Five Reasons Why Supergirl Isn’t That Horrrible a Movie
One of my favorite non-animated movies when I was little was Supergirl. It’s a movie I still pull out and watch every few years or so. Yes, willingly. I wouldn’t call it a great film or anything; the script is silly, the pacing much too slow, and the love interest all kinds of creepy. But for me at least, the movie holds up as well as (or maybe even better than) Superman III: The Quest for Richard Pryor. Which really isn’t saying much. It really does have a few good points!
1) Cast - I still think that Helen Slater is a fantastic Supergirl. She may not have had the best material to work with, but she’s so delightfully innocent and earnest throughout. She never refers to herself as Supergirl. She’s simply Kara. Trees are new and exciting! Bunnies love her!
It’s also pretty fun watching Faye Dunaway and Peter O’Toole chew up the scenery.
2) Magic - I don’t know about everyone else, but I get pretty tired of how much the Superman movies/TV shows depend on Kryptonite to depower Supes. While it wasn’t executed terribly well, at least Supergirl went a different route and used magic, another of the Superfamily weaknesses. As a villain, Selena could actually go toe to toe with Supergirl in a fight. Demon final boss!
3) The Phantom Zone - The Superman movies talked about the Phantom Zone. Supergirl actually went there. And clawed her way out. It’s pretty badass. More badass than fighting killer bumper cars.
4) Music - It’s not John Williams, but Jerry Goldsmith isn’t too shabby. And there’s so many amusing 80s synth riffs peppered throughout the score. You could make it a drinking game!
You’d probably die.
5) Learning to Fly - Supergirl discovers her powers pretty quickly after she arrives on Earth (one of the few things that does happen quickly), and there’s a lovely little scene with her learning to fly. She bounces and flips through the air and is just so darn happy. It’s a quiet moment and a very relatable one. After all, isn’t that what most of us would do after discovering we had super powers?
