Hot off the heels of James Gunn’s SUPERMAN restarting the DC Cinematic Universe, SUPERGIRL follows The Man of Steel’s cousin from Krypton, played by Milly Alcock in the title role, as she struggles with the loss of her Kryptonian parents and not having direction in life. Unlike Gunn’s film last year, which was a more hopeful and encouraging look at the superhero mythos, this new movie is much darker in tone and more serious, which could be divisive for some audiences, but it remains an entertaining look at the character, and one that draws strong inspiration from the comics that influenced it.

Kara Zor-El (Alcock) is spending her days on various planets without a yellow sun, which de-powers her enough to get drunk and drown the sorrows of losing her home planet Krypton and birth parents, all while accompanied by her rambunctious dog Krypto. She meets a young girl named Ruthye (Eve Ridley), who lost her family at the hands of a ruthless alien gang led by Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts), and now needs help to get revenge. Kara isn’t interested in helping, but when Krem shoots Krypto with a poison arrow and steals her ship, she reluctantly agrees to join Ruthye as now she needs Krem’s antidote to save her dog, and of course wants her ship back. She also tries to make her new young friend understand that killing the man who ruined her life isn’t the answer, and could haunt her forever. Along the way, the girls are joined sporadically by a tough bounty hunter named Lobo (Jason Momoa), and we see a few flashbacks that show how Krypton fell, and how Kara eventually meets her cousin Kal-El on Earth.

Based on the Tom King and Bilquis Evely comic series SUPERGIRL: WOMAN OF TOMORROW from DC Comics, this take on Superman’s cousin carries a backdrop of dealing with loss (for both Kara and Ruthye), and finding one’s place in the universe as you try to move forward. It is more emotional and serious in tone, which might be somewhat off-putting for people expecting something similar to James Gunn’s SUPERMAN, or even something close to his GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY films, the latter of which share at least a handful of visual styles with this new movie. But this is also not directed by Gunn, rather the talented Craig Gillespie, who keeps the action coming at a brisk pace, and isn’t afraid to show a darker side of the superhero mythos. For most of the movie, Kara isn’t really “Supergirl”, but rather a lost soul who finds herself on an unexpected journey to save her dog and help a girl in need, and only becomes the title character in the film’s big finale. It’s an origin story of sorts, only one that involves the lead character already knowing her abilities and limits, and not being sure if she’s in the right headspace to use them. It’s also a fairly simple story, a combination of a buddy adventure and revenge story. The cosmic setting provides some interesting supporting roles and alien faces, as we follow our unlikely heroes to various planets searching for the man who hurt them.

Milly Alcock is really strong in the lead, finding the right balance of put-upon hero, and tortured lost soul. She looks appropriately raw and real in the role, not just a pretty face cast for her looks, which is not to say she isn’t stunning in the film… certain scenes show her power and beauty in a big way. She’s an inspired choice, and it works really well for the character. Eve Ridley is good as Ruthye, but at times feels a bit underwritten, and I feel like there was more that could have been explored with her here. Jason Momoa is really fun as Lobo, capturing the wild and crazy aspects of the popular comic book counterpart, and used sparingly enough to not overstay his welcome. I like him as Lobo here and it feels way more appropriate than him playing Aquaman, but I also think he works well as a supporting character, meaning I’m not sure if we need a solo Lobo movie after this. One of the biggest criticisms this movie is getting is folks saying the villain is weak – I didn’t necessarily feel that, as Matthias Schoenaerts as Krem is appropriately threatening, formidable and nasty as the baddie here, even if he doesn’t spout much dialogue. The idea of his gang kidnapping young girls to procreate their species with is pretty repulsive, though also quite similar to the villain plot of MAD MAX: FURY ROAD. He’s a somewhat disposable bad guy, but for a film like this that’s not really a crucial thing. I also really enjoyed seeing David Corenswet again as Superman, who was in the movie a bit more than I expected, although peppered throughout mostly in flashbacks. I like how his relationship with Kara is being developed, and it should be interesting to see where it goes from here.

My only real complaints about the film are it’s sometimes heavy tone, as I felt it could have used more humor and levity, but I also realize this is meant to be a movie about Kara finding her way out of a depressing funk, so the tonal direction does make sense. There is a particularly dark moment toward the end that really separates this character from her more popular cousin, but it’s also a moment that makes her future more intriguing as a result. My other major complaint was the music score by Claudia Sarne, which just wasn’t very memorable and lacked any solid themes, and it’s a shame as I feel like a better score would have helped the film a bit. It also suffers from odd song choices, and doesn’t have the instant classic soundtrack we’ve come to expect from James Gunn movies, one of the big strengths of those GUARDIANS films… for example, they used Blondie and Joan Jett songs in the trailers, but not in the film! I wonder if Gunn didn’t advise on the song choices here, and if not that’s unfortunate. Overall, SUPERGIRL is a fun popcorn flick that checks all the necessary boxes for a superhero movie, but still falls a bit short of what last year’s SUPERMAN did so well. It’s a decent start for the character, and as a fan of the comics, I can tell you I appreciated the efforts made to keep things faithful to what inspired it. I’ll also not the IMAX screening audience I saw it with really seemed to enjoy it. I wasn’t blown away by the film, but I was definitely entertained, and I look forward to seeing where things go with her from here.

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