• Tag Archives Girl of Steel
  • Canister X TV Review #7: Smallville, Season 7 (2007 – 2008)

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    Click Here to Order from Amazon.com
    Smallville, Season 7 (2007 – 2008)
    4.5 out of 5

    Kicking the season off, Clark fights a bizarro version of himself, picking up the cliffhanger from the previous season. Great start. Then things get even more cool with the emergence of a super . . . girl? Yup, you guessed it, Supergirl herself has arrived on Earth. Her name is Kara. She is Clark’s cousin from Krypton and Laura Vandervoort does a fantastic job as the Girl of Steel, who not only proves that blood runs thicker than water, but also has no fear of heights like her farmboy cousin and does plenty of flying to prove it.

    Not only is there one Supergirl in this season, but two. Kinda. Helen Slater, who played Supergirl in the 1984 movie of the same name, made an appearance as Clark’s Kryptonian mother, Lara, in the episode that shared her namesake.

    Season Seven was a load of fun and was one of the best ones of the series so far.

    The only episode I didn’t really like was “Wrath,” where Lana gets Clark’s powers and uses them to get her revenge on Lex. Again, this kind of thing was done before in Lois and Clark (the power transfer), and I was getting tired of seeing these repeat ideas as they had done Lois and Clark-type episodes in the past. Speaking of which, the Dean Cain episode, “Cure,” made me feel like I was watching Lois and Clark all over again and though this episode was more filler than moved the Season Seven story arc along, it was cool to see Dean Cain back in the Superman universe. They even called his character Curtis Knox (see the initials?).

    The last thing that bothered me about this season, more specifically the episode, “Quest,” was the major playing up of Clark being some sort of messiah. I’m a Christian, so this probably bothered me more than most, but that aside, it still was overdone. Okay. We get it. Clark’s going to save the world one day. Move on.

    This season was a step up from Season Six, so 4.5 stars out of 5.

    Recommended.


  • Canister X Movie Review #73: Supergirl (1984)

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    Supergirl (1984)
    Written by David Odell
    Directed by Jeannot Szwarc
    Runtime 125 min.
    3.5 out of 5

    After accidentally losing the Omegahedron, Argo City’s power source, Kara Zor-El (Helen Slater) embarks on a journey to go recover it before Argo City perishes. Upon arriving on Earth, she discovers she has superpowers and adopts the identity of Supergirl, which she uses to help others while on her quest to recover the Omegahedron.

    Elsewhere, the Omegahedron has fallen into the hands of Selena (Faye Dunaway), a flunky witch who quickly becomes powerful because of it and who sets her sights on Supergirl, ready to eliminate the Girl of Steel the first chance she can get.

    Can Supergirl recover the Omegahedron before Argo City goes dark and Selena is victorious?

    It’s superheroine versus supervillainness in this ’80s classic of Good vs Evil.

     

    This flick is every bit a part of my childhood as the Superman movies were. At the time, of course, I was too young to understand the story, but now older, it’s not too bad. Sure, it has some flaws and continuity issues, but at its heart it’s the story about someone trying to right a grievous mistake, something that most of us can relate to.

    The visuals and hints of Kryptonian mythology put forth quickly link it to the Superman movies—Supergirl identifies herself as Superman’s cousin while in costume, and also as Clark Kent’s cousin when she’s in disguise as Linda Lee; her supersuit is basically the Christopher Reeve costume from the waist up—and it has a cinematic score that carries a similar heroic tone to that of its male counterpart. Likewise, Marc McClure reprises his role as Jimmy Olsen from the Superman movies and appears as Lucy Lane’s boyfriend (Lucy is Lois Lane’s younger sister).

    They seem to want to jump right into Kara being Supergirl so don’t give an explanation as to why she leaves Argo City in that bubble ship in one outfit then transforms inside the ship and flies out of the water in her supersuit, but whatever. They do a good job of showing her discovering her powers, the joy of having them, and also the satisfaction of using them for good.

    As hopeful and cheery as this flick is at times, it’s also equally dark thanks to Selena being a witch. There is a ton of occult imagery and when you’re watching this stuff as a kid, it creeps you right out. And that funhouse that Supergirl’s “man in distress” has to find his way out of? Shivers, man. But who isn’t afraid of creepy funhouses, right?

    The pacing was pretty decent and each obstacle Supergirl must overcome as the movie rolls along keeps getting bigger and bigger until the end when it seems all hope is lost and even the Girl of Steel is helpless.

    What was especially cool is during the time of Supergirl’s tenure on Earth, Superman was elsewhere in the galaxy doing his thing, so when the story wraps up, Supergirl asks those who knew of her presence to forget she was there and flies off triumphant back to Argo City. This, of course, kept the two super franchises separate while still linking them. I heard Christopher Reeve was supposed to have a cameo in Supergirl but it didn’t work out, with Reeve citing personal reasons (whatever those might’ve been). Would’ve been amazing had the two teamed up for it. Maybe we’ll finally get to see Supergirl and Superman together in Man of Steel 2 . . .

    In the end, Supergirl is an overall enjoyable flick that is from a time before superhero movies got all dark and gritty, the hero was filled with angst and turmoil, and it enjoys itself for what it is: a movie about a girl who can fly.