(TV SERIES) Stargirl Season 1 - A Refreshing and Youthful Story of DC Superhero

I heard about this brand new series in DC universe which just completed its first season around a week ago. As a fan of series based on comic books superhero, obviously I would not let this one slip by. So I watched this during my last week's long weekend holiday. Well let's get on with it now.

Brief Story Line

Courtney Whitmore (Brec Bassinger) was a teenager who reluctantly had to move with her mother Barbara (Amy Smart - Crank, The Butterfly Effect etc) to her hometown in Blue Valley, Nevada together with her stepfather Pat Dugan (Luke Wilson - Vacancy, Legally Blonde etc) and his pre-teen son Mike (Trae Romano). The reason for moving was Barbara got a new job at a company called The American Dream owned by Jordan Mahkent (Neil Jackson - Blade: The Series etc) located at Blue Valley. At her new school, Courtney made new friends with the outcasts such as Yolanda (Yvette Monreal - Rambo: Last Blood etc), Beth (Anjelika Washington - Tall Girl etc) and Rick (Cameron Gellman). She also met with the school's most popular and mean girl Cindy (Meg DeLacy) with her boyfriend Henry King Jr (Jake Austin Walker). 

Later through some unexpected turn of event, Courtney came across a magical/cosmic staff previously owned by the superhero Starman. Thinking that it was her destiny, Courtney assumed the identity of Stargirl and tried to fight against the villains called Injustice Society of America (ISA), including a powerful telepath called Brainwave (Christopher James Baker). With the help from Pat who was previously Starman's sidekick, they tried their best to stop ISA plan.

And so what would happen to Courtney? Find them all in this fun superhero series.

End of Brief Story Line

Stargirl is not one of the most well known superhero (at least to me) and therefore I did not know her character at all. So when I first saw Courtney, I was surprised by how young she was. I felt this was just a kid trying to be a superhero and frankly I was a bit annoyed by how stubborn and difficult she could be at first. But as the story progressed, and realizing that she was acting just like any teenage girl, I was more accustomed to her no-thinking actions. Which was why Pat Dugan's character became so refreshing as the responsible father figure and totally compliment Courtney. I applaud the directors who managed to make these two having really good chemistry.

When I watched the pilot episode, the early part was really fantastic and I never thought would see it in a brand new series. It was an opening that truly set up the mood for me. Btw, because of the youthfulness of Courtney, I always felt that the series had a light and family friendly feel to it. However, after more than half way through, there was a bit of darkness lurking though it was not explored deeply. I personally felt it became more like a footnote instead of something that could change the tone. I guess the writers want to focus on the positive side. 

As a young superhero origin story, this one was pretty standard. There was no totally surprising twists and everything seemed to flow in a calm manner. The main attraction of this series to me was definitely the interaction between Courtney and Pat, plus some of the action sequence which surprisingly were good (though not spectacular) with a decent enough finale fight in the 13th episode. The special effects were generally OK with one thing in particular that I totally loved, the effects of S.T.R.I.P.E (you'll know what I meant when you watch this series). Most of the episodes here have duration of between 42-45 minutes with the pilot having  almost 1 hour length. My most favorite episodes were 6-8, 10 and the finale. 

Of all the large cast in the series, obviously I liked Brec Bassinger and Luke Wilson (who at times reminded me of his brother Owen Wilson) plus Amy Smart. I also liked Neil Jackson as Jordan, Christopher James Baker as Brainwave and Anjelika Washington as the awkward girl Beth. The rest adequately portrayed their characters, though I felt that even though they were given plenty of screen time, but somehow Brec Bassinger and Luke Wilson really took the spotlight. Oh I also sometimes felt there were bits and pieces which seemed like taken from other film/series (for example the final moment of the 13th episode looked like taken from Big Hero 6). 

Overall it was quite refreshing watching this new series focusing a very youthful super heroine Stargirl. From what I understand, the second season would air on CW and could be part of the Arrowverse (yes, this one also has Greg Berlanti as the executive producer). Who knows she might cross over to the other DC series? So if you are looking for this kind of super hero series, it should be entertaining enough. But do not expect this to be a dark type like most of DC comics adaptation. 

Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars