Supergirl (1984)

Helen Slater as "Supergirl/Kara/Linda Lee" 
Faye Dunaway as "Selena" 
Hart Bochner as "Ethan" 
Peter Cook as "Nigel"    
Maureen Teefy as "Lucy Lane" 
Marc McClure as "Jimmy Olsen" 
Peter O'Toole as "Zaltar" 

Directed by Jeannot Szwarc

Within the "Supergirl" DVD's liner notes, it is explained that the film, despite its faults, was the first to feature a teenage superheroine. When you think about it, that fact really does make a difference in one's perception of this film. It's groundbreaking, and honestly sets the stage for characters such as Buffy, the witches of "Charmed", and the Black Scorpion (admittedly not within that age group). But when you think about the film itself, you'll most likely think about the hammy villains, contrived story, and the general absurdity of many sequences.

Kara (cousin of Kal-El, known to us as Superman) lives in Argo City, a colony populated by Kryptonian refugees and safely hidden within innerspace (basically a microscopic universe). When she loses the city's power source, the Omegahedron, she ventures out into our universe to recover it. As Supergirl, she searches for the artifact, which has fallen into the hands of the evil witch Selena. Complicating matters is Ethan, a gardener who falls in love with Supergirl's Earthling identity, Linda Lee, thanks to Selena's misfired love spell.

That the premise of the film is based slightly in the realm of the supernatural is an interesting twist. However, it sounds way too ridiculous when you read further into it.

And yet, I own the DVD. One can go as far to say I enjoy this movie. Why?

Well, without a doubt, Helen Slater is the first thing that springs to mind. In her first film role, she brings youthful charisma and charm to the role. She positively beams in every shot she is in, and my, is she easy on the eyes! My favorite scene is the "flying ballet," in which she frolics about through the woods upon her arrival on Earth, before flying off through landscapes and city skylines.

Speaking of flight, the special effects in the film are largely top-notch, and the flight visuals are on par with those of the first two "Superman" films. The shadow creature in the end looks impressive as well. Aside from those effects, another of my favorites is the vortex along the path from the Phantom Zone. Very menacing.

Aside from Faye Dunaway (I'll get to her later), the supporting cast turns in fine performances, especially Peter O'Toole as Zaltar, the man who created Argo City. In the opening scenes, he plays the character as a smooth-talking dreamer running low on direction. Towards the end, in the Phantom Zone scenes, he infuses Zaltar with a (still) charming sense of bitterness towards his life sentence.

Another of my favorite aspects of the film (aside from Slater and the effects) is that the strongest characters are female. The main conflict is between Supergirl and Selena, and by God, they'll finish it themselves! In this respect, the film provides a great prelude to more recent superheroines in film and TV, such as "Buffy" and "Dark Angel."

It would be so easy to end the review here, but alas, there are negatives to this movie as well. Of course, there are negative aspects in every movie, but "Supergirl" is of particular note in this category.

What annoyed me most were the plot holes and details that went totally unexplained. Argo City looks great, but how did it get there? How did Kara's people survive the destruction of Krypton, and how did they arrive within innerspace? Did they shrink themselves to submicroscopic size? What about the bracelet Zaltar gave her? How exactly can it pinpoint the Omegahedron's precise location?

Her Earth life is just as unnerving. How the heck did she manage to create a Midvale School for Girls uniform so quickly, just after arriving on Earth? How could she get into the school with only a forged recommendation letter and no other paperwork?

The character of Selena is equally annoying. Sure, Faye Dunaway seems to enjoy her role, but it's a little more than she should be enjoying it. Dunaway crosses that line into camp villainy almost immediately. But the fault doesn't lie completely with her portrayal. The writer of the film has to shoulder some of the blame. Selena's major weakness is her lack of vision. With the Omegahedron granting her absolute power, she could storm Metropolis, or hold world leaders in her thrall. So why does she remain within Midvale, Illinois, using riot squads to hold the townspeople prisoner? And of all the threats she could conjure, the best she could come up with is a runaway bulldozer? Come on. Well, at least she gets points for the shadow creature.

And that's another of the cons against this film. In the small town setting of Midvale, there isn't a lot to throw against a superheroine of considerable power. The supernatural twist is pretty cool, but a pair of libidinous truckers, a rampaging bulldozer and a set of murderous bumper cars just don't cut it. Granted, some of these threats are directed at Ethan as well, but Supergirl goes largely unchallenged. In the Superman movies (and yes, even the latter two), the Man of Steel is pitted against nuclear missiles, exploding dams, supervillains, crashing planes, his own alter-ego and of course, Kryptonite. The pressure is never really ratcheted to the next level for his cousin, and that's a shame. Anyone wearing a blue costume with a red "S" on the front deserves better.

Despite the lack of background details and little major tension for the first hour, I still recommend "Supergirl" simply on the strength of its sparkling lead actress, capable supporting cast, and wonderful special effects. Besides, Dunaway's Selena is preferable over Uma Thurman's horrid Poison Ivy from "Batman and Robin." It isn't the best of the Super-franchise by any stretch of the imagination, but for family viewing, it's an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours.

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