Review: ‘Supergirl’ reminded me what superhero movies keep forgetting

I walked out of “Supergirl” with a thought I wasn’t expecting: I enjoyed it more than “Superman.”

Now, before the internet grabs its pitchforks, let me explain.

I’m not even sure “Supergirl” is the better movie. In fact, I could probably make a case that “Superman” is more ambitious. It certainly swings for the fences more often.

But when the credits rolled with “Supergirl” there was a very important distinction between it and “Superman”, I actually cared.

That’s a much bigger compliment than it may sound.

For all the billions Hollywood spends on superhero movies, it still occasionally forgets the one thing audiences have always wanted.

Someone worth rooting for.

That’s really it.

Sure, we like spectacular action. We enjoy giant battles, impossible visual effects and cities being saved at the last possible second. We want our superheroes to fly faster, punch harder and somehow survive being launched through three mountains and a moon.

But none of that matters if we don’t care who’s doing the flying.

That’s where “Supergirl” worked for me.

Milly Alcock nails it

Kara Zor-El isn’t perfect. She’s carrying pain, making questionable decisions and trying to figure out where she belongs. Milly Alcock gives her enough vulnerability that, even when the movie wanders into some pretty strange territory, I found myself wanting to see how she would get through it.

That emotional investment carried me through the movie’s rough patches.

It also reminded me of something I’ve noticed about many of my favorite films.

The best stories don’t begin with spectacle.

They begin with people.

An emotional punch

Think about “Iron Man.” The first movie wasn’t built around massive CGI battles. It was built around Tony Stark changing as a person. Don’t worry, “Supergirl” has a lot of CGI and a good amount does not work.

“Finding Nemo” isn’t memorable because fish swim beautifully. It’s memorable because Marlin is a dad terrified of losing his son again.

Even “Rocky” isn’t really about boxing. It’s about proving to yourself that you belong.

The action becomes meaningful because the people are meaningful.

It’s easy to think audiences go to superhero movies looking for bigger explosions.

I don’t think that’s true.

I think we go looking for bigger emotions.

That’s probably why so many recent superhero movies have left people feeling strangely disconnected. Studios keep trying to raise the stakes by adding more multiverses, more cameos and more computer-generated chaos.

But audiences don’t automatically care because the sky is falling.

They care because someone they love is standing underneath it.

That’s why I found myself enjoying “Supergirl” despite its flaws.

Final thoughts

The jokes don’t always work. Some of the alien world-building feels like weirdness for weirdness’ sake. The movie occasionally mistakes constant quirkiness for personality.

But every time it came back to Kara, I was back on board.

Because she mattered.

Maybe that’s the lesson superhero movies keep needing to relearn.

Story first. Character first. Everything else second.

Give me someone worth spending two hours with, and I’ll forgive a surprising number of imperfections.

Give me the biggest battle ever filmed without that emotional connection, and I’ll probably start wondering how much popcorn I have left.

We often talk about movies getting bigger.

Maybe what audiences really want is for them to get smaller.

Not in scale, but in focus.

Because the movies we remember aren’t usually the ones with the biggest explosions.

They’re the ones with the people we couldn’t wait to see again.

And with “Supergirl” there are lots of big explosions, but I also want to see Kara again.