nuance. Momoa's Lobo is slightly more engaging, largely due the actor's charisma.

While this is an entertaining summer popcorn movie, it is so action-based, and centred around proper brutality, that we can see how scenes have been chopped in the editing room to avoid scaring the kids. So why wasn't it written for kids in the first place? Because the constant hedging away leaves it feeling incomplete for grown-ups. So we just sit back and enjoy animated superdog Krypto, who is almost as disruptive as Kara. And we wonder why both are oddly incapacitated for a long chunks of running-time.

themes, language, violence 25.Jun.26

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