'Supergirl' Review: Did Audiences Judge It Too Harshly?

 

Supergirl - probably the most hated movie of the year.

Before watching the film, I'd already heard it was a disappointment, maybe even one of the weakest entries in the new DC Universe. But after watching it... where did all that hate come from? 

That doesn't mean it's an amazing film—but it raises an interesting question: have audiences become so demanding that a perfectly enjoyable blockbuster now feels like a failure?

It knows how to entertain

One thing the movie does well is simply being entertaining. DO you remember when movies were meant to entertain rather than spark intense debate? Yes, Supergirl is that one. 

The movie makes you laugh. Sometimes because the jokes land, sometimes because something is so ridiculous that you can't help but laugh.

That's actually a strength. Not every joke works intentionally, but the film rarely feels boring.

There are plenty of action scenes, even if some of the choreography feels chaotic or downright silly. 

It smartly connects to Superman

This is worth expanding.

The film doesn't pretend Superman doesn't exist. Instead, it uses him as a familiar point of reference.

For audiences who enjoyed Superman, seeing Kara (Milly Alcock) connected to Clark (David Corenswet) makes her easier to understand immediately. Rather than spending an hour explaining Krypton and her place in this universe, the film lets our existing knowledge do some of the work.

It isn't revolutionary storytelling, but it's efficient.

Kara deserved a stronger script

Here's where I think the biggest problem lies. Kara is clearly a complicated person. Unlike Superman, she carries visible emotional baggage. She struggles. She gets angry. She makes questionable decisions.

Unfortunately, the screenplay doesn't explore these conflicts as deeply as it should.

On the other hand, Ruthye's (Eve Ridley) way of challenging Kara's worldview is a plus. Those conversations are where the movie becomes genuinely interesting, as they force Supergirl to confront her own contradictions.

Ironically, those quieter moments are sometimes more compelling than the action.

Lobo steals every scene

Jason Momoa clearly understood the assignment. Lobo is loud, chaotic, shameless and incredibly entertaining.

Every time he appears, the energy of the movie changes.

This doesn't necessarily hurt the film—but it does create an interesting imbalance where one of the supporting characters becomes more memorable than the protagonist.

The action isn't always convincing

Fight scenes are the core of superhero movies, but they don't always work. Some sequences feel awkward. Others rely more on spectacle than choreography.

The movie clearly wants to be larger-than-life, but occasionally crosses into cartoonish territory.

So... why did people hate it?

The hate online was huge, and that made me wait for something absolutely terrible, almost unwatchable. So, to me, the biggest surprise wasn't the movie itself—it was discovering how different it was from the online conversation surrounding it.

The criticism isn't entirely unfair; the script could be stronger; Kara deserved a richer emotional arc; some action scenes feel messy; the villain isn't particularly memorable... Those are legitimate flaws.

But none of them explain the level of hostility the movie received.

That made me wonder whether audiences now judge superhero films differently than they did ten or fifteen years ago. Perhaps, they now want more than spectacle.

The psychology behind disappointment

Superhero movies used to be judged on whether they were fun. Now they're expected to redefine the genre.

Every release gets compared with The Dark Knight, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Avengers: Endgame, Logan, or even Superman from earlier in the same DCU.

When expectations become that high, a movie that is simply "good" starts feeling like a failure.

Psychologists sometimes describe this through the idea of adaptation or the hedonic treadmill: as our experiences improve, our baseline expectations rise with them. What once felt exciting becomes the new normal, and it takes something increasingly exceptional to impress us.

Social media amplifies this effect. Negative opinions spread faster than moderate ones, so "it was okay" rarely goes viral. "It's terrible" or "it's a masterpiece" does. By the time many people watched Supergirl, they weren't just evaluating the film—they were comparing it to the narrative that had already formed around it.

Not Bad, Not Good

No, Supergirl isn't among the best superhero movies ever made.

It has uneven writing, inconsistent action and misses opportunities to fully develop its heroine.

But it's also funny, energetic and genuinely entertaining for most of its runtime.

I walked into it expecting a disaster and walked away wondering whether the biggest problem wasn't the movie itself—but the impossible standard audiences now expect every superhero film to meet.