Supergirl
Some cousins have a lot in common...same fashion sense, same sort of names...able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Supergirl is an adaptation of the DC Comics' series of the same name, and a spin-off from the popular Superman film of 1978 and its source material. Supergirl is the story of Kara Zor-El (Helen Slater), a native of Argo City, which is located in a pocket dimension called "inner space". When a powerful orb known as the Omegahedron is lost through a dimensional rift, and sent hurtling to Earth to be snatched up by neophyte sorceress, Selena (Faye Dunaway), Kara makes it her mission to reclaim the artifact and save Argo City.
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Supergirl was released in 1984, and to be honest, was made in response to the mediocre reception of Superman III. And while Supergirl was regarded as a critical and commercial flop, it possesses an exuberance of campy charm that gives it its own unique identity. There are plenty of anachronistic moments--like why Kara suddenly finds herself decked out in a costume like that of her cousin, Clark Kent/Superman after exiting the spherical transport between dimensions; there is also an unusual amount of product placement for A&W root beer (of all things). Other moments reveal how the special effects in Supergirl are not always consistent--like the climactic encounter with Selena's shadow made manifest; as the demon twists Supergirl around, it looks more like she's being stretched in a taffy pull. That is not to say that Supergirl is without some objective merit; the musical score by Jerry Goldsmith, for example, is surprisingly rich and evocative, building off of John William's score from the original Superman. Similarly, Helen Slater makes her film debut in Supergirl, and brings a youthful--if occasionally naive--innocence to both Kara and her earthly counterpart, Linda Lee. When Selena tries to put a hunky, but dopey, landscaper named Ethan (Hart Bochner) under her spell, he inadvertently wakes from his trance only to fall in love with Linda instead. His poetry-infused declarations to her make Linda/Kara both visibly confused and thrilled at the attention in a way that is like the reaction a young, teenage girl would have when discovering these feelings for the first time.
Selena makes for the perfect foil for Supergirl--the two women are literally and figuratively worlds apart. While the selfless Kara bravely left her home in Argo City to reclaim the Omegahedron, Selena is an entitled, selfish woman, who is willing to exploit the power of the orb for the most petty of perceived slights. For example, when Linda becomes Ethan's object of desire, Selena sends an actual demon to kill the presumed schoolgirl--a bit extreme, perhaps. Faye Dunaway's performance as Selena is a thrillingly outrageous depiction of a narcissistic sociopath, who not only dabbles in the black arts, but then has the unfortunate luck to acquire the power to enforce her petulant will with the Omegahedron. Prior to her fumblings with extradimensional artifacts, Selena plied her mentor--the combination warlock and math teacher at Midvale Academy, Nigel (Peter Cook)--for secrets and spells, but the Omegahedron seems predisposed to outright granting Selena all manner of supernatural power. Even the ominously-named lead container she originally stores it in--called the "Coffer of Shadows"--grows and mutates as the Omegahedron rattles around within it, like a reflection of her control over the infinitely powerful item getting out of hand. It would seem that the Omegahedron enjoys supporting Selena in her warped quest for world domination, begging the question just what the purpose of the artifact originally was before it became a power source for Argo City, as observed by its architect, the doomed Zaltar (Peter O'Toole). As Nigel points out, Selena--along with her lackey and comic relief companion, Bianca (Brenda Vaccaro)--are playing with fire; she is an amateur suddenly afforded nigh-limitless power, and sowing chaos with reckless abandon.
Surprisingly, what Supergirl does that none of the previous Superman movies had done was explore some of the extradimensional spaces hinted at in those films. For example, Supergirl is sent to the bleak Phantom Zone after she underestimates Selena's powers at a key moment. This is presumably the same Phantom Zone where Zod and his rebels were banished to in Superman, considering that their mode of transportation is the same--a flattened, clear diamond. The Phantom Zone is a hellish landscape, where Supergirl's powers are muted, and where violent singularity rifts rage like tornadoes, deterring anyone trapped within the dimensional prison from trying to escape. Similarly, Argo City was depicted in the "Supergirl" comics to have been a part of Krypton thrown off from the planet after it exploded. In Supergirl, it has become a city crafted by Zaltar--likely in an effort to save select survivors from Krypton--and it is secured within a true microcosm. Zaltar is one of the most enigmatic characters in Supergirl--if not all of the Superman movies. He is clearly a genius beyond all others in Argo City, but he is also reckless. He whiles away the hours in Argo City by frivolously crafting simulacra of life--specifically life from Earth, implying that Zaltar has a detailed understanding of our world he rarely shares with anyone else. When the Omegahedron is lost in the void, he is the first to cast himself into the Phantom Zone, knowing full well that it is worse than a death sentence. Although it would seem unlikely that he would coordinate events to lead him to this dire fate, prior to the loss of the orb, he attaches a tracking device--a bracelet--to Kara's wrist. The reasons for this appear unknown at the time other than one formed from eccentric playfulness. Also, were Zaltar not in the Phantom Zone to save Kara, she would have remained there likely for an eternity, dooming our world as well as Argo City. When Zaltar finally leaves Kara, he tells her, "I am with you", in spirit more than in body--just as in Argo City when he showed her how to craft magical things with the aid of the Omegahedron using her imagination. It is likely that Zaltar sees in Kara not just a representative of a new generation, but a true ambassador of what their people should stand for when the time comes to venture across the void to Earth, even better than himself. Just as a brief radio blurb in Supergirl justifies Superman's absence--on a "peace keeping mission in another galaxy". Supergirl is also on a similar mission on Earth, showing the virtues of her people against that of Selena's vice and depravity--a beacon of truth, justice, and the American way, just like her cousin.
Recommended for: Fans of both the Superman films from the late Seventies/early Eighties, as well as a campy, cult movie indulgence. Supergirl is filled with a wildly sporadic plot, scene-chewing performances, and inconsistent special effects, but it also has an endearingly silly quality that makes it fun to watch.
Selena makes for the perfect foil for Supergirl--the two women are literally and figuratively worlds apart. While the selfless Kara bravely left her home in Argo City to reclaim the Omegahedron, Selena is an entitled, selfish woman, who is willing to exploit the power of the orb for the most petty of perceived slights. For example, when Linda becomes Ethan's object of desire, Selena sends an actual demon to kill the presumed schoolgirl--a bit extreme, perhaps. Faye Dunaway's performance as Selena is a thrillingly outrageous depiction of a narcissistic sociopath, who not only dabbles in the black arts, but then has the unfortunate luck to acquire the power to enforce her petulant will with the Omegahedron. Prior to her fumblings with extradimensional artifacts, Selena plied her mentor--the combination warlock and math teacher at Midvale Academy, Nigel (Peter Cook)--for secrets and spells, but the Omegahedron seems predisposed to outright granting Selena all manner of supernatural power. Even the ominously-named lead container she originally stores it in--called the "Coffer of Shadows"--grows and mutates as the Omegahedron rattles around within it, like a reflection of her control over the infinitely powerful item getting out of hand. It would seem that the Omegahedron enjoys supporting Selena in her warped quest for world domination, begging the question just what the purpose of the artifact originally was before it became a power source for Argo City, as observed by its architect, the doomed Zaltar (Peter O'Toole). As Nigel points out, Selena--along with her lackey and comic relief companion, Bianca (Brenda Vaccaro)--are playing with fire; she is an amateur suddenly afforded nigh-limitless power, and sowing chaos with reckless abandon.
Surprisingly, what Supergirl does that none of the previous Superman movies had done was explore some of the extradimensional spaces hinted at in those films. For example, Supergirl is sent to the bleak Phantom Zone after she underestimates Selena's powers at a key moment. This is presumably the same Phantom Zone where Zod and his rebels were banished to in Superman, considering that their mode of transportation is the same--a flattened, clear diamond. The Phantom Zone is a hellish landscape, where Supergirl's powers are muted, and where violent singularity rifts rage like tornadoes, deterring anyone trapped within the dimensional prison from trying to escape. Similarly, Argo City was depicted in the "Supergirl" comics to have been a part of Krypton thrown off from the planet after it exploded. In Supergirl, it has become a city crafted by Zaltar--likely in an effort to save select survivors from Krypton--and it is secured within a true microcosm. Zaltar is one of the most enigmatic characters in Supergirl--if not all of the Superman movies. He is clearly a genius beyond all others in Argo City, but he is also reckless. He whiles away the hours in Argo City by frivolously crafting simulacra of life--specifically life from Earth, implying that Zaltar has a detailed understanding of our world he rarely shares with anyone else. When the Omegahedron is lost in the void, he is the first to cast himself into the Phantom Zone, knowing full well that it is worse than a death sentence. Although it would seem unlikely that he would coordinate events to lead him to this dire fate, prior to the loss of the orb, he attaches a tracking device--a bracelet--to Kara's wrist. The reasons for this appear unknown at the time other than one formed from eccentric playfulness. Also, were Zaltar not in the Phantom Zone to save Kara, she would have remained there likely for an eternity, dooming our world as well as Argo City. When Zaltar finally leaves Kara, he tells her, "I am with you", in spirit more than in body--just as in Argo City when he showed her how to craft magical things with the aid of the Omegahedron using her imagination. It is likely that Zaltar sees in Kara not just a representative of a new generation, but a true ambassador of what their people should stand for when the time comes to venture across the void to Earth, even better than himself. Just as a brief radio blurb in Supergirl justifies Superman's absence--on a "peace keeping mission in another galaxy". Supergirl is also on a similar mission on Earth, showing the virtues of her people against that of Selena's vice and depravity--a beacon of truth, justice, and the American way, just like her cousin.
Recommended for: Fans of both the Superman films from the late Seventies/early Eighties, as well as a campy, cult movie indulgence. Supergirl is filled with a wildly sporadic plot, scene-chewing performances, and inconsistent special effects, but it also has an endearingly silly quality that makes it fun to watch.