Disney+'s Stargirl Review: A Story About Being Unique Is One We've Seen Before

Stargirl isn't bad; it's just lacking in any feeling of creativity due to its strict adherence to a tired formula.

For being a relatively new streaming service, Disney+ has had a strong line up of original productions out of the gate. Only one of the films has been based on a previously existing Disney IP, and while they haven't all been "must watch" films, each has had its own sort of charm that has made it worthy of one's time, at the very least. The latest addition to the Disney+ Original Movie catalog is Julia Hart's Stargirl, which, like its predecessors, isn't without its charms, but it's also evidence said charm might be starting to wear a little thin.

Based on the novel by Jerry Spinelli of the same name, Stargirl tells the story of the title character, Stargirl Caraway (America's Got Talent winner Grace VanderWaal, in her acting debut), except not really. Stargirl is actually the story of Leo, the high school boy who meets Stargirl and has his life drastically changed by her appearance in it. Leo (Graham Verchere) is a high school kid who once had a streak of the unorthodox running through him as a kid, but after having it literally beaten out of him by bullies in elementary school he has chosen to conform.

Then he meets Stargirl. The formerly home-schooled teen dresses somewhat outlandishly and has no problem drawing attention to herself, usually via impromptu ukulele performances in the cafeteria or on the football field. Despite their differences, the teens seem to have an instant connection, obvious to both of them. Stargirl's uniqueness actually makes her incredibly popular at school, at least at first, and she helps Leo see the world from a new point of view.

Stargirl isn't that manic, but she's no less a pixie dream girl.
Stargirl isn't about Stargirl, but about how Stargirl changes and improves the life of her boyfriend. It's a trope so common in film it has its own name – the "manic pixie dreamgirl" – and while Stargirl as a character certainly has some differences from the versions we're used to seeing, they're minor tweaks at best. Her purpose in the story is ultimately no different.

Falling victim to a cliche might not be the end of the world if Stargirl did anything particularly new or noteworthy with it, but the great irony of the film is that a story that wants to champion individuality is a story that most of us have seen before. The stuffy guy falls for the strange girl and begins to embrace the strangeness.

This gives Leo a character arc, a predictable one, but an arc, nonetheless. The same can't be said for Stargirl herself. We see bits and pieces of who Stargirl is, but since the film never breaks from Leo's point-of-view none of it ever goes anywhere. We know Stargirl has friendships other than Leo's, but we never get to know those characters, as they just hang out on the periphery. Stargirl talks about her mother, and we meet her briefly, but we never understand that relationship either. Stargirl has conflicts of her own she must deal with, but since we never see them from her perspective their resolutions are unsatisfying.

Avengers: Endgame review – unconquerable brilliance takes Marvel to new heights

The previous Avengers movie, Infinity War, stunned believers and unbelievers alike with its sheer stupendous scale, and that devastating ending in which the evil Thanos appeared to have gained victory by getting hold of all six of the Infinity Stones, causing a crumbling-to-dust of many key players: a terrible cosmic loss, irreparable, irreversible, surely?

Avengers: Endgame fever set to make it first $1bn film in under a week

We were of course promised wild new surprises with this colossal climactic movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely and directed by the Russo brothers, Joe and Anthony. But would these surprises be .... new ways of coming to terms with the unchangeable disaster? Unexpected coping strategies? Novel means of simply accepting the 123movies avengers endgame’ stunningly permanent defeat?

Or could it be … something else? Paul Rudd, who plays Ant-Man, was challenged on TV about the possibility of his character shrinking to a tiny size, flying into some convenient orifice of the evil Thanos, and then grossly enlarging himself to make the great villain go splat like Mr Creosote. Rudd declined to be drawn.

Well, I won’t disclose how things progress here, other than to say it allows the main players to revisit some of the scenes of their most spectacular franchise triumphs. And I have to admit, in all its surreal grandiosity, in all its delirious absurdity, there is a huge sugar rush of excitement to this mighty finale, finally interchanging with euphoric emotion and allowing us to say poignant farewells.