So it's felt like its been forever since we knew a Flash movie was coming, and after delays,
controversy and severe leaks, the movie has finally hit theatres.
As a big Man Of Steel fan and a DC fan, I've been waiting to see what
they've done with this rumoured final film in the current DCEU, or one that is said to
be the main reseting event for the DC Universe as
we know it.
And as a whole, while The Flash was an entertaining and fun ride with moments of sincere emotional
storytelling, it's also a film that is very messy.
In this review, I'm going to be giving you my thoughts on why
I believe The Flash is a satisfying mess, discussing how great moments are overshadowed
by not so great approaches to comic book filmmaking.
There will be very brief spoilers in this video, so if haven't seen the film yet, then
I'd recommend watching it before checking out my review.
Before I get into it though, if you want to see more videos on upcoming theatrical
releases like the The Flash movie, including my breakdown of the film's ending which is
coming tomorrow, then don't forget to support this
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But without further a do, lets dive into my review for The Flash.
So the Flash film directed by Andy Muscietti and starring Ezra Miller, Ben Affleck, Michael
Keaton and Sasha Calle is probabaly one of the most mixed bags of a superhero film that
I've seen in a while, containing moments that are
truly thoughtful and emotionally compelling, while also having moments that are outragous
all at the same time.
It feels like a bad mix of filmmaker driven and studio driven content,
where the former promises something great and the later tries to enforce all the wrong
things.
All in the same movie, we get some good vfx on display yet also some of the absolute
worst.
And just like that aspect, the sincerity of the performances and heights of the storytelling
also feel like a missed opportunity too.
The idea of hitting the reset button with a story based on time, alternate realities
and whether canon events can be changed is something that on the surface is appealing,
as it has been with other superhero movies like No Way Home and Across the Spiderverse,
and the very notion of warning us against multiversal actions is what the movie itself
does on multiple occasions, making that concept muddled
in the case of The Flash.
Now I don't want this to sound too negative, because as I whole, I did like the film.
There's a real thoughtfulness to moments of it and especially
in the stuff we get surrounding the two Barry Allen's, their parents, and the integral emotion
that underlines their story.
There's also a lot of fun to be had in the multiversal
aspects and even say Michael Keaton's Batman.
But while it's satisfying in those regards there's also a lot of unstability in the way
its handled and with a mishandling of nostalgia
in the back parts of the film, the whole project feels like a bad cocktail of genres, whether
it be a slaptick comedy, a family drama, an coventional superhero action film or being
a sci-fi.
The great superhero films have a tone that they mostly stick to and explore extensively
and the Flash just ends up being a film that throws it all at the wall and hopes that
some of it will stick.
So Andy Muschietti's film, from a script by Christina Hodson, deserves praise for at least
taking it's ideas and character tragedy seriously.
With the heavy presence of Back To The Future, we learn that Barry makes the decision
to go back in time and change one thing on the day his family was ripped apart.
His Mum sent his Dad to the shop, and while gone,
Barry eventually finds his finds Mum dying on the kitchen floor.
In the present, and after a quite shaky opening, he decides to use his powers to return to
that very day and add a can of tomatoes to his mums basket, so that he
can save both parents.
If you've seen other time travel films or even know of the development of those stories
over the years, you'll know that things shouldn't be that simple when
it comes to course correcting an event.
And while this is a simplification that the movie builds on, at least it does haave a
compelling edge through the emotional undertakings.
We also get a nice exchange between Ezra's main Flash and Ben Affleck's Batman in the
earlier moments of the film, touching on the idea of being
haunted by the past.
Bruce gives him a mature speech about having to live with it and that some things just
can't be changed.
And while the opening action sequences aren't the greatest
in a comic book film, it does hinge on this very idea, and the speech between them is
mainly a solid moment to build on.
From there, we then start to get a good essence of Miller's
character and what he truly feels and is hoping for.
When he goes back to the past, or what we learn is an alterate timeline, he doesn't
just meet another version of himself but befriends and essentially mentors the other
Barry, leading to a process of self discovery.
He's ultimately lonely and missing a sense of friendship or love, and the film does a
great job of touching on those integral character
points by letting him mature.
To build on this positive, I have to say, The Flash is probabaly one of the best results
for a case of a main performer acting alongside himself, something
that I didn't expect having seen what we saw in the early footage and trailers.
Miller does a great job in his performance of portraying
both incarnations of the character and it'll likely make you forget that this is the same
actor, seeing them as different people.
That is minus the bad face cgi.
And when it comes to the return of Michael Keaton from the 1980s
Tim Burton films, we get a more rugged down version of that character appearing more quieter
than he did previously.
He reacts to situations in ways that differ from the more eccentric
flash's, and that does provide a sense of balance.
Furthermore, Sasha Calle's Supergirl is great in the moments she's in, but I have to say,
her and all of the Man Of Steel related stuff did feel like it was only used as a plot device
more than actual fleshed out characters or storytelling points.
I think the actress actually brings the best she can with what's
she's given, and I did like the essence that she brought in honour of say Henry Cavill's
portrayal.
I think it was a missed opportunity to do an alterate version of Cavill in the film,
and having appearences from other characters throughout makes me feel even more dissapointed
that he couldn't at least be included for something.
But as whole when it comes to performances and the main beats of the story, The Flash
does a decent job of setting the table.
Now it's not a secret that this film is changing the events of canon to reset it's universe
for the future, and while some of the results are understable, there's a lot that feels
underwhelming and also quite pandering.
After teasing what could have been a great final sequence with a bit more, it gives us
nostalgia on a level that's almost insulting.
And it's not the conflicting tone that emphasises this,
it's the baffling VFX work, where in both the final battle scene and cameo moments,
it feels like characters are apart of a video game
cutscene or have a weird connection to 2002's The Scorpion King.
It's a shame because in parts the final battle is actually really effective narratively,
as both Barrys have disagreements on whether their traveling actions
will help solve issues or create new ones.
And The Flash does give us a quite hopeful ending without nullifying it's time related
issues throughout.
But the presentation of this and its multiverse related occurences onscreen are something
that really takes you out of the compelling nature that the film often
presents.
And seeing how they use fan callbacks to other versions of characters from the DC landscape,
it's done with no other purpose but to get people pointing at the screen.
And rather than do this in a powerful way, one
that's artistically and visually pleasing, or re-using a library of great footage, they
choose to give us waxwork recreations of actors who
died years ago, and scanned them into horrible looking models.
I get that studios want to get credit for these highly respected figures returning,
but seeing them in this state feels completely grotesque and wrong.
It reminds you of those recreations used in Rogue One and Mandalorian, except here it
looks exceedingly worse and disrespectful.
I get that they likely asked for this permission and got it, but
if you're going to do it, give the respect that these performances deserve and do it
correctly.
It's done in an excessive manner that just looks and feels completely unnesessary.
The final act still has plenty of great moments, it's just hard to get over the fact that this
feels really studio enforced, and when you see
stuff that looks as bad as this does, it disrupts what works well.
Overall, The Flash zooms through a packed story with a lot of energy and enjoyable moments.
But during its climactic end, it comes to a stop with the bad conventions of the genre,
whether that's through nostalgia or visual filmmaking.
On one side of things, I praise the writer Christina Hodson, for telling an origin story
with plenty of emotional beats, even after seeing the main character in multiple
films previously.
But on the other side of things, that genuine sincerity is watered down by all the cookie
cutter conventions and cameos, that studios in the comic book game seem to
constantly turn to in an effort to just please the audience and gain more profitability.
The most important thing when it comes to pleasing
the audience it telling a good story with good characters, delivering on the plot and
narrative questions in satisfying ways and capturing that using competant filmmaking.
And that's what makes The Flash even more confusing.
Because it actually does tell its story well in specific parts, but at the same time it
still panders to the conventions of the genre, and in
turn, underplays the greater effect that it could have had.
I must say though, despite all of the noise, narratively and visually, it does brilliantly
communicate Barry's desire for friendship and the happiness of his younger
years.
It's what keeps it from completely falling off a cliff and it does make for partially
compelling viewing.
It's sad that while Barry grapples with the ethics of his actions to
get what we wants, the movie is also blind to the fact that it's easter eggs and cameos
are doing that exact thing, filling our screens with nostalgia and giving us a weightless
sense of the joy that we once had.
And that joy of the past was mostly filmed and put together better than it is here.
It's hugely dissapointing because as a whole, when The
Flash does deliver on it's own merits, it does so really well.
But in the end, it's another case of a comic book movie that puts effort into
raising interesting topics, and yet it doesn't quite know how to pull it off or do it in
an original way.
But they were my thoughts on The Flash movie.
Of course, from the perspective of being a DC fan, the visions of the various iterations
of DC superheroes are on the surface an exciting thing to see and moments do indeed get the
occasional laughs.
But like I said, I think going a different route rather than with the conventional comic
book nostalgia approach would have been more effective and charming overall.
And that extends to a lot of the bad in The Flash, overshadowing great storytelling beats
with stuff that cheapens the lasting quality of
the film itself.
It's not a movie with many new ideas or a rethinking of the genre as early reactions
were claiming, and it's not the most intellectual film when it comes to the sci-fi
or time related elements on display.
It's a fun superhero movie with real parts of sincerity, that ultimately become lightweight
to the point where it just feels weightless.
Sincere emotion shouldn't be watered down and I think
that's the big issue here.
We expect good stories, good filmmaking and intellectual property that deserves the big
screen treatment.
And it should only elevate the multiversal stuff
if it's used in the right way.
And while The Flash has great moments throughout, it's too messy across the board and it just
deserves a lot more focus.
Overall, I'm giving The Flash a rating of 6 out of 10.
Of course, this is just my opinion and I'm sure a lot of people will end up enjoying
it a lot more than I did, but like I was touching on, I did enjoy parts
of the movie and I thought that individual moments were satisfying.
But to those who have seen it already, what was your main reaction after
seeing the movie and do you agree with some of the points I've raised?
Let me know down below in the comments section.
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