So I finally dragged myself out to watch
Supergirl, and you know what? I agree with
@Runwildboys that everyone’s losing their minds over nothing. It’s a solid 7/10. I still like
Black Widow and the first
Wonder Woman better, but it’s right there on par with the first
Captain Marvel.
The trailers made it look like a
Guardians of the Galaxy knockoff, but it actually feels like one of those newer Disney+ Star Wars shows—
Andor,
Obi-Wan, you name it. Unfortunately, that also means it drags its feet just as much as TV, which probably explains why the internet mob tore it to shreds.
The lead actress kills it—cute, tough, does the whole nine yards. But man, whoever was in charge of Lobo's costume needs to step down to public television. Like
@Runwildboys commented, that cigar looks like a glowing orange Cheeto every time he takes a drag, and the guy's already built like a brick outhouse, so why are they forcing him into goofy fake chest-plate muscle pads? $200 million CGI budget and couldn't get freaking Lobo right with probably the most naturally "meant to be actor" in the role.
The Superman cameos and that little origin detour were neat, but I'm still not sold on their Superman. It feels like Clark Kent is 95% of the personality and the cape is just an afterthought—did they miss that whole monologue from
Kill Bill? It’s almost like this movie was meant to be watched
with Superman on speed dial, but audiences didn't get the memo. Which no one should be surprised. Anytime you try a "girl power" theme, which in this case is some type of female rebel without a cause, you have to understand that your core fanbase are still males. Might work, might not. But I think it's that the Superman film was overrated and just didn't get anyone excited enough to watch the quasi-sequel. Bad timing.
Still, I'm actually digging where this new Gunn Universe is going. I sort of like how they throw everyday DC characters at the wall and see what sticks. They do need to figure out what to do with
The Batman universe, though. Either fold it in and keep him out of the goofy spandex crossovers—Paul Dini, Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker, et al wrote great solo detective crime stories for years without needing the Justice League—or drop the new version of Batman into other projects like Marvel did with Spider-Man before his solo flick. As popular as the character is, it still might work having 2 different versions, but trying to juggle two separate cinematic Batmen at the same time is a great way to give ticket buyers a migraine.
