Saturday, August 4, 2012

Supergirl



The Nostalgia Chick takes a look at the film adaptation of Supergirl!

...It's not very good. ‎

44 comments:

Queen Anthai said...

Look, we all know the movie is pretty bad and nonsensical, but I'll forever be convinced that Helen Slater should get some kind of award for Best Performance In Worst Movie. She WAS Kara.

Jeremy A. Patterson said...

Bad news: Sony Pictures is planning to make a female superhero movie... based on SABRINA THE TEEN-AGE WITCH! WHY?

An important question: Which comic book heroes have even less consistent characterizations than SUPERGIRL?

Jeremy.

CaptainCalvinCat said...

Ah, I dunno - I actually liked the Catwoman-Movie.
And this one, while it is dumb, is not really bad. It is like "Sunday afternoon" to me... just "meh". ^^

But the chemistry between the two of you was great and the review was... quite cool. ^^

Greets

Cal

Nick Michalak said...

You looked plenty good. It was a decent crossover. Too bad you two didn't have the time to shoot it in tandum during the convention. Speaking of crossovers, I just watched the new Snob episode today. Nice cameo! As soon as the topic of Doctor Who arose, I knew it had to be you! Also, any foreshadowing with the "From Hell" trade paperback? Someone on TheCinemaSnob.com thought you might do something like review the book and movie.

Bellarius said...

... it says something about a film when Peter O'toole puts more effort into his role in Caligula than this.

Nice touch making the EMH emitter clearly visible by the way.

Ostsol said...

The only things I remember about this movie (haven't watched it a since the late 80s) is that it was really weird -- and Helen Slater was lovely. :)

MichaelJGleason said...

Know what we need? A Mary Marvel movie, she is bad-ass. Even during Countdown.... but that would make a great movie wouldn't it?

Puckus said...

Not a big fan of the Chick but maybe she will be bearable this time.

Anonymous said...

What is with that product placement of A&W Rootbeer on the Attempted Rapists T-Shirt?

Kinda have a plot hole it was the Traveling Linkara looking for help with his magic that was there at the Con. Not Emergency Reviewer Hologram Linkara.

Anyone else notice that blood when she failed to crush the rock looked like Tabasco sauce?

Nostalgia Chick was talked into that way too easily.

Agustin said...

The Director's Cut of the movie is much better, though it's barely decent. Still waiting on the 150 minute version to be released to fully address all the plot-holes of the movie.

Anonymous said...

Despite Linkara working really well with/as a foil in crossovers (Some of his best works are crossover reviews), it is painfully clear here Lindsey is not really suited for it. Her pacing is very slow and she doesn't really raise any criticisms or observations that aren't obvious. I can't even say she sounds like she cares throughout most of it, even side by side, it's hard to tell the difference between her normal voice and her mocking apathetic "acting".

Anonymous said...

Did you see "The Science of Doctor Who" special on BBC America when it came on?

Le Messor said...

I saw the movie once, many years ago. I don't remember it well, but I'm seeing the problems now.
OTOH, it's really just the same stuff as any superhero movie, only gender-flipped.

Was SG's story (in the comics) as convoluted as you make out at the time of the movie? I thought it was pretty straightforward back then.

I managed to watch this immediately after NC's "Enders Game Review", which was really a long rant about how everyone who thinks there are more important things than sex is stupid, and you should boycott everyone who you disagree with politically.

Let's just say, if I thought like her, I wouldn't have watched it.

Anoldoaad said...

wow, that movie sucks!

Anonymous said...

That husky voice at the end should be used for something. Perhaps a "Male Model Linkara"?

Master Control Cynic said...

The Holo-Thingy on the sleeve!!

Hooray!! Hooray for continuity nods!!

xxStyxx said...

I really can see you as the penguin. ^^

http://s63.img-up.net/922o7rbs43d4.png

Gyre said...

There was a recent pilot for a Wonder Woman TV show...and Linkara reviewed exactly why it never made it beyond the pilot stage (hint: it sucked).

Ironically there were a few decades where the sort of soap opera stories that appealed to women were common in comics.

Eileen Gonzalez said...

Wow. I'd heard this movie was bad, but this was... BAD. Also, in regards to that giant mountain thing, did we suddenly get teleported to the set of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" or something? Because I wouldn't mind seeing several of these characters leave on a spaceship never to be seen or heard from again.

Nice quacking by the way. XD

Anonymous said...

Are there any more ConBravo videos you can show? Because all the ConBravo videos I can find are of the Nerd and the Critic's panel. I want to see the "Auditions for Worst movie panel."

BBally81 said...

I personally, I find the Supergirl film more entertaining than Superman Returns

James Faraci said...

Dude an awesome crossover if not for one thing, your mobile emitter is showing and the fact you were talking about ConBravo where you two were supposed to have filmed the crossover! Besides I actually remember something more about the film like when Supergirl rescues Ethan (Aka The Idiot Gardener) and as they land Selena hits Ethan on the head with a coconut and my reaction was "Wait?! WHAT!? A...A COCONUT?! COCONUT WHAT?! COCONUT WHAT?!? COCONUT COCONUT WHAT?!? WHAT?! COCONUT WHAT? I don't care how much disbelief suspension one has you can not make a coconut appear out of thin air and hit the guy with precision! That's like making a mountain appear out of thin air in the middle of town!" And when the mountain appear in townyou two talk about my reaction is "WHAAAAAAA? HOW CAN YOU MAKE A MOUNTAIN APPEAR OUT OF THIN AIR AND BE IN THE PRECISE MIDDLE OF TOWN! YOU CAN NOT DO THAT! WHY DID YOU THAT AND IF YOU HAVE THAT POWER WHY NOT FORCE THE PRESIDENT AND THE U.N. TO GIVE YOU CONTROL OF THE WORLD!" That was how weird the movie was for me, but I'd be lying if I didn't find this movie to be a guilty pleasure for me!

Anonymous said...

Em I the only person in the world who liked Superman 3?

But yeah, this movie is an example of a problem that exists in the American movie industry until this day. Unless the main protagonist is a white male heterosexual Anglo-Saxon, no-one will bother with making the movie worthwhile to begin with.
Even Joss Whedon's take on Wonder Woman was highly dismissive of the man protagonist

And speaking of female protagonists, I may have something for you'r show.
DC's Ame-Comi series.

To give some background.
You may have at least heard of the highly, ehm, anatomically detailed figures of female anime characters sold in Japan to collectors.
Well, the Japanese toy producer Kotobukiya has gotten their hands on the licenses from DC and Marvel, and started producing the figure line "Ame-Comi" (shortcut for "American Comics"), featuring the above mentioned figures of female characters from both publishers.
These figures would later be imported into the US by DC's and Marvel's respective merchandise distributors.
Enter the people at DC, who somehow came to the conclusion that these figures would be an excellent basis for a comic series.

Ame-Comi is being published as a weekly downloadable web-series, at the price of 99 cents an issue.
It takes place in a universe where all the world's major superheroes and super-villains are female (a notable exception being the Joker, who however died years before the series start, and had his daughter Duela pick-up his mantle). So for examle, there is no Batman, but there is a Batgirl and Robin (Barbara Gordon and Carrie Kelly), Natasha Irons is Steel, and Power Girl is actually Kal-El in this world, mostly to make it possible for her to exist in the same universe alongside Supergirl.

So far, the comic isn't really awful, but it is incredibly goofy, and has some rather "interesting" twists on the characters (like Wonder Woman starting out as a selfish royal brat. Harley Quinn characterized as a "homophobic cosplay fetishist." Or "Batgirl! The crime-fighting pop-idol!")

It's pretty much the epitome of "so bad it's good"

The first printed collection of issues is supposed to be released in October

Lord You Know Who said...

Uuggh, fucking Nostalgia Chick. Annoying, left-wing, offensive, crass, bitchy and unfunny "reviewer". Like what you get when you put Fred Figglehorn and Michael Moore in a Brundle telepod. She is, by far, my most hated TGWTG "reviewer".

So, as you see, I'm not exactly thrilled for this crossover. I'd rather see 20 minutes of Linkara drinking cat piss than seeing him teaming up with Nostalgia Chick.

So yeah...pass.

Hopefully, Doug can do a REAL review of "Supergirl".

Scott Tibbs said...

I agree Supergirl isn't a well-defined character but that's no reason the movie should have been the mess it was.

The DC animated feature "Superman/Batman: Apocalypse" was a really good Supergirl story.

DC animation has in many ways redeemed the horrible DC movies from the 1980's and 1990's.

rocklobster said...

This post illustrates one of my many gripes with DC. Why can't they do something for poor Supergirl? They do a good job with so many other female superheroes.

rocklobster said...

I hate what DC has done to Supergirl. And this movie is why. Not to mention all the other reboots. Why can't DC pick one continuity and stick with it?

rick007 said...

Superman IV, while still making the same amount of sense as this at least had a plot.

PopCultureOtaku said...

I don't know I never really hated this movie. I guess I just liked for how stupid it can be. More fun then say Batman and Robin, Catwoman, Superman 3 and 4. Not the best super hero movie but not worst. Not like 1990 Captain America movie bad. Fun crossover though. Lindsy really reviewing the other ones?

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"I managed to watch this immediately after NC's "Enders Game Review", which was really a long rant about how everyone who thinks there are more important things than sex is stupid, and you should boycott everyone who you disagree with politically.

Let's just say, if I thought like her, I wouldn't have watched it"

Really, because I watched the same video and she never came to a conclusion, leaving it up to the viewers to decide, "Where does the line between a creator's politics and their actual work exist for you?"

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"Are there any more ConBravo videos you can show? Because all the ConBravo videos I can find are of the Nerd and the Critic's panel. I want to see the "Auditions for Worst movie panel." "

I'll be putting up another video or two soon. As for the Auditions for the Worse Movie Ever, Tom White (He Is an Evil Genius on Blistered Thumbs) is putting together the footage for a video. ^_^

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"Uuggh, fucking Nostalgia Chick. Annoying, left-wing, offensive, crass, bitchy and unfunny "reviewer". Like what you get when you put Fred Figglehorn and Michael Moore in a Brundle telepod. She is, by far, my most hated TGWTG "reviewer".

So, as you see, I'm not exactly thrilled for this crossover. I'd rather see 20 minutes of Linkara drinking cat piss than seeing him teaming up with Nostalgia Chick."

No, no, please - tell me how you REALLY feel about my friends and colleagues.

lollypopalopicus said...

tis came out on my birthday and what a wonderful day it was

Master Control Cynic said...

Ok. Linkara? I love ya man, but you have a bad habit of feeding. Most assholes who make negative comments are LOOKING for attention or response, it's a bad idea to give it to them.

I mean no disrespect by this commment. Looking forward to today's episode.

Ozaline said...

I actually really like this movie and while I agree that it doesn't make alot of sense on some points it's pretty fun over all, and I really liked the dynamic between Lana and Linda (there's some shades of lesyay in their performance, which given they became mortal enemies in the New Krypton story arc is kinda funny).

I really disagree, Lewis, with your assertion that she has not and has never had a strong identity. At the point that this movie was released Supergirl had had alot of character development going from Superman's secret weapon who was kept in the shadows and obscure to being a strong and confident 20-something who was well respected in her own right and had strong friendships with both Batgirl and Earth 2's Huntress.

She was such a strong, interesting and popular character in fact that she spawned an Earth 2 counterpart, Power Girl, whose primary difference with her was that Power Girl was kept in the shadows longer and actively resented it. I know you're a fan of Power Girl but really she's had as many retcons and confusing backs tories in the post Crisis era as Supergirl did and she actually got her origin restored around the same time as Kara Zor-El was reintroduced as well.

Peter David's run on the Matrix/Earth Angel/Linda Lee Danvers Supergirl was quite awesome as well.

And while the reintroduction of Kara Zor-El really had a hard time finding it's feet after Jeph Loeb was off the book and wouldn't really become good until Sterling Gates took over.

Her current New 52 book is simply fantastic, it had a slow start with the World Killers but the recent stuff with Silver Banshee was incredibly interesting I highly recommend it.

I really didn't feel insulted by this movie, despite it's flaws Supergirl handles herself pretty well for the most part, and for it's time it was a decent adventure romp. BTW in Japan they loved it.

Anyway I could give comic book explanations for most of the plot holes but yeah... as a long time Supergirl fan I don't think this was a bad movie; just not a great one.

James Robertson said...

IIRC there was a documentary about Peter Cook on British tv some years ago and in it Brenda Vaccaro showed a collage of photos of the 50 prostitutes Cook had been with during the filming of Supergirl. Shame the film is much less interesting than the filming.

I loved the Peter David run on the comic, the most sad I've ever been at a comic being axed was that run of Supergirl.

Ratin8tor said...

But how could you and Lindsay have met if she was meeting the real you and not the hologram. Unless the hologram's memories can be updated in real time in relation to what Linkara learns. But if that is true how can it then go off and do its own thing whilst being connected

Oh dear, it appears I've gone cross-eyed :P

Le Messor said...

"Really, because I watched the same video and she never came to a conclusion, leaving it up to the viewers to decide, "Where does the line between a creator's politics and their actual work exist for you?"

Yeah, I can see that - but it's more the way she took it for granted you'd want to not read a book because of the writer's (unrelated) politics. When she threw her own right there in the review.

Rabbi Joe said...

I can't really defend the plot holes, but it remains the only genuine superheroine movie: Catwoman, Elektra, etc. are anti-heroes or assassins. We've only seen female superheroes as (token) members of a team.
Even as a 6-year-old watching this in the theater, I knew the back story: Argo City survives Krypton's destruction, but ultimately their sealed environment begins failing as well, so Zor-El sends teenage Kara to Earth.
I appreciated the fact that, unlike Superman III, IV and Returns, this film did not undermine the Donner films or the characters established there. It did manage to explore the Phantom Zone, an integral part of those films. However, the potential of seeing a Kryptonian battle magic was never realized.
Overall, it's disappointing, but not infuriating.

Ming said...

Wow, that was a bad superhero movie. OF course, it's not as terrible as Catwoman with Halle Berry.

Before they do a Supergirl film, they should have the character appear in a sequel to the upcoming Man of Steel film by Zack Snyder.

Neo Ultra Mike said...

"Hopefully, Doug can do a REAL review of "Supergirl"."

Uh whether you like this review or not, Doug isn't going to review Supergirl. He's made it very clear he won't do a movie review as the Critic of anything Lindsay does of the Chick (thus why when Lindsay planned on doing Moulin Rouge, Doug asked her to instead be part of the crossover he planned on the movie with Brentalfloss) because he feels if she covered it, he'd have nothing left to say about it. So yeah don't count on that happening.

As for the review fairly good. I've never seen Supergirl (outside of Mike Matei's review of it and well this one) but yeah the oddity of powers and the lack of any real fight scenes or proper motivations makes this look like a bad movie. Which is a shame since I like Supergirl. Hell even from the episodes I've seen of S:TAS and JLU she had a character worthy of a movie, but I guess that wasn't what they used here. Oh well.

And for people asking the Chick is going to do a mini list detailing the other superheroine movies and her quick thoughts on them that will be more mini reviews but not full out reviews like this one. Since other people have already covered them. (Critic did Tank Girl and Barb Wire, Dena did Catwoman, and Blockbuster Buster did Elektra... sort of).

Anonymous said...

I remember this movie... kind of... I couldn't fit it in with the Superman movies then and after watching this review, and remembering how little sense it made I still can't.

Fiery Liitle One

KaiKasparek said...

Fuck Dena and fuck Blockbuster Buster in the ass with a big rubber dick. Then load him into a canon and fire him into the side of Titan Towers.

As for Master Control Critic, at least he's not like Spoony where he just deletes everything that doesn't lick his vinegar covered balls.

Seriously Lewis, after 200+ episodes of this and not falling under the temptation of such easy censorship, (which not even Moviebob, a person who has shamelessly ripped you off) you'll always have my respect.

Alexander Gordon Jahans said...

I am actually quite interested in the feminist approach to scifi and fantasy (which I count comics as) and am annoyed at the lack of popular sci-fi and fantasy films with female leads. The three most notable superhero films with female title roles are also all spinoffs from existing male led franchises, which is rather disquieting really.

The Nostalgia Chick clearly isn't reviewing in-character (at least beyond mere exaggeration) but the more naturalistic style I think provides a nice contrast to your own experienced voice of wisdom.