An inter-galactic good time with supergirl

APART from Wonder Woman, we haven’t seen that many female superheroes conquering the big screen for a rather long while. Most of the time, ‘superheroines’ appear as the token female characters in many other superhero flicks and are seldom given the main solo spotlight.

So it is refreshing to see another female comic book character come to life in cinemas recently. Though not as popular as her other DC female compatriot Wonder Woman, Supergirl is not exactly a total stranger to lovers of Superman and the comic universe of DC.

Created as the cousin to Superman, Supergirl however is depicted as a younger adult Kryptonian who gives a different perspective of being a superheroine at an age relatable to most ‘fresh college graduates’.

Coupled with some delayed teenage angst and bottled-up child-hood trauma (like most superheroes actually), this latest Supergirl flick tells the tale of Kara (Supergirl), the other surviving Kryptonian who makes it to planet Earth much later than her cousin Kal-El or Clark Kent as he is known on Earth.

Created as the cousin to Superman, Supergirl however is depicted as a younger adult Kryptonian who gives a different perspective of being a superheroine at an age relatable to most ‘fresh college graduates’.

The movie begins by showing a different story about the Knoll family who lives on another planet which orbits around a ‘red sun’ instead of a yellow one like the one found in our solar system.

The family is then brutally murdered by a group of pirates known as the Brigands led by their ruthless chief, Krem. However, their spaceship was destroyed by the Knolls before the family was killed leaving them with no space craft to flee the planet.

A member of the Knoll family, their fragile youngest daughter Ruthye Knoll survives and vows to seek revenge.

Ruthye then leaves her home and travels to find people who could help avenge her family. She then walks into an ‘inter-galactic’ bar and announces her quest. She offers her late-father’s prized sword as the reward to the person who is willing to assist her.

However, an alien creature violently steals the sword from Ruthye causing a commotion in the bar. This gets the attention of a ‘tipsy’ Kara who is celebrating her 23rd birthday with her ‘superdog’ and ‘best friend’ Krypto.

Feeling sorry for the innocent Ruthye, Kara gets into a fight with the alien thug and gets herself hurt retrieving the sword for Ruthye.

However Kara refuses to help Ruthye with her quest of revenge as she believes it will only cause more pain and harm to young Ruthye.

Ruthye follows Kara to her spaceship home but they are then attacked by Krem and his group as they attempt to steal her spaceship to leave the planet. In the pursuit of protecting themselves, Krypto gets attacked by Krem using a poisoned dart causing Krypto to slowly lose his life force.

Ruthye then takes Kara and Krypto to an alien doctor hoping to revive the dying canine. Unfortunately, the doctor explains that the only thing that can cure Krypto is an antidote that only Krem possesses.

Determined to cure her dog, Kara then tracks Krem down to another planet and Ruthye secretly follows her unfolding the whole adventure of the movie.

Created as the cousin to Superman, Supergirl however is depicted as a younger adult Kryptonian who gives a different perspective of being a superheroine at an age relatable to most ‘fresh college graduates’.

At a glance, the film seems like a straight-up sci-fi movie considering the inter-galactic scenarios and the play of countless alien characters throughout the show.

A huge chunk of the storyline is depicted to be on different fictional planets allowing the storytellers to create as much fantasy as they can making it easier to conjure amazing visual effects too. Viewers may get vibes of blockbusters like Star Wars and other similar hits.

However, the audience will be reminded that it is a superhero flick once they witness Supergirl in action as she gets her powers once touched by the rays of the yellow sun.

Like her male cousin Superman, she wields the same super powers and is only defeated by Kryptonite, which is of course known to her enemy in this movie.

And like all superhero flicks, there will always be supporting characters to add some spice to the storyline. Nevertheless, apart from Superman who makes short cameos in the story, there aren’t many familiar faces or characters this time around.

Viewers will be introduced to Lobo, played by Jason Momoa, an alien mercenary and bounty hunter from the utopian planet Czarnia who eventually assists Kara and Ruthye in defeating the Brigands.

Supergirl makes for good entertainment for those who enjoy sci-fi action features and some sense of humour, thanks to the cleverly written screenplay which occasionally pokes fun at today’s society.

The movie also has a great soundtrack according to this writer making the film more enjoyable to watch and easier to relate. It is also a nice change as the film’s duration is about one hour and thirty minutes, allowing viewers to watch the film without having to stay too long in the cinema and still have a great time being entertained.

Supergirl is currently showing in all cinemas across Malaysia.