Supergirl Review

On a distant planet, Ruthye lives with her parents and brother in a remote location. Her father was a weapon maker known throughout the galaxy for his swords. But when Krem and his henchmen arrive to steal his weapons, things quickly turn bad.

Ruthye’s family is killed, but not before Krem’s ship is destroyed. As Krem looks for a way off the planet, Ruthye goes on a quest to kill him. But she’s going to need some help.

Ruthye ventures into town and heads to the local bar to find a warrior to assist her. There, she runs into Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl, and her dog Krypto. But she’s in no state to help anyone.

Depressed and missing her family, she has gone on an intergalactic bender, drinking her way from one planet to another. On this planet without a yellow sun, her powers are suppressed, and she’s able to get drunk. So when Ruthye arrives, Supergirl is at her rock bottom.

Unfortunately, as Krem and his henchmen come into town, they decide to steal Supergirl’s ship to get off the planet. As they steal the ship, Krypto attempts to stop them and, in the process, is shot with a poison dart. With Krypto slowly dying, Supergirl is told that the only way to save her beloved pet is to get the antidote from Krem, who is now long gone.

Supergirl has three days to get the antidote to Krypto before it’s too late. With their goals aligned, Ruthye follows Supergirl across the galaxy to find Krem, save Krypto, and avenge her family. But at what cost is she willing to do so?

I walked into Supergirl expecting the DC version of Guardians of the Galaxy, and that’s pretty much exactly what I got, albeit a lighter version of the Marvel space adventure. It features exotic intergalactic locations, weird aliens, pop music, and an irresponsible hero battling space pirates.

Fortunately, it’s a formula that works. But they have an added element: it’s a space western based on True Grit. You have a young girl eager for revenge and teaming up with a jaded, washed-up hero. It’s almost Star Wars-y in that respect, and the result is an entertaining story.

Milly Alcock stars as Supergirl. We got a glimpse of her in Superman, and this is more of that. Alcock did exactly what was asked of her and delivers a character that you are both intrigued by and pushed away from. She’s a hard character to like, but Alcock does a good job making the character her own.

She’s very different from the Helen Slater or the Melissa Benoist versions. This Kara Zor-El is wrestling with PTSD and shock at seeing her family slowly die after the destruction of Krypton. She was not raised by loving parents on Earth, like Superman, and shielded from the trauma.

Eve Ridley co-stars as Ruthye, the young girl out for revenge. While she doesn’t have the standout performance that Hailee Steinfeld did in True Grit, she holds her own in this universe of big worlds and bizarre aliens. More notable is Jason Momoa as Lobo. The alien bounty hunter is a long-time fan favorite, and it feels like Momoa was genetically engineered to play this character.

In fact, he’s more suited to play Lobo than he was Aquaman. Lobo has just the right amount of action in Supergirl to whet fans’ appetite for a solo film, but it did become apparent that he may be better as part of an ensemble cast than the only character. His interactions with Supergirl and Ruthye are some of the more entertaining moments of the film and give it a much-needed boost in the later acts.

The production design of Supergirl is outstanding and arguably better than that of the recent Star Wars films. The alien designs are unique and memorable rather than looking like rejects from Star Trek.

Finally, the running time of 1 hour and 47 minutes is spot-on perfect. It was briskly paced and did not overstay its welcome. Do note that Superman is likely required viewing before seeing this.

While Milly Alcock did a good job as Supergirl, the character is largely unlikable for much of the film. She’s usually surly, frequently hungover, and a generally unpleasant character to be around. She also vomits or is nauseous more than any superhero I’ve ever seen.

Very little is done to give her any redeeming personality traits other than her liking of dogs. This makes her a character you don’t want to spend much time around, let alone pay to see. She is fortunately paired with other characters, which helps make her more tolerable before her inevitable redemption.

There’s odd casting with David Krumholtz as Zor-El. Not only does he look nothing like Milly Alcock, but they also give him blue contact lenses, which are especially apparent in close-ups on an IMAX screen. It rips you out of the emotional moments between him and Kara.

But Krumholtz’s eye color isn’t the only thing that requires a stretch of the imagination. The more we see of the early days of Krypton in flashbacks, the less sense it makes. For example, space travel is widely seen in Supergirl, and everyone has a spaceship. Even the public buses are spaceships. Yet nobody had one on Krypton to escape the planet’s destruction?

And then Superman oddly established that Jor-El was a villain who sent his son to conquer Earth, yet his brother is some sort of benevolent Kryptonian who sent his daughter to Earth as a savior. It starts feeling like they’re hammering the puzzle pieces together and saying to the audience, “See! They fit!” You have to avoid thinking about it too much.

Another unusual note about Supergirl is that there’s an underlying subplot about sex trafficking among the space pirates. It’s an oddly heavy topic in an otherwise light space adventure.

Other gripes include the lack of a recognizable Supergirl musical theme. It’s all just orchestral noise that could be in any action movie. And don’t worry about sticking around for bonus scenes. There are none.

If you liked Superman, then you’ll probably enjoy Supergirl. It’s a light space romp that steals liberally from Guardians of the Galaxy.

SUPERGIRL REVIEW RATING: 7 OUT OF 10

Warner Bros. Pictures will release Supergirl in theaters on Friday, June 26, 2026. The film has been rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for sequences of strong violence, action, language, and smoking.