Hideo Kojima Reviews DC's Supergirl Following Critics & Audience Divide

Legendary video game designer and storyteller Hideo Kojima has revealed his take on DC Studios’ Supergirl.

Directed by Craig Gillespie, Supergirl stars Milly Alcock, Eve Ridley, Matthias Schoenaerts, Jason Momoa, David Krumholtz, Emily Becham, and David Corenswet. Its story sees Kara Zor-El/Supergirl (Alcock) on a journey to save her dog Krypto, along with Ruthye Marye Knoll. Both of them have a score to settle against Krem of the Yellow Hills (Schoenaerts) due to him poisoning Krypto and killing Ruthye’s family.

As he has with many films and series before, Kojima took to X to share his thoughts on the DCU’s latest: “I watched Supergirl in IMAX. It wasn’t a typical ‘hero movie’ where ‘good’ and ‘evil’ clash and the protagonist saves the Earth through self-sacrifice; rather, it was a “coming-of-age story” about saving oneself (Kara) from trauma. Its structure is less like Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)—a film driven purely by survival instincts, devoid of ‘good’ or ‘evil’—and more akin to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), featuring a crowded cast of ‘good guys,’ ‘bad guys,’ and ‘scoundrels.’“

Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El with Krypto in Supergirl

Supergirl has been compared to Guardians of the Galaxy but with a space western twist. Kojima mentioning True Grit is telling, given that the classic film was cited as one of Tom King’s inspirations for Woman of Tomorrow. During ScreenRant’s visit to the Supergirl set, unit publicist Sophie Scott discussed how the bond between Ruthye and Kara drives the film.

“It’s Supergirl’s movie, but they are travel buddies,” Scott explained. “King’s comic, as some of you may know, was inspired by True Grit, the Western. And I think that model is very evident in our film. The two of them together is really the bulk of the film.” She elaborated that the characters are able to relate to each other due to their tragic histories: “Kara has been through childhood trauma, and Ruthye has obviously just witnessed the death of her family, but it’s not heavy-handed.“

That said, Kojima brings up the essential point that Supergirl is more a coming of age story, wherein Kara finds herself and declares what kind of hero she is. At the start of the film, she is struggling to cope with the trauma of losing her family, but she comes to accept herself through helping Ruthye process her own loss and avoid taking a dark path.

DC Studios’ Supergirl is now showing in theaters worldwide.