Review of Supergirl (1984) by Matthew C — 19 Apr 2010

An extremely uneven film, Supergirl manages to feel both cinematic and made for TV at the same time. Some of the flying effects are actually better than the first two Superman films, but the villains are far less interesting and even goofier than Ned Beatty.

It's too bad this film didn't do well, as I think Helen Slater was good in the title role and they could have had some fun with this character (a cross-over with Christopher Reeve would have been great).

But while I don't think a superhero film should concentrate on the villain (see: Tim Burton's Batman films), the villains still need to be cool or interesting. And Faye Dunaway's Selena, who seemed to have stepped out of a particularly lame daytime soap opera did not cut the mustard.

So, there are certainly good things in this movie, and it's worth seeing at least once for comic fans and Superman film fans. But ultimately, it's got enough bad to bog it down and keep it from being a good movie.