Supergirl review: Both in space, when Supergirl is fighting “tech pirates”, or on the ground, when she is bashing brigands, Gillespie manages to impress and enthrall, without losing sight of the people at the heart of the fights.In the DC Comics and Cinematic universe, Supergirl is a minor star – and pointedly still a “girl” when cousin Clark Kent, not much older, has always been a “Super-man”.Put that behind you. If not the stratosphere, Milly Alcock definitely hits escape velocity, breaking free of the gravity of Supergirl’s famous kin to seal her place in the firmament. The breakout House of the Dragons actor, who also got noticed for her comic skills in Upright, is a winsome combination of the two here as a superhero who, at least initially, would rather be drunk senseless than do the whole saviour routine.Lately, with superheroes crowding the sky, it has helped to have a funny bone to tell one muscle from another. Alcock hits the right notes without trying too hard, and co-writer-director Craig Gillespie allows her to do that by keeping Supergirl unweighted by the burden of too many expectations even as she hops imaginatively from one planet to another.It is during one pub crawl – this one between planets, differentiated into categories such as ‘Yellow Sun’, ‘Red Sun’, ‘Yellow and Green Sun’ – that Supergirl/Kara runs into Ruthye (Eve Ridley, from 3 Body Problem). In an effective scene, Rutheye’s parents and brother are killed by a brutal Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts), a brigand who goes about looting planets and collecting girls to be his all-male gang’s brides.Jason Momoa does several brief but striking turns as a headhunter, rocking a beastly motorcycle, red eyes and a cigar whose size just about matches his. David Corenswet reprises his role as Superman in a cameo, mostly video-calling in awkwardly to check on his young cousin, who has been gallivanting around the Milky Way.Ruthye wants “revenge” against Krem for killing her “innocent and honourable” family; she talks about “righteousness” and what is deserved. Ridley manages to tick off all these big totem poles without sounding fake.Kara is also chasing Krem, as he has the antidote to the poison he has struck her adorable dog, Krypto, with. The girls, or the girl and the woman, hence team up. Several other women come by to help the story along, without the film wearing overtly its feminine message.Story continues below this adThere are various encounters as Kara takes on the bad guys and steps between them and Ruthye. Both in space, when Supergirl is fighting “tech pirates”, or on the ground, when she is bashing brigands, Gillespie manages to impress and enthrall, without losing sight of the people at the heart of the fights.The flashbacks into how Kara came to leave Krypton, in a different arc from Superman’s, and how it has left them two different people, is also well told. She explains her cynicism to Ruthye thus: “He sees the good in everyone. I see the truth.”Not as convincing is Kara’s apprehension that actually seeing her revenge against Krem through would do more harm than good to Ruthye. Given all the bodies around and behind them – a blood streak across space and time – surely that ship has left the orbit.Also Read – Welcome To The Jungle movie review: Akshay Kumar film groans and moans, is rarely madcap enoughStory continues below this adHowever, there is killing and there is slaying. In one scene, when Ruthye has to tell off Krem, she seethes: “You fragile excuse of a man… You are more deplorable than the excrement at the bottom of your shoe.” Krem, the killer feared across his part of the universe, is bamboozled: “So many words…”When words can kill, who needs X-ray vision?Supergirl movie director: Craig GillespieSupergirl movie cast: Milly Alcock, Eve Ridley, Matthias Schoenaerts, Jason Momoa, David Krumholtz, David CorenswetSupergirl movie rating: 4 stars