Milly Alcock makes Supergirl work, but low-stakes revenge and muddy VFX undercut the fun

Supergirl is not directed by DC Studios co-chairman and co-CEO James Gunn, but it still pulls hard from the Guardians of the Galaxy formula. The result is a bubbly, watchable hero flick that looks like it belongs in a lo-fi sci-fi universe, and Milly Alcock is the reason it mostly sings. She plays Kara Zor-El, a Krypton-survivor who has been drifting through life until a mission forces her to care. The review’s core claim is simple: Alcock is exceptional, and she does the heavy lifting.

Kara’s look is instantly recognizable, too. She dresses like Peter Quill, complete with the trenchcoat and headphones combo, and she nails Kara’s CBA attitude and vulnerabilities as she approaches her 23rd birthday with few plans beyond an intergalactic pub crawl. That characterization matters because it sets expectations for a hero who is compelling before the action begins, and Alcock convinces when it’s time to shift into “badass mode.” The film also benefits from on-point casting beyond Alcock, including a cameo by David Corenswet (from Superman). In franchise terms, this is the equivalent of a strong product lead plus competent integration points, and it shows in the pacing of the performance.

Director Craig Gillespie, known for I, Tonya and Cruella, seems comfortable with the title character’s punky energy and brings irreverent tone to the whole movie. There is a fair bit of humor, including an amusing riff on why Kara is Super-girl while her cousin is Super-man, and the world feels grungily tangible, like it has texture beyond the typical glossy blockbuster set dressing. The film’s emotional beats, including flashbacks to Krypton’s fate and Kara’s redemptive arc, are competently handled, even if the review stops short of calling them deeply moving. In other words: the emotional structure works, but it does not fully break your heart.

What the review frames as most refreshing is that Supergirl has relatively low stakes for a superhero film. That is not necessarily a weakness, and the film’s adaptation explains the choice. Supergirl is adapted from comic miniseries Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow by screenwriter Ana Nogueira, and the story is built as a straightforward revenge plot. Kara links up with orphaned girl Ruthye (Eve Ridley) to seek vengeance and chase the antidote needed to save her beloved pooch, Krypto, who returns from Superman. This is a more personal, character-tethered mission than the biggest “save-the-world” gambits, which typically require massive set pieces to feel credible.

The villain, Krem Of The Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts), has visual intimidation power, with a ball bearing-studded face, but the review says he isn’t given much chance to register beyond that. Krem leads the Brigands, human traffickers who kidnap girls to propagate their all-male species, which sounds like a concept with teeth. Yet the film reportedly never lets the conflict fully come to life, leaving a gap between the stated premise and the on-screen execution. That matters because it is where superhero movies usually earn their runtime gravity. Here, the “why should we care right now?” urgency is present, but it does not consistently escalate into the kind of stakes that compel bigger action bets.

Jason Momoa shows up as Lobo, an immortal-with-a-god-complex antihero biker, recast for this universe. The review is pretty blunt about relative importance: Lobo seems less important to this narrative than he is to an investment in the wider DCU. Still, he is described as a blast whenever he shows up, which is franchise-speak for “the audience payoff is real, even if the plot function is secondary.” It also flags a common industry tradeoff in shared universes: cameo-driven continuity can help retention, but it can siphon energy from the film’s core engine if the story does not integrate the character with equal force.

Where the review turns more critical is action and visual credibility. Supergirl could deliver more in action stakes, and the muddy VFX do not do justice to Kara’s scraps, which often blur into “pixel stew.” The review also raises the “super-problem” of overly powerful cousins, suggesting that Lobo similarly reads as indestructible, which can dilute tension because the threat feels less uncertain. The soundtrack choices include Wet Leg, Halsey, and a bossa nova cantina band, and the reviewer notes it misses the trailer’s cracking “Call Me” needle drop, even though Kara wears a Blondie t-shirt. That is a small detail, but it signals an overall issue the reviewer attributes to oomph: enough pieces work to keep you watching, but not enough click into a fully satisfying blockbuster rhythm.

Finally, the review lands on a clear verdict. It may be an impressively imperfect hero flick, but Alcock makes light work of that imbalance, and her performance is worth a watch on its own. For decision-makers tracking superhero economics, this reads like a reminder that casting and tone can carry a lot of commercial risk. But it also underscores how quickly audiences notice when action clarity, villain presence, and visual fidelity fail to deliver on the promise of a character-driven world. Supergirl opens in UK cinemas on June 25, and it arrives in a moment where shared-universe planning and audience expectations are higher than ever. The strategic stakes for peers are straightforward: you can borrow a formula for vibe and momentum, but if you underdeliver on stakes, action, or visual precision, the performance has to do nearly all the work.