Edwin Arnaudin
Have you ever watched a movie and thought, “Damn, that wind machine deserves an Oscar”?
Perhaps fearful of repetition after honoring the Return of the Jedi team with a Special Achievement Academy Award in 1983 for visual effects, no such distinction was ladled upon the device the following year for its near constant use in Supergirl, billowing the hair of nearly every major character in Jeannot Szwarc’s film and making multiple other appearances at key junctures.
The excessive gusts are one of the movie’s numerous corny and endearing details that mark it as a charming relic and a character (and story) ripe for revision. Alas, such antics are unlikely to appear in Craig Gillespie’s Supergirl when it hits screens June 26. Too much money is at stake to risk alienating audiences, and though DC Studios CEO James Gunn has shown a willingness to get reasonably weird in his comic book adaptations, adherence to certain narrative and stylistic formulas are nevertheless all but required to encourage significant profits.
In 1984, filmmakers simply didn’t know “better” when it came to crafting a truly fulfilling comic book movie. The so-so Superman films were big hits but the creative turning point of Tim Burton’s groundbreaking Batman was still five years away. Nevertheless, the current ubiquity of big- and small-screen superhero stories and their reliance on digital effects retroactively renders Szwarc’s Supergirl a mostly refreshing blast from the past — an entertaining and sometimes frustrating reminder that comic book movies weren’t always as polished as they are today.
Much of that nostalgic allure stems from an aspect that most modern genre entries skimp on: detailed, tactile sets. Fresh off Something Wicked This Way Comes and Cannery Row, production designer Richard Macdonald quickly establishes himself as one of the film’s stars with his trans-dimensional innerspace of Argo City, home to Kryptonians who survived their planet’s destruction. With its spindly white structures, this sanctuary resembles Frank Lloyd Wright’s Johnson Wax Building and offers consistent eye candy as the somewhat goofy plot by screenwriter David Odell (The Dark Crystal) is set in motion.
With help from — who else? — our wind machine friend, a plausible enough incident occurs that sends Superman/Kal-El’s cousin Kara Zor-El (Helen Slater, Billie Jean herself) in pursuit of Argo City’s essential power source, the Omegahedron. Landing on Earth, Kara is transformed from her cult-adjacent flowery white gown into Superman’s familiar red, blue, and yellow caped costume and, upon discovering she can fly, ushers in Supergirl’s other primary strength: practical effects.
Though there are plenty of front-projection-aided shots similar yet visually superior to those in Superman that allow Kara to soar at great heights and tag along just above a herd of galloping wild horses, scenes set closer to the ground prove even more impressive. While our hero figures out this whole flying thing, Szwarc and his special effects team employ effective wire work that, thanks to post-production edits, truly give the impression of her levitating, twisting, and flipping a good 10-plus feet in the air.
The giddiness that Slater conveys during these scenes also ushers in the simple joys of watching Kara be a good person. Lacking the snark and dark personal demons of modern comic book protagonists, Kara uses her superpowers to help others and is in constant awe of innocence, beauty, and love. As such, she can’t help but be moved by woodland creatures and the sweet gestures of hunky groundskeeper Ethan (Hart Bochner, Breaking Away), even if he happens to literally be under a love spell.
Investing in a truly kind individual additionally pays dividends as the effects team shows off its gifts with different types of illusions. Whether causing a possessed bulldozer to wreak havoc or an invisible phantom to smash and crunch anything in its path, the technicians excel at showing the unseen in motion and make Kara’s triumph all the more essential.
Such throwback filmmaking makes it easier to stomach the wealth of overly convenient coincidences that aid the plot. In addition to the Omegahedron falling right into the hands of fledgling witch Selena (Faye Dunaway) — a villain who, seconds prior, spoke of her desire for world-dominating power — Kara just so happens to go undercover as an Earthling at the same all-girls school attended by Lois Lane’s little sister Lucy (Maureen Teefy, Fame).
That it all takes place in the greater Chicagoland area and not anywhere near Metropolis makes the overlaps all the more strange. But that doesn’t stop Daily Planet photographer Jimmy Olsen (Marc McClure, reprising his role from the Superman movies) from paying Lucy a visit during her three-day weekend, as if he’s drawn to any location where a Kryptonian hangs out.
These contrivances and the very same old-school elements that, for better or worse, trap Supergirl in time like a cinematic Phantom Zone may in part be why it’s taken over 40 years for Kara to star in another movie. But after the receipts are counted this weekend and the first wave of reviews roll in, we very well may find ourselves wishing for a little more wind machine action.
“Supergirl” is streaming on HBO Max.
