FILM REVIEW - Supergirl (2026)
By The Masked Medic
It has been a crazy couple of weeks, and I know I’ve abandoned this blog for a while. But no more, I feel ready again to begin anew and bring you guys my (mostly) unfiltered thoughts. Last year, when I watched Superman (2025), I was quietly intrigued by how this new DCU was going to shape up. A year later, we’re ready for the second film in this new cinematic universe!
‘Supergirl’ starts with our titular character, Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl, in a very interesting place in her life. Having just turned 23, she’s out in some solar system where there is a red sun. Given that Kryptonian heroes like Supergirl and Superman need a yellow sun for their powers, visiting places with a red sun nullifies these abilities, and in this case, allows her to get drunk. One day, whilst in a bar on some unknown planet, she witnesses a young girl called Ruthye come in asking for help to take revenge on a brigand named “Krem of the Yellow Hills’ who has murdered her family. Kara wants nothing to do with this, as she doesn’t have the disposition of her cousin Kal-El, aka Superman. However, events led to Krem stealing Kara’s ship and poisoning her dog, Krypto. Realising that Krem has the antidote, she sets off to find him, with Ruthye in tow, despite Kara’s reservations. As they head through the cosmos, Kara recounts her childhood in Argo City, a city on Krypton that her father Zor-El had separated from the planet to go on living after Krypton’s destruction, but which met a fate just as depressing. Their adventure finally leads them to where Krem and his band of brigands have been hiding. Can Kara step up and be the hero her cousin thinks she can be? And can she stop Ruthye from becoming a murderer in her plan for revenge?
We should talk about the cast. I’ll start with Eve Ridley, who played Ruthye. There is sometimes this tendency when writing young roles that child characters end up being extremely annoying or too irrelevant, and I think Eve did a really fantastic job playing the middle line and remaining relevant and also integral to the film. David Krumholtz and Emily Beecham play Kara’s parents, Zor-El and Alura In-Ze. Fun fact, Krumholtz played Bernard the head elf in my favourite Christmas film, “The Santa Clause”. Their roles were small but poignant. David Corenswet appears as Superman, and his scenes were great. I think David is the perfect optimistic Superman, and I’m so excited to see him progress in this shared universe. Speaking of shared universes, Jason Momoa was cast as Lobo. He said it was the role he was born to play. I’m not sure I’m completely convinced yet, but he was a lot of fun. Okay, let’s talk villain. Matthias Schoenaerts plays the creepy Krem of the Yellow Hills. I know they changed his look from the original comic book version, but I just felt like he wasn’t memorable enough. The standout role was, of course, Milly Alcock as Supergirl. I’d seen Milly in the first season of “House of the Dragon” and was very impressed. She certainly brought a new version of Supergirl to the screen, and I think the character development was a highlight of the film!
So what did I think? Well, for the second film in the DCU, I don’t think it was bad. I went to watch it with my sister, and we kind of went in with no expectations. Similar to how I felt when I watched “Superman”. I’d say that in terms of scale, it was never going to be on that level, but for what it was worth, it was an entertaining watch. I think in terms of criticism, the one thing that I would say is that there were moments where the plot felt a bit thin. Kara going from planet to planet and doing the same thing started to feel repetitive after a while, even if each planet was different. Weirdly, despite not being directed by him, it felt a lot like a James Gunn “Guardians Of The Galaxy” film. One of the saving graces of “Supergirl” was the message. Seeing Kara go through that character development, and her mother’s words, “Just be good”, really resonated with me, especially with everything that has been happening in my life!
In terms of cinematography, it was good. I’d say fairly standard when it comes to superhero films. Without sounding repetitive, I have to compare it to “Superman”, which I think had better cinematography. The music was definitely very important to the film, not only because the songs were very much representative of the almost ‘coming of age’ theme of the film, but because they really added to the mood. Overall, a decent second film in a budding universe. Dare I say I’m excited for the next DCU project?
Rating:
Story: ★★★
Acting: ★★★½
Cinematography: ★★★½
Music: ★★★½
Enjoyability: ★★★½