What are critics saying about Supergirl?

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's the new Supergirl film from the DC Universe.

"When an unexpected and ruthless adversary strikes too close to home, Supergirl reluctantly joins forces with an unlikely companion for an interstellar journey of vengeance and justice," the plot synopsis reads.

The cast includes Milly Alcock as Supergirl, and also stars alongside Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham, Jason Momoa - plus, David Corenswet reprises his role as Superman.

The film takes place right after the end of Superman (2025), where Clark was watching Krypto for his cousin, Kara, who had been celebrating her birthday with a cosmic bar crawl.

What are critics saying?

Supergirl has received mixed to negative reviews from critics and currently has a critics score of 57 per cent on film and TV review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, with many praising Alcock's performance but struggled with the film's premise.

The Independent's Clarise Loughrey said in her two-star review, "The mandate here appears to be to keep things as distinctly Gunn-esque as possible. In return, Superman’s moodier, more cynical relative has been robbed of the chance to speak with her own voice. It’s the superhero equivalent of a Vegas impersonator."

"Alcock, with her smirk and her anguished eyes, is a very watchable lead, but this aggressively minor movie doesn’t know what to do with her or her character. And where’s the mystery in that?" wrote Vulture's Alison Willmore.

The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw noted, "Supergirl isn’t a perfect movie by any means, but there are moments when you’ll believe this franchise can fly," giving the film three out of five stars.

"What makes “Supergirl” stand out -- and what might, unfortunately, alienate fans looking for more of the same -- is its interest in staying small while asking some very big questions indeed," commented IndieWire's Kate Erbland who graded the film a B.

ScreenRant's Molly Freeman wrote, "On the whole, Supergirl is a fine, even good, superhero movie from director Craig Gillespie (I, Tonya) and writer Ana Nogueira, but it doesn't quite reach the bar set by Superman last summer," rating it a six out of ten.

When is the release date?

Supergirl is out in cinemas from Friday 26 June.

Why not read...

• What are critics saying about Toy Story 5?
  
• What are critics and fans saying about romcom 'Voicemails for Isabelle'?

Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.