I watched Supergirl in the cinema, then watched it twice more at home. That’s the simplest explanation for why some of the negative reactions don’t match my experience. I liked the story, I enjoyed the action, and Milly Alcock gave me a reason to come back.

Three viewings don’t prove a film is flawless. They do tell me that I wasn’t just responding to a big screen and a lot of noise. The story held up for me at home, too, where it was easier to choose something else.

A different Kara is not a lesser one

The 2026 film, directed by Craig Gillespie from Ana Nogueira’s screenplay, sends Kara Zor-El into space, where a young companion’s search for justice gives her an immediate reason to get involved. The official synopsis sets up a journey with revenge at its centre rather than another conventional origin story.

I came to the film having watched the earlier Supergirl television series. I liked that version, but I didn’t come to this one looking for a reproduction. A series can make you feel at home with a character by giving you hours of her ordinary routines and relationships. A film has to find something worth following in one story. I’d rather it make a choice about who Kara is than try to recreate all the reasons an earlier version worked.

Milly Alcock gives the adventure a centre

The costume and powers tell us who we’re looking at. Alcock makes the person wearing them interesting. Her Kara doesn’t have to be an ideal example of how to behave before she’s worth caring about. There’s more to follow when a character still has something to work through.

In DC’s interview with Alcock and Nogueira, they discuss vulnerability, grief and how Kara’s past affects her sense of who she is. That’s a useful way into the performance. A different history ought to produce a different kind of hero, even if you can recognise the emblem from across the room.

I liked the action, too. I wouldn’t separate that from liking the story. A film can keep escalating its fights and still give me little reason to watch again. Here, I wanted both an enjoyable superhero adventure and a character whose progress I cared to follow. The combination worked.

What I make of the criticism

The Rotten Tomatoes roundup of early reviews shows real disagreements about the pace, visuals and action, alongside praise for Alcock. I don’t think everyone who disliked the film misunderstood it. If Kara’s journey doesn’t hold your interest, the set pieces may not change your mind. For me, that journey gave the action a reason to matter.

There’s also room between declaring a movie a triumph and writing it off. At Ars Technica, Jennifer Ouellette found an enjoyable film without treating it as a great one. I lean more positive, but that’s a fairer starting point than assuming the loudest reaction is the only one.

Verdict: If you know Supergirl from television, give this Kara room to be different. If the negative reaction has put you off, it’s worth seeing whether the story and performance work for you. I went back twice after my first viewing. I don’t need to call the film perfect to say it earned that.