Superman was released yesterday (July 11) here in Japan after a long two-year wait. With Hawkgirl getting her first appearance in a movie, following Hawkman's first in Black Adam back in 2022, I was going to see this movie the first chance I got. It had been a busy week and I was exhausted, but I fought the fatigue and drove the 40 minutes to the nearest theater after work.
Note: There are complete spoilers ahead so if you haven't seen the movie, go see it and come back for the review. (Yes, I think you should defintely see it.)
I checked out the movie merchandise at the counter in the theater lobby and there were a few things of Superman but absolutely nothing of Hawkgirl. I was hoping maybe they were selling some figures or something of her but no luck. The only thing with Hawkgirl was the $10 glossy booklet with some pictures and interviews. In a theater for 300, there were maybe 30, including myself. I believe there was some sort of promotions in Tokyo or Osaka, but I have seen absolutely no marketing here in southwest Japan. At least the movie opened on the same day as the States (Black Adam was released six weeks after the US date), so that is a big plus.
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The first half of the movie was rather depressing. There were too many elements of the movie that mirrored our own current situation, except for the metahumans of course. I knew there would be some sort of retribution by the end of the movie, so I impatiently waited for that.
There were certain elements about the movie that were fun. Krypto was a superpowered, untrained puppy. How the dog has not already killed every squirrel in existence is a mystery. Mister Terrific was amazing. His scenes were the best in the movie. After the scene where he took out the entire camp holding Superman, I forgot it was a Superman movie and wanted his scenes to continue. The battle between the Justice GANG vs the other-dimensional florescent rainbow imp with the other three heroes flying around being the romantic backdrop for Superman and Lois' romantic scene was very Gunn and pretty funny.
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| Stole the Show (Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific) |
Other highlights were Superman's fortress, the use of the iconic Superman theme, Metamorpho's amazing powers, Jimmy Olsen finally getting a part again, and the complete downfall of Lex Luthor. Krypto throwing him around the room reminded me of the Hulk-Loki scene. My gawd that was satisfying.
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| Just imagine Lex- Luthor and Krypto. (Avengers, 2012) |
I was a bit disappointed in how little Green Lantern actually used his powers. And they didn't seem that powerful. The middle finger onslaught of the Boravian army was kinda funny and we finally got to see him unleash his powers a bit. Supergirl's scene was just weird and very GenZ. I had forgotten that Krypto is Supergirl's dog. That explains a lot. The Metamorpho baby eerily reminded me of the dead baby in Pet Semetary. There were two end scenes during the credits which were not really worth sitting through the eardrum-splitting music. Gawd, I must be getting old...er.
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| Most powerful middle finger ever. |
The strange thing about this Superman movie was how the scenes without Superman made me forget that I was watching a Superman movie. And when they cut back to Superman, I was slightly disappointed. For being active for three years already, it seems that he still hasn't got the hang of using his powers well, and somehow I wanted him to be stronger. I guess it served the plot to introduce the Justice GANG but Superman should be handling these Kaijus by himself.
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| Superman kept having trouble with dogs and kaijus. |
Okay, the moment you have all been waiting for; Hawkgirl. I realize that the movie studios, writers, and directors will probably never be able to give us comic book accurate versions of our favorite Winged Wonders. I'll be a much happier person if I just resign myself to that fact. This DCU will probably be over and done with in ten years anyway, leaving us poor saps discussing and trying to decide out of a choice of vaguely Hawk-like heroes who was actually the most accurate depiction.
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So, I'm not even going to mention the Max Lord uniform, the long hair (Kendra has never had long hair), and the Black Canary/Sabalenka Banshee Death Shriek. We knew going in that she would have a very small part in the movie so that's no surprise. It was maybe even shorter than I expected but moving on. We got absolutely nothing about her background or how she is where she is. We have to rely on Isabela Merced interviews for a bit of information. I've collected most of her interviews and videos here if you want to check them out. Also, if you want o know about the current Hawkgirl and Hawkwoman's histories, check out my article here.
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| Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl |
Here is what we DID get. She is a badass fighter, has a kind of friendship with the other Justice GANG members, has organic wings that go in and out, and her mace is pretty awesome. She hangs out at the Hall of Justice, waiting for orders from Max Lord I guess. And she kills.
The president of Boravia is the love child of the current presidents of the U.S. and Hungary. This thought popped into my head the moment he appeared and would not leave. Maybe throw in some Steve Bannon genes as well. Anyway, Hawkgirl is the one who takes him out. By, get this, dropping him from the sky. In the Black Adam movie, Hawkman spent half the time saving people that Black Adam dropped from the sky while yelling, "Heroes don't kill people!" Now we get Hawkgirl saying "I'm not like Superman" and then dropping the parody president from the sky. I don't know about you guys, but this felt like James Gunn's Guy Gardner-sized middle finger at the DCEU. I'm too focused on the Hawk aspect of things so I'm sure I'm wrong. But...yeah.
In the comics, Kendra Saunders appears to be a rather petite woman, so Isabela Merced's height wasn't really an issue. Merced is a good actress and I liked how she portrayed Hawkgirl in the brief scenes she got. It left me wanting more, of course. Except for the brief scene in Peacemaker, there is zero news about any plans for her or Hawkman in future DCU projects. She may pop up some more in the next season of Peacemaker, and we'll have to keep alert for any rumors or news about the Hawks in the future. I sure hope it doesn't end here. But I wouldn't be surprised if it did. 'Tis the life of live action Hawk actors.
As for the entire movie, I give it three out of five stars. One of my personal gauges for how much I enjoyed the movie is how much I want to see it again and to be honest, I have no desire to see it again any time soon. When the DVD is released, I'll pick it up to add to my Hawk film collection. I realize most people loved the film and are raving about it, but I enjoyed the Man of Steel more and will probably reach for that one more often than this new version. Maybe as the DCU expands, it will grow on me. And now we wait for the next news of one of the Hawks in another DCU movie. I sure hope it's during the 20s.
The History of Hawkgirl (Kendra Saunders) and Hawkwoman (Shayera Hol)
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