The Flash

4 outta 5

The Flash arrives on a wave of behind-the-scenes thespian controversy and unreasonable hype after Warner Bros studio executives in advance proclaimed it one of the greatest superhero movies ever made. Also, 2023 had genuinely great superhero movies like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and just two weeks ago, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse which nailed a superhero multiverse perfectly. So The Flash is not all that. It is, however, a fun and zippy film that cobbles together the last 10 years of DC film and more. Flash bobbles a few moments but there’s a lot of awesome bits for an overall blast.

Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) aka the Flash is a member of the team of superheroes, the Justice League, although Barry’s domestic life isn’t all that great considering his father, Henry (Ron Livingston) is wrongfully imprisoned for the murder of Barry’s mother, Nora (Maribel Verdú). Barry realizes that he can run so fast he can travel back in time, which means he can go back and fix the timeline where his mother dies, although Barry’s Justice League companion Bruce Wayne aka Batman (Ben Affleck) says the consequences could be dire. Barry changes the timeline anyway after a seemingly innocuous change and he runs to 2013 to find his mom alive. He also finds his younger self (also Miller) who has no powers. But the arrival of the alien Kryptonian Zod (Michael Shannon) in 2013 means Superman must appear, but Barry’s changing the timeline has resulted in a non-superpowered world. To make things worse, through an accident the younger Barry gets his Flash powers while the older Barry loses his. To stop Zod, Barry tries to find his old friend, Bruce, but in this new world Wayne is an older recluse (Michael Keaton). Old Bruce decides to throw on the Batsuit again to help Barry, but their search for Superman has instead turned up a different Kryptonian, Kara Zor-El (Sasha Calle). Now the mismatched superheroes must stop Zod with reality threatening to unfurl.

This movie is very directly a continuation of the last few years of DC content, starting with Man of Steel. One throwaway line here where Barry mentions he can travel further back like he did in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, something he didn’t do in the original release of Justice League, which makes Snyder’s canon. In this film when Barry meets Iris (Kiersey Clemons) she says he looks familiar which is a nod to Barry saving her in Snyder’s Justice League. In the opening scene, Barry is complaining he’s stuck being the Justice League janitor cleaning up Batman’s mess, but this leads to a wild scene where Barry is saving babies falling from the sky. It’s hilariously absurd the potential danger the falling babies are in, like one endangered by a falling vat of acid. The CGI in this scene, and a lot of other spots, is a bit wonky (the babies look exactly like CGI babies) but it’s a nifty visual as opposed to realistic. The shaky CGI happens on and off throughout; the finale battle looks cool but there’s a cavalcade of DC superhero cameos that arrive assisted by dodgy CGI. But it’s fun to see so many pieces of DC lore crammed into a single flick.

The marketing for this film with its big push on Keaton’s Batman does it no favours as Keaton Batman, Supergirl and Zod don’t show up until about an hour. Opening with Affleck and other Justice League members is cool with Affleck’s Batman wearing classic blue and grey colours. A lot of one’s enjoyment of the first half is dependent upon how much one can tolerate Ezra Miller and Erza Miller. It is clever due to timeline wonkery there’s a Flash origin story with the older Barry Allen walking the 2013 Barry Allen through the accident that will give him his powers. The stuff with Barry’s mother is a strong emotional core. There is also, unfortunately, lame time travel villain reveals in the third act. In the Speed Force world where Barry can see all of time is a nifty visual, but the scenes of Barry vs. Barry vs. Something Else doesn’t have a good payoff. Most of the villainy is supplied by Shannon’s Zod, glowering effectively.

Keaton returning is a blast as and he returns with a uniquely weird energy. He has a fun bit where he berates Barry for being an idiot messing with the timeline, and his Batman scenes are aces. Calle’s Kara is a wild card as she is slowly recovering her powers. Barry asks her to help but as she was imprisoned by humans she doesn’t trust them, and instead sees herself more as a Kryptonian. There are some interesting twists with Kara and Zod’s crew, although where Batman and Kara eventually end up is underwhelming.

The Flash is a speedy, enjoyable film that has lots of zany moments and large-scale action, with some amusing banter between two of the same character, and a host of nostalgic references to DC properties. Things tend to devolve into a standard CGI superhero slug fest, and the resolution of the time travel mystery is kind of lame, but the emotional payoff for works, as it ends one a supremely weirdly amusing note. For a DC Universe that can sometimes take itself too seriously, this is an enjoyable romp.