Director: Craig Gillespie
Starring: Milly Alcock, Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham, David Corenswet, Jason Momoa
Certificate: 12A
Run Time: 108 mins

Supergirl is the second instalment in the DC Universe, a new cinematic universe fronted by James Gunn and Peter Safran that kicked off last year with Superman. While there was plenty to like about Superman, I found it very ramshackle in its construction and the film suffered from a bloated third act end-of-the-world climax. Australian Milly Alcock stars in the title role, who we see struggling to fit in and in an alcohol-induced stupor as the film opens. When her pet dog Krypton, is harmed by the villainous Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts), Supergirl embarks on a quest to pursue him to retrieve an antidote, alongside Ruthye (Eve Ridley), who’s also after Krem for vengeance after he killed all of her family. The film’s directed by Craig Gillespie, best known for I, Tonya and Cruella, both films about misfits which he imbues a sense of style into.

Sadly, there’s not much of Gillespie’s touch to be found in Supergirl, which feels more like a James Gunn-lite film. While mostly competent and coherent, this is a tired-feeling film that’s swimming in CGI and isn’t memorable in the slightest. The MacGuffin plot is uninspired and the relatively brisk 108 minutes felt like a slog as characters goes through the motions – there isn’t a surprise in sight. While there’s a handful of bright moments in the action sequences, they’re overly reliant on CGI and I never felt a sense of jeopardy for any of the characters.

Milly Alcock is merely fine as Supergirl – her performance doesn’t give a lasting impression, but I’m sure the character will fit in well in future films in the series. Matthias Schoenaerts clearly puts in an effort as the villainous Krem, and while he occasionally has menace, his baddie is underdeveloped and lazily written in the third act where he regularly resorts to a depressingly bad laugh that’s not reflective of Schoenaerts’s talent. The rest of the cast barely register, although Jason Momoa’s having fun as Lobo even if I wouldn’t call the performance good, after playing Aquaman in the previous DC Extended Universe.

While the main theme of Claudia Sarne’s score is excellent, it’s depressing that the film regularly resorts to pop numbers in the middle of what are supposed to be serious action sequences, and it really detracts from the experience. You’d be hard-pressed to tell Rob Hardy is the cinematographer behind the lens – there isn’t a single memorable shot.

While it’s not a disaster, Supergirl is a disappointing second film in this burgeoning cinematic universe. It’s got a corporate tone, none of the jokes land and it’s visually ugly. But perhaps Supergirl‘s biggest crime is how totally forgettable it is – I thought comic-book films were beyond this now.