Movie Review – “Supergirl”

This should complete the “Super” movie review set. We now
have reviews available for all four of the Christopher Reeve
movies, and this one.

Cast, Crew, and Other Info

Helen Slater as Supergirl / Linda Lee

Faye Dunaway as Selena

Brenda Vaccaro as Bianca

Hart Bochner as Ethan

Peter O’Toole as Zaltar

Mia Farrow as Alura

Peter Cook as Nigel

Marc McClure as Jimmy Olsen

Written by David Odell

Directed by Jeannot Szwzrc

Complete cast and crew credits available at the Internet Movie
Database
.

Premise

A Kryptonian City, which apparantly escaped the planet’s
destruction
by shifting out of reality, loses one of its power sources. Kara,
Kal-El’s cousin, chases it to Earth to get it back, but must retrieve
it from a power hungry amatuer sorceress.

High Point

For heterosexual males and homosexual females, I’d say it’s the
way
Helen Slater looks in the suit. For everyone else, I really don’t
know. Maybe it would be seeing her beat up Max Headroom…

Low Point

The “climactic” final battle with the shadow. Why do I get the
feeling that thing was supposed to be visible the entire time?

The Scores

This is the only superhero flick I’ve seen with such a feminist bent.
(Even Vampirella didn’t come on this strong. I
haven’t seen
Model By Night, and I can’t think of any other female
superhero movies.) That counts towards originality.
Unfortunately, that’s about all that counts towards it. I give it 3
out of 6.

The effects are on par with Superman
III
: some work,
some don’t. I’m sure the Shadow was meant to be visible but that
was
changed due to budget constraints. I also doubt Supergirl’s last
fight with the thing was envisioned anything like that when it was
scripted. I give it 3 out of 6.

The story was salvagable, but poorly executed. It’s
not the
lost cause Superman IV: The Quest For Peace was,
but it
should have had another rewrite before being filmed. I give it 4
out
of 6.

The acting is hammy and cheesy from start to finish.
I give
it 3 out of 6.

The emotional response was bland. There’s not
much here to
draw a person in. I give it 2 out of 6.

The production was very poor. Bad continuity
editing,
blatant lighting cues (especially on Selena’s face), and filtered
shots from the perspectives of those who are (which is good) and
are
not (which is not good) under the influence of a love spell. I give
it 2 out of 6.

Overall, a barely entertaining little superheroine romp
recommended for completists only. I give it 3 out of 6.

In total, Supergirl receives 20 out of 42.