Certificate – 12A
Directed By – Andy Muschietti
Starring – Ezra Miller, Michael Keaton, Sasha Calle, Ben Affleck, Michael Shannon, Maribel Verdú, Ron Livingston, Kiersey Clemons, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Antje Traue, Rudy Mancuso.
Running Time – 144 Minutes (2 Hours 24 Minutes)
I’ll be honest. I wasn’t too enthusiastic about seeing The Flash at a press screening last night. My anxiety was high as I hadn’t attended an evening screening in London for over a year, but I’m so glad I did because I had a great time.
The Flash follows Barry Allen (Miller) travelling back in time to save his mother from being murdered. In doing so, he inherently changes the future in which General Zod (Shannon) returns to carry out his terraforming mission, and there are no superheroes to save Earth. However, on this Earth, he must get their Batman (Keaton) out of retirement, get another Barry Allen powers and rescue a Kryptonian (Calle) from prison to even stand a chance, but will it be enough to reset the universe?
I’ll start with this. Miller will never return to this role, and for many perfect reasons. Though I have enjoyed his performance as the Flash in both versions of Justice League and here, he is a massive positive of the film.
Ezra brings so much fun and heartfulness to the character and to the story. I think many men/boys know that feeling and understand Barry’s motivation. Whenever there were scenes involving Barry and Nora (Verdú) were incredibly emotional.
Meanwhile, Miller bounces off Keaton really well and they had good chemistry throughout. A part of me (even though I was born in 93) was happy to see the Spotlight star back in the cowl being Batman again, and he still looks so good and would easily kick arse in a Batman Beyond.
I wish they didn’t give Keaton those two lines in the film, while I smiled at both, they weren’t needed or should’ve come at different moments.
Miller also does a great job of bouncing off himself as the two Barrys, and there are some enjoyable moments throughout with the pair. Newcomer Calle is wonderful and I loved seeing her as Supergirl. To the point, I wish the film were slightly longer or that there was a way for Muschietti to include her more.
The opening is a bittersweet moment seeing Affleck in his final time playing Batman because in the two previous outings, both Zack Snyder’s Justice League and here, it highlights how fantastic of a Dark Knight/Bruce Wayne he is. Sadly, we never saw it in a full solo movie or other DCEU flicks.
Finally, it’s a love letter to the whole of DC history on the big screen, while someone people will have an issue with it. It never really bothered me as that moment brought a smile and laughter of joy.
I do have issues with the film. There’s no denying that the CGI is crap and the reshoots were on a non-Snyder Justice League level of bad, and those who like/love the film will agree, but that never took away from my enjoyment.
The biggest issue for me was the way they presented Flash’s speed. It looked more like the non-Snyder JL, and I wish they stuck it with Snyder’s vision because (as seen in ZSJL) it looks so much better.
Elsewhere, I would have loved that it was more of a Flash story than a world-ending universe with a central villain, as this is the second time Warner Bros has done the Flashpoint storyline without actually doing the Flashpoint storyline.
Because screenwriter Christina Hodson wrote and Muschietti brought to life a part Flash film, part sequel to Snyder’s JL, part sequel to Batman: Returns and part alternative Man of Steel. Yet it still somehow works really well, but if you want a better Flashpoint story, I’d recommend the animated film first.
Plus, this movie should’ve come out after Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom as the closing chapter of the DCEU because now we have this sequel coming out at the end of the year and in the middle Blue Beetle, which DC Studios boss James Gunn recently saying is in the new DCU and it’s getting confusing.
However, with all this said, I had a wonderful time. I smiled from beginning to end and for me smiling hasn’t been the first feeling I’ve felt for a while. I needed the movie to take me away from my real world, and it did that for two and a half hours.
Verdict
The Flash has its issues, but it’s a great entertaining film with some solid performances and I wish to have seen more Supergirl.
The Bear Cave 