I was catching up on the second and third seasons of Supergirl on Netflix recently, and while I watched this wonderfully fun series with the superb Melissa Benoist playing the present day incarnation of the Girl of Steel, I marveled at the fact that the series’ savvy producers had cast Helen Slater as Supergirl’s adoptive mother, Eliza. Mindful of the fact that this year marks the thirty fifth anniversary of the release of the 1984 Supergirl film (and also because I figured that it was high time for me to view it again) I gave the Helen Slater Supergirl film a re-watch. I watched the 138 minute director's cut, which is on the Supergirl DVD set from Anchor Bay that was released in 2000.
Slater, only nineteen when she was cast as Supergirl (which was her very first movie), was a revelation in the title role. Confident without being overbearing, innocent without being too mawkish, Slater was just perfect in this film, serenely embodying the very ideal of what I expected Supergirl to be in my mind. The film was capably directed by Jeannot Szwarc, who was mainly a TV director beforehand. It was produced by the same team that made the first three Christopher Reeve Superman films. Much like Reeve, who was joined by veteran actors in his movies as the Man of Steel, Slater would also be surrounded by an impressive cast.
Faye Dunaway (who takes top billing in the film) plays the villain, Selena, a former fortune teller down on her luck whose fortune abruptly changes when a weird orb crashes onto her picnic blanket. The orb is the power source for Argo City, a sanctuary for the last survivors of the doomed planet of Krypton and where Supergirl is from. Argo City is portrayed as sort of a laid back hippie haven where everybody dresses as if they’re in an extended pajama party--and it looks pretty cozy.
Peter O’Toole holds court in Argo City as Zaltar, the sorcerer/chief scientist, who also serves as a mentor to Supergirl--here known by her Kryptonian name of Kara. It’s actually Kara who accidentally loses the power orb, which gets sucked out the window by a magical creature she created when fooling around. The fact that she goes after the orb by herself, defying all of the odds, and ignoring the dangers involved, already makes Kara a heroic figure even before she becomes Supergirl.
Once she shows up on Earth, there’s a sweet scene when Supergirl discovers that she can fly for the first time, which leads to her doing an enchanted aerial ballet in the skies before charging ahead with her mission to track down the orb before her home, Argo City, is lost forever. The movie pits Supergirl against full-bore magic, created by Selena, who is empowered by the orb, and the courageous Supergirl holds her own throughout with grace and intelligence. She smartly doesn’t only rely on brute force to solve her problems, which comes in handy when she loses her powers at one point.
Brenda Vaccaro is also very good as Bianca, Selena’s friend and sounding board, who often offers caustic (and funny) commentary on the goings-on. And Peter Cook is entertaining as Nigel, Selena’s would-be mentor who gets shown the door once she discovers the orb. Maureen Teefy is endearing as Lucy Lane, Lois Lane’s younger sister and Kara’s roommate at school. Marc McClure reprises his role as Jimmy Olsen from the Reeve Superman films.
Supergirl holds up very well as a genteel fantasy, despite the incessant product placement throughout the film (which is so intrusive that it gets annoying), and the film has its fair share of cheesy moments (she's racing the clock to save Argo City before it dies, but still finds the time to assume a secret identity, go to school and make new friends), as well as comedic moments that sometimes go way over the top. Yet most of the lame humor is generated by the villains and their antics; the filmmakers wisely spare Supergirl from ever being lampooned or made to look silly.
What makes Supergirl hold up for me is mainly Helen Slater’s perfect performance as the Girl of Steel. Just like how I think Christopher Reeve is still the definitive Superman, I feel Slater is the definitive Supergirl (although Melissa Benoist comes a very close second these days). Slater imbues her Supergirl with a steadfast determination to do the right thing against seemingly impossible odds, and that makes her an inspiration for us all, even thirty five years after she first graced the silver screen. --SF
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