The character known as Superman (2025), or Clark Kent (David Corenswet) if you prefer the alter ego the Kryptonian superhero Kal-El uses on Earth, is arguably one of the most familiar cultural icons of all time.  This Catholic sometimes worries about the power of such figures, in their fame and in the powers which they are imbued, but at least he is equally famous for being of incorruptible morality.  It is a goal to which any Christian should aspire even if we might never reach it, or can fly like him.  Because he is imbued with such characteristics, his most recent cinematic iteration did not need to rehash his origin story.  Well, forget all of that because here is Supergirl.

It is Kara Zor-El’s (Milly Alcock) birthday, and this Supergirl is anything but, getting seemingly as far away from her boy scout cousin Clark as possible.  She is celebrating another year of life with her dog, Krypto, engaging in a galaxy spanning pub crawl.  The worried interspace calls from him go largely ignored as she stays drunk on planets with red suns, which apparently make her as mortal as anyone else.  Back on Earth with its yellow sun, she is invincible . . . and impervious to alcohol’s effects.  The only thing that can stop is a green sun, but surely that will not come into play. . . .  Meanwhile, not far from where she is currently imbibing lives Delilah (Emily Piggford) and Elias Knoll (Ferdinand Kingsley), whose family have been renowned weapon makers for generations.  The occasional visit by the Brigands, as happens this night, is apparently a semi-regular occurrence for they believe they are after their wares.  Their leader, Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts), steps forward, but is more interested in the Knolls’ daughter, Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley).  What breaks the tension is the emergence of her brother, Emond Knoll (Bruce Lennox), who Krem promptly murders, which is soon followed by Delilah and Elias.  Somehow, Ruthye avoids this fate, buries her parents, and sets off on a revenge quest.  She walks into the local watering hole where Kara is getting hammered, demanding that someone assist her in her aim.  No one, especially Kara, takes the young girl seriously, though whatever latent goodness there is in the Kryptonian surfaces when one of the flunkies takes Ruthye’s heirloom sword.  Despite retrieving the blade, Kara tries to keep to her business, but she awakens the next morning with Ruthye knocking on the door of her ship.  This time, Ruthye is not taking no for an answer, but Krem and his minions show up to commander Kara’s vehicle.  Before they take off, they fire a poison dart at the defensive Krypto that brings up short the charging Kara.  Being that this is Ruthye’s home planet, she helps take Kryto to whatever it is that passes for a veterinarian here, who tells Kara that her dog has three days to live.  The only way of stopping this is to obtain the antidote in Krem’s possession.  Thus, it is time to get off world and find the place from which the Brigands launch their raids.  This involves using for whatever it is that passes for public transportation in amongst the stars, and we will call it a space bus.  Kara is not pleased to find that Ruthye has stowed away with her, particularly when a different set of brigands show up seeking to take valuables from the passengers.  Luckily for everyone onboard, particularly Kara, they have neared a yellow star, and she is able to charge her powers and make short work of their attackers.  Before she lets them go, she gets them to admit where Krem is hiding.  Feeling somewhat responsible for Ruthye, they had to the planet from which their nemesis operates, though it is one where all the female are coveted by the Krem gang.  Oh, and another DC comics antihero, Lobo (Jason Momoa), is hanging out here, too.  He is no help to Kara and Ruthye, but some local partons agree to render assistance.  As they await the arrival of the Brigands, Kara tries to get Ruthye to forget about vengeance by giving her backstory.  It is basically the same as Clark, except she is much older before she is sent to Earth by her parents.  Also, her home planet survives in space, by the Kryptonite dust ends up poisoning the survivors, which is what prompts Kara’s sending to Earth to be with her cousin.  The pain of the loss of her parents still haunts her, but she reminds Ruthye that nothing will bring them back from the dead.  At any rate, the promises of help turn out to be a trap, but with a little pitching in from Lobo, Kara is able to turn the table on the Brigands.  A temporary rift forms with Ruthye, who Kara prevents from sticking Krem with a sword.  After this fight, Kara is able to learn of Krem’s location, but she gets there just as the planet’s green sun rises.  The person who drags her to safety if Ruthye, who somehow manages to obtain Kara’s Supergirl costume.  While trying to get water for Kara, Ruthye is captured.  Imprisoned aboard the Brigands’ ship, she notices Lobo occupying a nearby cell.  He is there for reasons. . . .  Anyway, eventually the green light sets and the yellow rises, restoring Kara to her full powers.  Though she is temporarily slowed by some kryptonite darts, she is able to take care of all the Brigands.  She finds Ruthye with her blade on Krem’s neck, but Kara sends the young girl away before murdering him with the sword.  It is, predictably, in time to save Krypto.  Saying goodbye to Ruthye, Kara returns to Clark on Earth and this is where the movie ends.

By the end of Supergirl, I felt the film had taken a severe course change from where it started.  On the surface, this should be pleasing for a Catholic reviewer.  After all, Kara does not seem early on like the superhero type.  To be fair, at least with Catholicism, there is nothing wrong with drinking.  Where she sins is in doing it to excess.  She is also imbibing in order to outrun her feelings, which does nothing to heal the wound that only God can address.  While these are not ideal traits, she does find a way to overcome them and have somewhat of a character arc.  What complicates any sympathy her improvement might have engendered is the murdering of Krem.  Why go through all the trouble of telling Ruthye that vengeance can be damaging for a soul, only to have Kara do the deed instead?  Further, this does not fit with the story.  Much of it is spent talking about how Kara does not fit in anywhere, though Clark keeps telling her that she will always have a home on Earth with him.  It is a Christian move on his part, and a feeling so many people fight as it regards their relationship with God.  We want something tangible, a feeling like she had with her parents on Krypton, and we hold on to that loss despite the love that is so often right in front of us.  For us viewers that is God, but Kara has Clark.  This is basically what the middle of the film is about, but it is all thrown away by her one stupid act at the climactic moment.  I could have been up with the wandering in the middle of the plot better had she made the right decision when it counted the most.

Another aspect of those middle parts of Supergirl that are thwarted when Kara murders Krem is the advice we see given her by her parents.  Her mother, Alura In-Ze (Emily Beecham), gives Kara some excellent guidance that matches well with Christian teaching.  Alura instructs her dying with her dying breaths to be a good person, and nice, but that doing so does not make you weak.  Indeed, doing the right thing is sometimes that hardest task ever, and the whole of Catholic history demonstrates how this leads to greatness.  Kara’s father, Zor-El (David Krumholtz), has similarly excellent advice.  He tells his daughter about the power she will eventually wield, and how it will make her as mighty as a god.  However, though he does not exactly say it so many words, he basically says that with great power comes great responsibility.  I appreciate what he adds, too, saying that she needs to protect the defenseless.  This has been the mission of the Church from the beginning, though it has not done so with fists or weapons of war.  Instead, She watches out for the poor of the world through walking with the downtrodden and providing shelter.  Nonetheless, Kara has her abilities, and it is good that she uses them to defend Ruthye, even if she proves herself to be capable, too.  All this makes the murder scene that much more puzzling.  She also seems unphased by it as well.  It is as if the film got us all the way to the pivotal point in roughly the correct manner, morally speaking, only to take the wrong turn.

This wrong turn makes Supergirl disappointing.  Had they trimmed some of the middle and given Kara a less controversial development, I might have enjoyed this more.  As it is, there are few reasons to see this one.