The Flash review: DC superhero saga goes full speed
Ezra Miller, Michael Keaton, Sasha Calle, and Ben Affleck set a strong pace in Andy Muschietti's entertaining but overstuffed adventure
Film Reviews Flash
It’s been roughly a decade since audiences first heard that a big-screen version of The Flash would be part of Warner Bros.’ DC Extended Universe, long enough that the saga of the film’s development became one of the more fascinating aspects of the DC movie story so far. Now the film is finally here and it couldn’t have arrived at a stranger time, thanks to the impending overhaul of the DCEU, and the offscreen struggles and controversies of Flash star Ezra Miller. It’s enough to make the film itself feel like a punctuation mark at the end of a very long, convoluted sentence.
But, of course, the right movie can make you forget all that, and early buzz for The Flash hailed it as a rollicking sprint through DC’s version of the multiverse that bridges the old era of the DCEU and its incoming new age of heroes. So did comic book fans finally get the Fastest Man Alive film they’ve been waiting for? Like everything else surrounding this film, the answer isn’t simple. For all its focus on fun and adventure, and its ability to sweep us away in a lightning storm of spectacle, The Flash ultimately runs too hard to achieve any real sense of narrative grace, and the result is a film that feels overstuffed, uneven, and a little frustrating.
Miller plays Barry Allen, reprising the role they’ve played in Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice, Suicide Squad, and Justice League. Barry’s finally gotten past his awkward phase in terms of his involvement with the Justice League, which is now an established crimefighting team scattered across the world, taking on missions as they come. For his part, Barry sticks pretty close to Batman (Ben Affleck), helping out on crimefighting jobs when he can spare the time away from his actual job as a researcher at Central City’s crime lab.
Of course, Barry’s real passion is finding evidence that will get his father (Ron Livingston) out of jail for the murder (which he didn’t commit, of course) of Barry’s mother (Maribel Verdú) years earlier. Frustrated by the limitations of the legal system, Barry discovers a way around the conventional means of saving his dad: Running fast enough that he can actually roll back time and change the circumstances leading to his mother’s murder so it never happens.
Of course, as anyone who’s seen any time travel movie knows, this action has consequences and, upon attempting to return to his present, Barry finds himself in an alternate reality where a slightly younger version of himself (also played by Miller) doesn’t have powers yet. While Barry tries to get his bearings, disaster strikes with the arrival of General Zod (Michael Shannon), the Kryptonian war criminal hellbent on wiping out humanity and repopulating Earth with his own kind. So Barry has no choice but to team up with an aging Batman (Michael Keaton, donning the cowl for the first time since 1992’s Batman Returns) and a young Kryptonian named Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl (Sasha Calle), to save this reality and find a way to set things right with his original timeline.
Screenwriter Christina Hodson, who impressed with DC titles like Birds Of Prey and the Transformers spinoff Bumblebee, handled what would become the final version of The Flash script, and she had her work cut out for her. It’s not just that the film has to establish the stakes for the original version of Barry and send him off on his new quest. It also has to establish the threats, fears, and conflicts of an entirely different world, populate that world with characters, create a memorable final battle built on the ingredients of a previous DC installment (in this case, Man Of Steel), wrap it all up, then get back to the original emotional stakes of Barry and his long-lost mother. It’s a lot for any screenwriter to handle, and Hodson manages to pack enough wit and fun into the proceedings, even if the final product ends up feeling like three or four movies jockeying for position in the same 140-minute runtime, rather than one cohesive thing.
At least the cast is having fun with this wild mix of elements, timelines, and tones, starting with Miller, who gamely handles the dual roles of the older, more experienced Barry and the younger, more immature Barry with enough charisma to keep the film going even when the only person they have to share the screen with is themself. It will be understandably difficult for some viewers to watch this film without being reminded of Miller’s alleged misdeeds, and Warners’ handling of them, but for what it’s worth, the film does carry with it a palpable sense of fun that works particularly well when The Two Barrys are doing their Odd Couple schtick.
For a lot of movie fans, though, Miller was never why they planned to show up for this film. That honor goes to Keaton, who’s undeniably good in his return as Bruce Wayne, even if he does have to shoehorn a couple of his famous lines from 1989 into this film. There’s an ease and a grace that comes from his presence which makes the film better even when it’s clumsy, and you’ll be reminded why you love him as an actor and as a big-screen Batman. Throw in Calle as the rough-edged, uncertain hero trying to find her way, and you’ve got a solid ensemble, along with enough cameos to leave your head spinning.
The real star of The Flash, though, is director Andy Muschietti (2017’s It), whose set pieces, while sometimes over-reliant on glaring CGI, move with inventiveness, beginning with a witty opening sequence and continuing through the climax. His steady presence—embracing the brightness of The Flash when he’s moving and the fun to be had in this wild world of superheroes and speed— makes you wish we’d gotten one of these movies sooner. The Flash is, put simply, a lot, and Muschietti deserves some kind of award for bringing us something coherent and even, at times, joyful.
Whether or not this was all worth the long development saga and the troubles with its star will, of course, be for individual fans to decide, but there is undeniable entertainment value in The Flash. It’s sometimes buried under layers and layers of storytelling knots that the film never fully untangles, but the fun is there, and when the film is really working, that turns out to be enough.
The Flash opens in theaters on June 16
109 Comments
Running fast enough that he can actually roll back time.Superman did it first.
And thus, the dreams of Otisburg were forever consigned to the aether!
Poor, poor Otis….
Simpsons did it too!
It’s kind of weird that The Flash’s whole thing is that he has just one of Superman’s dozens of powers.
And up until Crisis on Infinite Earths, he needed a machine to do it, the Cosmic Treadmill.
Yeah, because Barry is a little bitch compared to Wally.
“Hey, cool! You can run really fast, too!”
“‘Too’?’“Yeah! Like me! I’ve got super speed-” *disappears for a nanosecond, comes back with with a copy of newspaper from a small Argentinian town* “-see? What else can you do? Can you fly?”“No.”“Whatabout laser vision? You got that that? Here, lemme heat up that burrito for ya-”“No.”“X-Ray vision? You know, that blockage in your colon tells me you oughta be eatin’ more fibre!”“NO.”“Freezebreath? Want me to chill that Pepsi down for ya-?”“NO. And no!”“Just…runnin’ really fast, huh?”“YES!”“Well, I’m sure that’s pretty cool juston its own. Good…good to have ya around.”
I’m envisioning a Reverend Lovejoy condescending “well isn’t that super.”
To be fair, lots of heroes just have one of Superman’s powers.Flight: Hawkman, Angel, Falcon, etcBulletproof: Colossus, Cage, etcHeat Vision: Cyclops(essentially)SuperStrength: Hulk, etcWhat’s more weird is that Superman doesn’t do all the crazy things with his superspeed that the Flash regularly does.
This is why I maintain that Flash should always be faster than Superman. A character with a single power should be better at that power than one with multiple powers.
Phasing through things without breaking them?
OK, so that’s something at least!
That’s not running!
… relatively speaking.
The 90s called…and they said your screen name is AWESOME!
Ne he didn’t. He flew, not ran.
The Flash seemed sort of mediocre from the start, but after watching Across the Spiderverse it really looks very poor in every possible way.
sure
Screenwriter Christina Hodson, who impressed with DC titles like Birds Of Prey and the Transformers spinoff BumblebeeYikes. Impressed who exactly? Both of these were “luke warm” at best.
I still say that as long as Affleck was still there, they should have had him make a cameo as George Reeves’ Superman as a reference to his role in Hollywoodland.
“It will be understandably difficult for some viewers to watch this film without being reminded of Miller’s alleged misdeeds, and Warners’ handling of them, but for what it’s worth, the film does carry with it a palpable sense of fun that works particularly well when The Two Barrys are doing their Odd Couple schtick.”Oh, good. I was worried his shit behavior might ruin a good time. I can’t wait to get out to it just as soon as I finish binge watching That 70s Show and Louie
I was more worried about being unable to watch this film without being bored by Millers Flash, to be honest.
The Flash was one of my favorite comic books as a kid. Miller’s portrayal of the character really flopped for me, but I don’t know how much of that is his work or the fault of the screenplay.
I recently reread Mark Waids run on The Flash and it’s still one of my all time favourite books. He did so much for Wally and the Flash mythos.
I just can’t get past the ugly “dark and gritty” video game-like visuals. I hope Gunn finally gets rid of the the ugly Snyder-era aesthetics.
The last GOTG movies were prob some of the best MCU cinematography.
that’s really the thing. i already know the action sequences are gonna do that same dumb slomo crap and ezra’s still got that awful run.
It can’t be worse than Steven Seagal.
I love how he gets fatter and fatter in every clip
Not gonna slow him down, though!
And balder
I feel insulted on behalf of girls. He runs like a middle-aged woman from New Jersey power jogging with her friend while she explains something dramatic.
Yeah, I thought the title of the video was a little unfair. Your description, however: *chef’s kiss*
Amazing. He looks like a Thunderbirds puppet.
ezra’s flash run is 1000% more annoying than seagal’s ever was.
He sure hasn’t insisted on better CGI…
No idea what you’re talking about since all of the films that have come out recently were already in post-production before he took over as co-head of DC. Did you expect them to halt DC’s entire film release schedule and go back and re-do all the currently-releasing films?
If they wanted the CGI to not look like shit, sure. It’s only money.
“and find a way to set things right with his original timeline.”Which, anyone will tell you, isn’t how the concepts of timelines works. There is only going forward on the same or a new path. There is no going back and correcting. You just create more and more new … oh, sorry. I’m in the wrong room.
Sir, this is a Milliways.
(standing to applaud the reference)
Naw, you’re in the right room—::catches a butterfly::
::Godzilla smashes down the wall::
There are no timelines, only flat circle lines.
Sir, this is a DC Universe.
“Which, anyone will tell you, isn’t how the concepts of timelines works.”
Yes, please, why don’t you correct people on a completely theoretical topic?
Doesn’t make you sound like a cunt at all.
“enough charisma to keep the film going even when the only person they have to share the screen with is themself.”Ooof. English language, we need another pronoun option for non-binary people. This one is hard. I’m trying, but it’s hard.
…even though referring to people with they/them pronouns has been occurring in the English language has been happening problem-free for like centuries?Though it is funny to think of the solution to pronoun confusion being more pronouns. I’m sure that’ll go over great with the “pronouns are confusing” set.
I don’t think “themself” has been a common term for a long time. In the past people would have said “his or herself” for a hypothetical person, but three words instead of one is a drag.
I mean, I understand in the sense that even I remember the 90s shift to “don’t just say ‘he’ about the doctor when you haven’t even met them,” but “they/them/themself” can be tracked as a pronoun for a person whose gender is indefinite since Middle English and identifiable in literature as far back the 14th century, and attempts to introduce the gender-neutral pronoun “thon” were en vogue in the late 19th centuy, but, regardless, go off king/queen: this is surely something that just started being discussed. (see also: “people only started to care about race in the last decade”)
If someone says his or herself when themself would do, they’d only have themselves to blame.
“Themselves” is plural, whereas “someone” is singular.
OK, then that person would only have themselfs to blame.
Well OK JalepenoGeorge, way to win everything all at once and leave nothing for the rest of us. Here I am standing like a chump clapping at my work laptop in an open office.
Just maybe a few hundred years or so
Actually according to the usage timeline it really started picking up usage in the early 1800s then kind of cooled off in the early 1900s with a slight bump in usage around the 1920s then cooled off for a while up until the 1980s where the usage of themself had started to have an uptrend in usage and it hasn’t gone down since. So a good question now is what century are you from?
“In the past people would have said “his or herself” for a hypothetical person” – citation neededI genuinely don’t think I’ve ever heard someone refer to a hypothetical person, for example an unknown Doctor, as anything but “they”. Using two examples:Receptionist: Your Doctor today is a locum, you’ll be seeing Dr Smith
Me: Where will I find them?or
Me: My doctor hasn’t called me in yet, are they delayed?
“I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever heard someone refer to a hypothetical person, for example an unknown Doctor, as anything but “they””Wow, how old are you? For the vast majority of the last century, it would’ve simply been “him”. Use of ‘they’ to refer to one person was something frowned on as nonstandard usage by middle school grammar teachers through, I’d say, at least the 1980s.To be clear, it was stupid of them to fail to recognize perfectly understandable, more inclusive (of women, typically) speech as valid speech, but that is how it was. I dislike linguistic prescriptivists as a general rule, and they’re some of the worst.
A response in two parts:a) I’ll start with my apology, “don’t think I’ve ever heard” was poor wording on my part. It was hyperbolic and I should have done better. Of course pre-2000’s I heard it regularly, however for a generation and well before the last decade of the beginnings of acceptance of historical flaws in how society treats gender, it would have been seen as rude to assume a doctor was male and you may even have been called out on it in public.b) I stand by the rest of my point mind, and as with my responses elsewhere, there is a real issue here with the “they”-deniers that they all seem to suffer from a selective context-fail. Where most cognitive adult human beings can ascertain understanding from context, these individuals seem to deliberately raise the non-issue when context in the article (including this one, and the “offending” point about two Ezra Millers) is clear. This is even true of deliberate obfuscation, so take “Squanchy” from the Rick and Morty series and their use of “squanchy” as an interchangable adjective for a variety of situations, that’s not even a word but you understand the meaning from tone and context.
I totally agree. Although I may *just* be slightly old enough to have had “they as a singular pronoun is bad grammar” beaten into to me enough where I just nope out on the whole thing. Like in your first example, I think I’d respond with “where would I find the doctor”, even though I’m totally cool with they as singular pronoun.And just as a reminder of how things never change, we got very similar language gatekeeping from intransigent misogynists (aka, your average dude over 40) back in the 1980s, but based in their desire to continue minimizing women, not trans folks. Below is an old William Safire piece 1985. Hard to believe I used to think of him as a little crotchety, but ultimately witty and good-hearted.We’re so far removed from this type of thinking that it took me a 2nd read to grasp his snide little aspersions, but gosh what a prick. (Just for context: Safire is relaying a conversation with his friend Art Buchwald, using quotes for Buchwald’s comments, and relaying his own thoughts in voice-of-god third person)source: https://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/28/magazine/on-language-you-not-tarzan-me-not-jane.html
Pretty sure when someone is pissing you off while driving, for example, you will say “they” multiple times in a single sentence without being confused.
Correct. I think there’s an easy transition to use “they” referring to a large group of people to “they” for a hypothetical person in a scenario that could apply to multiple people, and from that to an unidentified person (after all, any number of people could potentially be that unidentified person).
You know what, your a drag. People constantly make slight efforts for you like opening the door that make the world an easier place to live in but you refuse to do this simple thing for a group of people that’s historically been heavily abused? Well aren’t you precious your highness. I’m so sorry for your use of the english language being slightly inconvenient in order for an entire group to feel like human beings.
Boo-hoo for you I’m so sorry your life has been made all the more difficult by this tiny request from the LGBTQ community. Happy Pride month to you asswhipe.
I didn’t “refuse” to do anything, as nobody asked me to use a more old-fashioned & wordy phrase instead of a single-word one. I made a descriptive statement. And Mr. John’s reply showed that there has indeed been a large increase in that single word in recent decades, though the graph lacked a comparison for “him or herself”.
Disagreeing about language isn’t a statement about worth as human beings.
Eh, the window of people using “his(sic) or herself” was very short. For much more of the past, it was just “himself”.There’s nothing wrong with new words. If a language isn’t evolving, it’s dead. We’ll be comfortable with this formulation soon enough, and since it’s good for people then more’s the better. It does remain to be seen whether “themself” or “themselves” becomes the standard usage in cases like this; I’ll bet on the former.
Yeah, my impression is that there was a male default in most writing so it was “himself”, then an attempt to include females with “him or herself”, but saying three words instead of one is annoying so more recently it’s shifted away from that.
“This is what the British population/
“Calls an…’Elementary Education’!”
It reminds me of “We’ll show we’re more respectful of Latin-Americans by shitting on the Spanish language and referring to them as ‘Latinx’ which conforms to the English-language concept of non-gendered words and in no way sounds like an adult incontinence product.”
And they/them pronouns have had the same usage and meaning for those centuries as well. You can’t deny that sentence twists the language to the point it makes the writer sound illiterate, even if you agree with the rationale.
It may have been “happening” for centuries, but virtually every grammar school child from the last century is taught that “he/she” is singular and “they” is plural (at least into the 1980s, when I was in grammar school). Were others also tough to use “he or she” when you don’t know the gender of a sentence’s singular subject? I was.
For that reason, I agree we need a new pronoun for non-binary folks instead of “they” as this example shows — it makes the syntax clunky and confusing at times.
I don’t know if I agree, because I think this is the same language someone might have used to describe a genderless character (idk a robot or a mystery killer or a fucking ghost or something) at any point in the last twenty years.I agree the phrasing is a bit clumsy but *looks around*
I mean I guess we’ll get used to it.
Is English your second language, because that’s literally how those words work.
That was not a difficult sentence to parse on any level.
“Ooof. English language, we need another pronoun option for non-binary people.”
No, we need writers who will put in the minimum basic effort.
“enough charisma to keep the film going even when the only person they have Miller has to share the screen with is themself Miller.”
It helps when the person doing the job gives even the littlest shit about what they’re doing.
Really “sharing with themself” is confusing to you? You need to make a bigger effort buddy.
It’s 100% up to the author to find ways not to sound awkward as fuck
I’ll admit, “themself” did read strange to me as well, but I think it’s the first time I’ve seen the word in an article like this, so that might’ve been the only reason it seemed unusual.
I don’t understand how the alternate universe Batman is Keaton when that Batman was already alive when Barry’s mom died. How did it age and change Batman’s face?! I need ANSWERS
There will be answers … coming soon to a cinema near you! (Unless you live far away from one.)
Shakes fist at cloud
Having just seen it, the answer has a simple metaphorical description and I admire how it cuts through the Gordian knot that always comes up in this kind of story where you feel like you have to explain how the small change you made caused all the entertaining changes when you get back to your own timeline. In the new paradigm, you just don’t have to worry about it.
Simple, this is based on Flashpoint in the comics who just went with, you change time at ALL and you are not a super smart guy who knows exactly how to do it (or the writer just feels like it) and then everything goes nuts. The ripples go to past of the event you change just because.
I’m still wondering why we have Shannon’s Zod in a different timeline than Affleck’s Batman.
The classic “some characters look different in the multiverse and some don’t” this will be fun.
Maybe the alien invasion was such a significant event that it has a version in multiple timelines, like a large rock making ripples in a pool, or some Dark Tower-y horseshit
Kal-El should already be on Earth when Barry was a kid too, yeah? Did Barry’s mom build a spaceship and shoot him back into space?
Sliders once had an episode where the Earth’s timeline moved slower so Quinn taught his younger self to not crack his bullies knee with a baseball bat, while hooking up with us teacher.That’s the same thing, right?
I saw it a few hours ago and they do thankfully bring this up. It’s not addressed fantastically, but at least it’s addressed.
Obligatory:https://www.theonion.com/study-87-percent-of-movies-would-be-better-with-michae-1819572301
I’ve had no interest in this whatsoever, but just seeing Keaton deadpan “wanna get nuts? Let’s get nuts” may just change my mind.
If it doesn’t immediately cut to them all standing in a pharmacy looking at a rack of almonds and cashews while elevator music plays in the background, this isn’t a real movie.
As someone who’s never watched any of these incredibly unappealing Snyder DC movies, I’m only going to pirate this for Keaton’s Batman.
I’ve caught part of one of the Superman movies on a random Sunday and couldn’t believe how wrong it got the character and whole tone of a Superman story. Superman is all about optimism and hope.
I was visiting my mother a few weeks ago and we stumbled onto the end of Man of Steel; she watched it for a few minutes and was vocally angry at it, and me for “making her watch it”, for the rest of my visit.
You raped her childhood/middle age/wherever she is now!
“themself”
I’m 31 and Sasha Calle is 27 and I’m not afraid to say that I think she looks hot in this. I’m very confused about the backlash.
Because Latina bad to chuds.
– Now we’re getting cosplays like this ^ just saying my dudes, calm down. Brown hair can still be hot.
I’ve seen this as it opened in the UK yesterday and I thought it was awful. It’s weird as it starts well with one of the best set pieces I’ve seen in a superhero movie, and there’s a funny scene after that, but then it seems to remember it’s a DC movie and so has to get miserable as Barry whines about his long dead mother. Miller initially plays one Barry as if he’s incredibly autistic (the coffee scene), but then seems to forget that choice, while the young Barry is so frickin’ stupid, and his jokes so awful, that I thought about walking out half way through. Keaton’s great but the script isn’t, and some of the cgi is appalling, I don’t want to spoil it for anyone but there’s a part towards the end that looked like it was knocked up for use in a playstation cut scene.
If you find Miller endearing in the role(s),you might like this more than I did, but I thought it to be a massive disappointment.
Weird, I thought the first set piece was rather ho hum, but that it picked up after that. It still didn’t impress me much, especially after two stellar Marvel outings, but I thought it was fine to good overall. A top tier DCEU movie, for whatever that’s worth.I do think Miller did a great job though, and I’m not saying that as a fan. They play beautifully off of each other (serendipitous use of the pronoun there) and there’s not really any moment where I doubt the existence or realness of either Barry. The problem you have with the initial scene may actually be explained by him being hungry, which I think was overly telegraphed, but also easily lost because they were trying to do way too much in the first ten minutes. Young Barry is incredibly annoying though, and while I laughed a few times during the movie (sometimes at things that were even intentionally funny) I didn’t find him very funny.
Yeah, I felt that his insistence to have it prepared in a very specific manner, and by the same person who always makes it, was a clumsy attempt to suggest he was at the very least on the spectrum, but then it kind of ignores all of that.
It felt a bit odd that they make such a big thing about his need for food/energy, how important it is as otherwise he’ll presumably collapse through exhaustion, but then decide against using that as a plot point too.
I’m genuinely glad people are enjoying it, I always go in to any film wanting to like it, but I didn’t like Miller’s performance at all and I think that just ruined the movie for me sadly.
https://mattthecatania.wordpress.com/2023/06/17/ought-the-flash-film-to-be-panned/I went into The F-Lash film with mixed
expectations. The movie mostly exceeded them. The Flash-centric stuff
was actually compelling without guest stars. I was right about what
parts I wasn’t going to like though. While it’s obviously not as
excellent as the Spider-Verse films, the gulf in quality isn’t so humongous that it should be shunned.
I felt pretty much the same. The quiet emotional scenes worked remarkably well.
The real star of The Flash, though, is director Andy Muschietti (2017’s It), whose set pieces, while sometimes over-reliant on glaring CGI, move with inventiveness, beginning with a witty opening sequence and continuing through the climax.Wow. Complete opposite reaction from me. The first action sequence with the babies basically shows what those X-Men Quicksilver scenes would be like if directed poorly, and we’re off to the races from there. Batman gallivanting in the daytime, instead of using the shadows, Michael Keaton flipping and bouncing around in fights completely inconsistent to how he is portrayed in the Tim Burton movies, Supergirl not serving much of a function besides scowling and punching things…
These multiverse movies are like somebody playing with action figures-Michael Shannon, to Variety.
This is EXACTLY how I felt watching The Flash, which also happens to be the sensation I get watching Transformers flicks. Even Zack Snyder provided more style and powerful imagery, but here, anyone can do this because the action is just sound and fury- nothing matters. It’s hackish stuff. Imo, this movie only works when it’s showing heart, but those moments are few and far between because this is just another tired joke-factory, just like the MCU, and how are they not learning that this screws with the tone, given the stakes??
I saw this last night. For a bit now I’ve been getting into arguments with people who have been shitting on this film and I…. can’t believe I agree. I’m shocked you guys gave this thing a -B. That was one of the worst films I’ve ever seen. I wanna say that stupid ass final scene left a bad taste in my mouth but just the whole thing…. there was ONE part I enjoyed and that was Ezra quipping about the tightness of his super suit. That was the one moment I enjoyed in this film.
I saw a comment from this commentariat saying that Michael Keaton bounces around like yoda with a lightsaber in attack of the clones.
That is exactly correct. As soon as the batsuit goes on suddenly a man at his age is kicking above his head and dishing out series of uppercuts to a group of thugs. It’s so ridiculous. And I can’t believe they ditched the emotional weight of the final bruce wayne moment (featured in the animated Flashpoint film) in favour of that stupid ending. Woof. Woof x 1000. Why was Supergirl even there? Wooooooof. The entire film.