Trolling #49: Supergirl RULES!

I don’t think anyone ever liked Jeannot Swarc’s 1984 superhero film Supergirl. When it was first released, audiences the nation over chimed together in a gigantic collective scoff of derision, and its reputation hasn’t grown much since then. A collection of recent reviews put it at a stellar 8% on Rotten Tomatoes, and the general fan consensus seems to be one of dismissal at best, and outright mockery at worst. Supergirl is perhaps one of the single most hated superhero films of all time, having even fewer defenders than the likes of Batman & Robin, and is often compared to the infamous turkey Catwoman.

1984 was a middling period for the Superman series. The first three movies had already come out, reflecting the law of diminishing returns perfectly. Superman III was the worst film yet, and had made the least amount of money. The series needed to go in a new direction to keep people interested. The solution was to introduce a new character. And while the world seems to hate it, it’s Trolling‘s instinct to wrap our arms around it, whisper comforting words to it, and defend it from all the hate in the world. Yes, friends, Trolling is here to defend the indefensible. This week, we have taken a good long look at Supergirl, and we have come to the following conclusion: Supergirl RULES! Let’s explore: 

The film is way, way too long at a bloated 150 minutes, and the story meanders to no end; why does Supergirl enroll in school? Couldn’t she just fly around looking for the widget she lost? And, indeed, is Supergirl really a heroine if she was the one who lost the widget to begin with? Yes, the plot is extremely problematic, and the romance kind of sucks. But looking past all that, you find an entertaining, funny, fun, epic superhero film that is ripe for rediscovery.

Until next week, let the hate mail flow.  


 Witney Seibold is a commentator at Nerdist, a contributor to the CraveOnline Film Channel, and co-host of The B-Movies Podcast. You can read his weekly Trolling articles here on Crave, and follow him on “Twitter” at @WitneySeibold, where he is slowly losing his mind.

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