The pilot to the new DC Supergirl TV show was leaked to the web–some are saying on purpose from the producers–which gives me an early opportunity to review it.
Thirteen-year-old Kara Zor-El (Melissa Benoist) is sent from dying Krypton to be the protector of her baby cousin, but her spaceship takes a side trip through the phantom zone and arrives on Earth years too late. The adult (and strangely distant–couldn’t he have called from time to time?) Superman places her in the care of the Danvers (geektastically cast Helen Slater and Dean Cain). Choosing to be normal, for no good reason, she ends up in sitcom land as the assistant to media mogul Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart, now with scary lips) till an airplane in trouble causes her to be true to herself, take to the air, and become a hero.
This is old fashioned superhero fluff. The script could have been written thirty years ago. Drop the surprisingly good FX, switch Jimmy Olsen back to being white, and lop off the nods to feminism, and the whole thing could have been made in the ’50s. That isn’t bad. If the newest thing in superheros is whining and drudgery (the drab, self-indulgent, overly-serious Man of Steel comes to mind), then to quote from a better film, “people might just need a little old-fashioned.”
Like The Flash (that apparently will not be in the same universe), Supergirl is fun and stupid. People make major life choices just because, then, in the case of the title character, unmake them, make them again, unmake them, and make them one more time. A secret organization exists and there is not a single thing about it that makes sense. Don’t even think about the bullet proof clothing. So yes, stupid, but no more so than other DC projects, and it at least has a good time with its low IQ.
Melissa Benoist is heroic and loveable and pretty much everything you want in a Supergirl. The show rests on her shoulders and she carries it with ease. You can forgive a lot each time she looks so joyful at being able to be a hero and fly. The rest of the cast is better than most TV shows offer. Mehcad Brooks is the standout as James Olsen; it helps a lot that someone was clever enough to update the part from fumbling fool to calm sensei. Slater and Cain had only non-speaking cameos. I hope they are given something to do in the series. If not, it was a pleasant bit of casting.
Besides the dumbness-factor, the show’s main flaw is pacing; it’s too fast. A two hour film’s worth of material speeds by in 40 minutes. Slowing it down would have given it a bit of weight, and made the characters’ mood swings a bit more sensible. Still, better too fast than too slow.
Supergirl also nods to Disney animated films in its pounding message to “be yourself” and “just have confidence.” I’m pretty sure that just having confidence will not allow me to defeat a trained warrior with an ax. I don’t know who needs these messages, but for whoever does, here is my bit of helpful psychology: you shouldn’t have confidence since you are seriously lacking and I suggest you try to be someone else.
The action is much better than I expected, and better than in other similar shows, and the FX is film quality. Combine that with the general charm that’s laced through most every scene and Supergirl is worth a look.