"Supergirl" Movie Review

    Following up a successful franchise is never an easy task.  Sequels are hit or miss in terms of successfulness and spin-offs tend to fail more often than sequels.  Still, the notion of a “Supergirl” film had (and still has) promise.  Supergirl has always been one of the most interesting characters in the Superman mythology and has had numerous successful solo comic book runs.  Plus, The CW has a hit in their own “Supergirl” show currently so clearly a movie could easily be a run away classic.

    Unfortunately, “Supergirl” doesn’t fly to the heights of it’s potential.  The film follows the events of the Christopher Reeve Superman films and features Marc McClure reprising his role of Jimmy Olsen.  McClure is the only returning cast member which is a shame since a cameo from Christopher Reeve could have went a long way.  Reeve was actually going to film a cameo at one point but bowed out before production began.  A scene was written which would have featured Supergirl having to rescue an ill Superman from the clutches of the film’s villain.

    The film remains a landmark because it was the first mainstream superhero movie to feature a female lead.  Before “Wonder Woman”, “Captain Marvel”, or even “Catwoman”, “Supergirl” was the first out of the gates. It’s just a shame that it wasn’t a better film.

    The movie follows Kara as she journeys to Earth in order to recover the power source for the Kryptonian community of Argo City.  Upon arriving to Earth, she adopts the mantle of Supergirl and follows in her cousin’s footsteps in fighting crime while on the planet.  The power source is found by a witch named Selena who uses it to perform “real” magic.  In order to recover the power source and protect the Earth, Supergirl must stop Selena.

    Helen Slater is a delightful Supergirl.  It’s a shame that she wasn’t in more films after starring in this because she had a real presence.  The rest of the cast doesn’t deserve the same acclaim however.  Faye Dunaway plays Selena and she is easily the worst part of the film.  Dunaway is typically a very good actress but she just seemed out of her element in this project.

    The film is rather dull and feels like a less enjoyable version of the previous Superman films.  As a huge Superman fan, I had high hopes for this film upon rewatching it and I remember really enjoying this as a kid so I was disappointed to revisit it only to be mildly enjoyed.  That being said, there are worse ways to spend a few hours.

Grade: D