Supergirl (2026)

Superbore!

Alright, so the Supergirl film leaked weeks before that September 8 official release date on digital. While I was willing to wait for that legal premiere date, I was also curious about all the negative reviews the film, and how it's labeled the worst DC Comics film since 2004's Catwoman. Hitting new lows seem to be the only record Warner Bros. will keep on breaking with every film they make. 

The All-new Supergirl 

Loosely, and I have to add the adverb very before the adjective, based upon the only succesful Supergirl comic book we have seen in recent years, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. Now, loosely is quite a subjective word when it comes to making film adaptations. Take this year's Wuthering Heights, and you'll see it now means: having no clue about the source material, and doing whatever writers, producers and directors want with it. At this point, I'm disgusted to see a rich country like the USA waste millions of dollars in films that will go nowhere. They could definitely use that money for research, medicine, education and helping the third world survive the constant poverty state in which they are because of richer countries considered first-worlders. 

Only a few minutes does she wear her suit.

 

Krypto also appears a few minutes only.

In a  nutshell, Kara is presented as a careless alcoholic bad girl that travels from planet to planet just for the kicks. On the contrary, the source they claim having used for making this film, Kara is a compassionate being mentoring a little girl on dealing with her parents loss. Here she is just this forced Guardians of the Galaxy generic type of hero that makes you feel absolutely no connection to it, and that is a major problem considering she is the main character. The other characters, are just there to be punched by Supergirl, and occassionally Lobo, and the bad guy, who with any production where James Gunn has put his hands on, nobody will remember after a week.  Plotwise, is Kara looking for a cure for Krypto, and also trying to help Ruthye deal with her parents death. Oh, by the way, Lobo is there just to provide more ass-kicking while have actually nothing to do with the source material. Superman is also here, and perhaps the only scenes I actually cared about, were those he was in, which are essentially two. 

The excessive amount of green screen used, and CGI generated characters and battles, make it seem like another videogame that will soon be for sale on Steam. It's corporate greed that ultimately killed these films. Marvel studios is also suffering the same fate, releasing turd after turd. Disney also made people get sick and tired of Star Wars, an achievement I believed to be impossible. The only way you can support all these terrible movies, is if you are a complete and absolute moron, and seeing the world leaders we have elected, is quite clear there's a large audience for that. Gone are the days of artistic film-making.

Another element I couldn't pass on, was the fact Kara is too much of an earthling despite spending and unclear time on Earth with his cousin. Her use of American slang, a Blondie t-shirt, Earth music, and a wardrobe that is clearly from our planet, contradict the fact this is an origin story where she is still that sore Kryptonian looking for her place in the universe. As soon as you see her, you know she has already done that, so why go through planets when it's clear she has already adapted to our human customs and culture, because she probably feels she fits in our planet, thanks to his cousins aid?

 

Me good, you bad!

 

She probably didn't read the comic book either.

This remake has no moral value. Since they decided to change the ending from the source material, there is no breaking the cycle of violence, so what can a little girl learn about that? Heroes can kill so that you don't have to? A shit ton of people freaked out with Man of Steel's ending in 2013, and here we are again.

There is a reason why I stopped posting about superhero films, and it's because these films do not respect comic book readers. I'm not saying we, the readers, own these characters, or have entitlement over the subject, but it's time we see things for what they really are: The industry is milking nerds' money, that's the only reason why they're doing this, and there's a whole sub category of "casual nerds"born out of these flicks, you know, those who never read a single comic book ,or that perhaps read the most popular story arcs, or maybe only have watched these films and call themselves comic book fans. These occasional fans are not investing their money on comic books, so they're not helping the actual industry, where these wonderful stories come from, make any money.

As a final note, please do read Tom Green & Bilquis Evely's Woman of Tomorrow, that's where the better story is, and just like every comic book in history, the source material will always be superior, and the money will go the actual artists involved in the comic book, instead of film moguls, and annoying characters like Kevin Smith or James Gunn.

 

 

Mortal Kombat II

So real, it hurts!

Yes, it's true my time invested on reviewing films, Anime, and whatnot has diminished significantly. Perhaps it's time to inform the Jedi council about it. Yesterday, in what has been my partial winter break from work I had some time to wear my jammies, drink Pepsi and eat Doritos while watching Mortal Kombat II on premiere day on HBO Max. I did have the opportunity of going to the movies, but adulting got in the way and eventually, I never went to the theater. Save for Masters of the Universe, the hottest film in the universe in decades. 

As previously mentioned in the He-Man review, niche films are a good thing for the industry. The times of "all audiences" have caused enough suffering to an industry that is already in a coma thanks to the rise of streaming services. You see, when you like reading books, you like authors, genres, a specific type. This is the same with music, video-games, sports, and of course films and whatnot.  Mortal Kombat is a game franchise  that has been with us for since 1992. During that time, we've seen game sequels, live action films, TV series, a cartoon, comic books, crossover games, and of course the inevitable remakes. 

Finally, Jade.

Adjust your sunglasses in style.

Mortal Kombat II is the sequel, I know, Harvard is looking forward to meeting me, to the 2021 reboot film that basically retold the story of Scorpion & Sub-Zero while, Earth realm warriors prepared for the tournament while unraveling some of the game lore. From that film, returning characters are Sonya Blade, Jax Briggs, Cole Young, Raiden, Liu Kang, [Spoiler], Shang Tsung & [Spoiler II]. Now, here's the cool thing. If you didn't watch the previous film, but know about MK, you won't need to revisit the earlier. MK II has a self-contained story with more familiar characters for the game fans. One small detail from the previous film: Earth had been defeated 9 times in a row in the tournament by the Outworld. An extra defeat would mean an invasion to the Earth realm. So, part 2 is that tenth tournament. 

Nerdgasm!

Visually, the film offers an endless amount of references to the franchise. From battle stages like the acid pit, Fatality included, to characters using their special abilities just like in any MK game. Plot wise, writers took the more familiar elements from the original arcade games, and cleverly combined them with the more recent games and their plot twists. 

 

Get over here!

 

Noob!

Fights are also front and center in the movie, and they feel natural and realistic enough so that you know you're in the MK world. There are fatalities, there are Mercies, and there is a slight insinuation of some kind of Animality. The battles are staged beautifully. You can see they took good care of the martial arts aspects of the job. Johnny Cage (Karl Urban) is the best character on this sequel. His story offers a down-to-Earth perspective unlike any of the other characters. He used to be a great martial artist actor that definitely resembles Jean Claude Van-Damme's career. He made films in the 80s and 90s, and then nobody cared about him anymore. Yes, I know Johnny Cage was originally intended to be portrayed by the actor but he was on top of his game, so there was just no way for Midway (previous owners before it became Warner) to release an unknown game with a Hollywood star as one of the characters. On the other hand, the remaining characters feel a bit too fictional compared to Cage. Now, this shouldn't be a bad thing, but it is to a degree. All the emotional aspects of some characters feel plastic and as green-screened as most of the places our heroes visit in Edenia and the Nether realm. For example, Kitana's origin story graphically offers a painful glimpse on her past, but once she has the opportunity to even the odds, neither the actress nor the scene can make the viewer truly relate to what's going on. Nevertheless, this is a videogame adaptation, perhaps that plastic acting and superficial sensitivity can be easily accepted playing the game on your favorite console, but as a movie, it feels like the major weakness of the film. We know characters have a mission and bla bla bla ,but it just doesn't fully convince the viewer this is a real life-threatening combat.

 

Mighty Kitana.

Cheating outworld ruler.

Plotwise, the outworld cheats by acquiring an old amulet that allows the user to drain energy from gods and become immortal. The gem in question belonged to Shinnok (the MK 4 bad guy), and was accidentally stolen by [spoiler II] and retrieved by Quan-Chi. Earth realm heroes discover the only way to beat son-of-a-bitch Shao-Khan is by either retrieving the amulet, or by destroying it completely. Sadly, Noob Saibot took the amulet to the Nether realm where a retired Scorpion spends his days gardening. The battle between Scorpion and Noob Saibot is visually exquisite, one of the strengths of the film for sure. 

Overall, Mortal Kombat II excels when it's all about the fighting, just like in the original videogames. Leave the acting and plot for real actors and writers. Still, a fun film for fans of the franchise looking for some ass-kicking.