The Flash, 2023.
Directed by Andy Muschietti.
Starring Ezra Miller, Sasha Calle, Michael Shannon, Ron Livingston, Maribel Verdú, Kiersey Clemons, Antje Traue, Michael Keaton, Ben Affleck, Ian Loh, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Rudy Mancuso, Luke Brandon Field, Gal Gadot, and Jeremy Irons.
SYNOPSIS:
Barry Allen uses his super speed to change the past, but his attempt to save his family creates a world without superheroes, forcing him to race for his life to save the future.
It has been a long road to get here with numerous writers and directors onboard only to depart the project, but The Flash has finally arrived in theatres as Ezra Miller and Andy Muschietti lead a star-studded superhero film that’s half time travel and half multiversal trip. The question, however, is whether the film that was delivered, with the addition of Sasha Calle as Supergirl and Michael Keaton donning the cape and cowl of Batman after 30 years, was worth the long wait for a Flash feature film.
The answer is somewhere in the middle. The Flash is an entertaining film that follows Miller’s Barry Allen as he travels back in time to prevent his mother’s murder, but in doing so causes a ripple effect that not only changed the timeline but seemingly spread throughout the multiverse. There’s a lot of interesting ideas the story, written by Christina Hodson and Joby Harold, presents but doesn’t fully follow through on. Muschietti’s direction gets some nice moments of character introspection from the three leads, with Miller playing two different versions of Flash side-by-side, but there is still a fair bit that either wasn’t explored to its full potential or glossed over entirely. Then there’s the CGI which, while not completely hampering ones enjoyment, is distracting enough to call attention to especially during the third act’s climactic battle.
Miller does a good job in their dual role of The Flashes, who for the purposes of this review we’ll call Flash-Prime (the one we’ve seen from Miller in previous DC films) and Young Flash (the younger alternate Barry Allen created by Flash’s time travel shenanigan). Miller conveys the wisdom and control Flash-Prime has learnt as a superhero even if he feels underappreciated by his Justice League comrades and is still feeling the loss of his mother and wrongfully imprisoned father. The journey Flash-Prime goes on as he learns the full weight on his actions offers some introspection into his character as well as the nature of tragedy included in most superhero origins. Miller’s Young Flash, however, has taken life for granted with an act that gets tiring more than intended with flat humour and repeated beats as Young Flash marvels at his powers or his obliviousness being the butt of a joke more than once. Miller’s performance is still good, particularly in some of their emotional scenes, but doesn’t dive as in-depth into Flash’s character than they could have.
Joining him in this adventure is Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Sasha Calle as Kara Zor-El/Supergirl. It is a delight to see Keaton back in one of his, if not his most, iconic roles and even more than 30 years after Batman and Batman Returns he slips the cowl on as if no time has passed at all. Keaton captures Batman’s older wisdom and attitude with the awkward charm his Bruce Wayne had in his original films. It is quite a contrast to Ben Affleck who displays a much more put together Batman and Bruce, yet they are similar in their friendships with Barry and the knowledge they impart. The chemistry Keaton shares with Miller is good as he takes on the role of a sage mentor while Calle is one of the film’s biggest elements that stand out. She conveys the rage and hope in Supergirl and, like Keaton, has some nice moments with both versions of Flash. Calle also effortlessly shows the power and toughness of Supergirl’s character in some great fight scenes, displaying another contrast between her and her more experienced and technically older cousin as she’s the hammer to his scalpel.
For those worrying Batman and Supergirl’s presence might mean it’s less of a Flash movie and more of a mini Justice League have little cause for concern as the story revolves around The Flash. Barry is front and centre, focusing on his journey and how he feels after having changed the timeline and possibly the multiverse so dramatically. That said, The Flash ironically needed more Batman and Supergirl as many of their own character moments are rushed through to get to the next story beat. Despite the mentor relationship that grows between Flash-Prime and Keaton’s Batman, those scenes are few and far between and even though Keaton is playing his version of Batman it still feels like any former Batman, from Keaton to Affleck or even Christian Bale, could have filled this role as only a couple of Easter eggs tie The Flash to Batman. We don’t get any idea beyond a handwave as to why Keaton’s Bruce is the way he is when we meet him nor do we get a sense of any other adventures he might have had post Returns (especially regarding a certain woman with a fondness for cats whose fate was left as a cliffhanger).
Likewise, there was a lot of potential for Supergirl as her origin is drastically different from Superman’s. Whereas he happened to land next to America’s kindest couple and learned to love humanity with no memory of Krypton, she actually lived on their home planet before its destruction and upon landing on Earth was captured and experimented on for years if not decades. Her decision to help Flash-Prime save the world comes rather quickly given everything she endured. The Flash tries to have its cake and eat it too with being a Flash-centred story featuring not just the nostalgic return of Keaton but the first live-action Supergirl in film in nearly 40 years, yet without some of the deep character introspection that is often provided to Flash-Prime.
In that same vein, The Flash relies heavily on the history of the DCEU as the main conflict becomes a slight retelling of Man of Steel with Michael Shannon returning as General Zod to threaten Earth in this new continuity. It’s contradictory to say this is a Flash film focused on him but also not as The Flash leans on the past to tell its story rather than feature Flash’s supporting characters or his own rogues gallery. We may have gotten 9 seasons of The Flash on TV, but it is still a missed opportunity for his first feature film not to explore his own little corner of the DC Universe and instead be a trip through the multiverse with several surprises that may prove controversial to fans.
The action is certainly entertaining and Muschietti captures the scale of Flash’s powers, especially when Flash-Prime and Young Flash’s skills are contrasted against each other to show how distinct they are. However, the visual effects throughout the film, not just for most of the action scenes but even some of the more visionary sequences, are incredibly lackluster. The actors’ computer-generated images have a rubbery quality to them in their looks and movements. This is especially egregious during close-ups and slow-motion shots, which happen to be quite often due to Flash’s speedy powers. It is also oft-putting to see CGI Keaton’s Batman, whose movements were famously restricted because of his suit’s design, be much more agile in a fighting style closer to Affleck’s Batman from either his action scene at the film’s start or even the warehouse fight in Batman v Superman, a fact which adds to the feeling that it didn’t necessarily have to be Keaton taking The Flash‘s other Batman role. It also doesn’t help that some of the action is rather bland, either taking place in a darkened facility or a vast desert. There’s not much variety in colour or location, but the film does get some cool imagery of both Flashes working together that look ripped out of a comic book from time to time.
The Flash is an entertaining enough film that will please most crowds with good performances from Miller, Keaton and Calle. Muschietti directs a nice story about what drives The Flash, though it somehow focuses on him yet relies on so many other DC elements to tell that story rather than explore his world fully. The Flash will be an enjoyable time for the family as well as Flash and DC fans, but whether it will capture enough interest in the superhero himself or what it may mean for the future of DC on film is anyone’s guess, but The Flash isn’t quite the blockbuster WB was likely hoping for.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.
