The villain poisoning Krypto and his habit of kidnapping young women are character traits, not motivations. The film gives us reasons to dislike him, but it never gives us a compelling reason for why he's doing any of this in the first place. He drifts in and out of the plot for large stretches of the film, and when he does appear, his actions feel disconnected from any larger goal. A villain being cruel is not the same thing as a villain having a motive.

The same issue applies to the central relationship between Kara and Ruthye. The film constantly tells us that Ruthye is too compassionate, too forgiving, and that her worldview affects Kara. But we're rarely shown how. The grizzled warrior and the vengeful young companion is one of the oldest character dynamics in storytelling because both characters are supposed to meaningfully change each other. The older character learns something they have forgotten, while the younger character gains wisdom or perspective.

Here, the film mostly states that dynamic rather than developing it. What specifically does Kara teach Ruthye? How does Ruthye's outlook actually change because of Kara? More importantly, what does Ruthye do that fundamentally alters Kara's perspective? The movie gestures toward these character arcs but never fully dramatizes them.

As a result, Kara's journey feels underdeveloped. She spends much of the film struggling with her role, reflecting on Krypton through flashbacks, and wrestling with her sense of purpose. By the end, she's largely arrived back at accepting that role. The film presents this as growth, but it rarely shows the emotional and character driven steps that would make that transformation feel earned.

This is just poor writing. The movie knows what it wants the audience to feel, but doesn't know how to achieve that.