Supergirl (Prima Productions, 1973) is never as boldly witty as Lipad, Darna, Lipad! When it goes for campy laughs, it falls flat on its face. Even Odette Khan, who seems to be vastly enjoying her mad scientist role, is constrained by the mildness of the material. Pinky makes a four-square heroine of unrelenting sincerity, but she's hardly a live wire. Female superheroes as a genre didn’t have much of history outside of comic books, the Vilma Santos Darna series being the only notable one at the time. The appearance of Supergirl is an indication if the producers ever consciously knew the real secret of the movies is to laugh condescendingly at the characters (which is what the writer, director and even some of the actors have started to do). We go to recapture some of the lost innocence of the whole notion of superheroes. And the result is an unfunny, unexciting movie. Supergirl counters most of the bad elements without much effort, so not much drama to be found there. Aside from confronting a giant, monstrous frog and thwarting the undead we don’t get much in the way of cool Supergirl action, none of this is particularly impressive.
A few of the practical effects shots are adequate, but many of the special visual effects demonstrate the limited qualities of rotoscoping and primitive CG of the era. Ultimately, the concepts of writer Levi Gen Pabalan and director Howard Petersen don’t fit with their avenues of execution. They may have lofty ideas, but fails to bring them to the screen with a suitable level of spectacle. It’s almost puzzling how the filmmakers could craft all of these fantastical conceits to fizzle out with such conspicuousness. Thrills are largely absent, clashes between good and evil are terribly bland (perhaps due to alternately inconsequential and frivolous motives) and notions of sacrifice, redemption and desperation are meaningless in the face of spontaneous and unexplained (otherworldly) conflicts. Nothing can redeem the considerable faults in storytelling, the unmanageable script choices (it isn’t the acting as much as the screenplay that generates so many dull spots) and the striking lack of entertainment value.
Screenplay: Levi Gen Pabalan
Music: Demet Velasquez
Cinematography: Fermin Pagsisihan
Direction: Howard Petersen
