Movie Review: ‘The Flash’

Plot: Barry Allen/The Flash (Ezra Miller) is running in place. While the fastest man alive spends his days protecting Central City’s citizens and occasionally helping Batman (Ben Affleck), the rest of his life remains a mess. His career as a CSI investigator has stalled, his co-workers do not respect him, and his love life is non-existent. When Barry’s latest attempt to clear his innocent father for the murder of his mother fails, Barry grows desperate. Driven by grief and desperation, Barry uses his abilities to travel back in time and save his mother from getting murdered. Unfortunately, his actions have severe consequences as he returns not to 2023 but to an alternate 2013 where his younger self possesses no powers, and the world contains no meta-humans. When General Zod (Michael Shannon) appears to conquer Earth, the two Barrys must team up with an alternate Batman/Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton) and Kara Zor-El/Supergirl (Sasha Calle) to save the planet.

Review:

*A quick note before I begin this review. I’m very cognizant of the fact that the star of The Flash, Ezra Miller, has been accused of some pretty horrible acts. By their own admission, they are dealing with multiple mental health issues. However, much of their behavior is extremely disturbing particularly the accusations of grooming. Having said that, this is a review of The Flash movie’s worth ONLY. I’ve seen several reviews that are clearly biased because of the author’s attitudes regarding Miller’s behavior and go so far as to reference it in the actual review. To me, this is the height of intellectual dishonesty. I’m here to critique the merits, or lack thereof, of the film itself. Miller’s alleged behavior will not factor into this review.

And so…

The Flash is one of those films it feels like audiences have been hearing about forever. Multiple delays due to COVID-19 and a stubborn refusal to release this film on a streaming platform indicated WB had the goods with this one. Test screenings from as far back as a year ago didn’t just power the hype train, they created another freight car. In fact, many went so far as to hail The Flash as the best comic book film since The Dark Knight. Well, it turns out that wasn’t just hyperbole…it was downright fiction.

The Flash isn’t the best comic book film since The Dark Knight. Not even close.

Sometimes funny with occasional moments of greatness, director Andy Muschietti’s The Flash suffers from a weak story that’s too reliant on nostalgia and rarely makes an impact. That isn’t to say that The Flash is necessarily a bad movie, it isn’t. Rather it’s so bland and unremarkable that I doubt anyone will be talking about this movie in two years’ time. Say what you want about Man of Steel (I adore it) but a decade on, the discourse surrounding that film is very much alive.

Before I get into my issues with The Flash, I feel it’s important I point out the strengths of this movie because some critics are calling this the worst comic book film of all time. That is ALSO fiction. In a world where Green Lantern and X-Men Origins: Wolverine exist, that statement is demonstrably false.

The strongest element of this movie is the mother/son dynamic between Barry and his Mom Nora (Maribel Verdu). The Flash rightfully fosters that relationship so that it possesses a real emotional impact. I credit Muschietti for taking the time to develop these quieter more dramatic moments. I have zero qualms about Muschietti being able to handle the Bruce/Damian dynamic in the upcoming Batman: The Brave and the Bold.  Nora and Barry’s relationship is the throughline of the entire film and gives The Flash much-needed narrative heft. I won’t spoil it, but there’s a scene toward the end of the film between Barry and Nora that had me choking up and thinking of my own mother who passed almost seven years ago. Barry and Nora’s relationship salvages a lot of The Flash’s weaker moments and what Verdu does with limited screen time can’t be overstated.

Additionally, while there are many weak elements to The Flash, Ezra Miller’s performance is not one of them. Miller had the burden of playing two versions of himself, the 2023 iteration of Barry and the eighteen-year-old 2013 incarnation. There’s a distinctness to each version of Barry that makes you believe they are two separate people—even if I couldn’t stand the younger version of Barry. I must admit, watching an older version of Barry interact with his younger self made me think about how obnoxious I probably was at eighteen. It’s a novel approach that deserves recognition.

The supporting performances are also solid here. Ben Affleck’s portrayal of Bruce Wayne really stood out, particularly a speech about how scars make us who we are, and that you don’t have to let your tragedy define you. (Note that I said Affleck’s portrayal of Bruce Wayne stood out. I will get to my thoughts about his Batman shortly.) Sasha Calle also delivers an excellent performance as Kara Zor-El/Supergirl. Kara is a very different character than Kal-El in that she’s been tortured most of her life and has no love for humans. She’s got an edge and a gravitas I appreciated. If Gunn and Safran decide she’s the one for the upcoming Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, I’m in.

And then there’s Michael Keaton’s return as Bruce Wayne/Batman. For many of a certain age (like myself) he’s the definitive Batman having portrayed the character in the Tim Burton films. I’m happy to report the septuagenarian hasn’t lost a step and it was great to see him back in action. If anything, I wanted to see more of him. Watching him don the Batsuit and fly the Batplane hit me in the feels. Also, Keaton’s Bruce Wayne does the best job to date explaining the multiverse via a plate of spaghetti.

Now for the problems, and there are quite a few.

The most glaring one involves the action sequences and the CGI. Aside from the opening fifteen minutes (which I enjoyed quite a bit), The Flash’s action scenes are so cookie-cutter and generic (particularly the third-act battle) they come across as the cinematic version of playing with action figures. Aside from a few shots in the Bat Cave, the cinematography of the usually reliable Henry Braham is fairly pedestrian and unremarkable. Ditto Benjamin Wallfisch’s score which barely registers. The final confrontation takes place on a desolate plain in the middle of nowhere and reads like a cut scene from a Justice League video game. You may have heard the rumors about how poor the CGI is. I’m here to tell you it’s worse. This isn’t just bad. This is Scorpion King-level bad. Muschietti has gone on record saying it’s meant to be that way. You can make the argument that maybe that’s the case when Barry is in the Speed Force but as for the rest of it? I don’t believe him. It’s shockingly bad considering this is a $200 million film.

Additionally, the comedic elements of The Flash are cringe-level awful. What’s worse is that I believe that was intentional. Maybe I’m too old, but you can’t just make something cringe and call it a day. Yes, there’s a great scene involving how various 80s icons are in different roles in this version of 2013 (Eric Stoltz is Marty McFly from Back to the Future for example) but younger Barry comes off so annoying and stupid that he’s more like a twelve-year-old than an eighteen-year-old. Barry Allen the character is supposed to be extremely intelligent but somehow, he can’t figure out Bruce Wayne is Batman when the two Barrys go visit the Michael Keaton version? He really thinks he’s going to a Cousins Dinner? Really?

(Incidentally that last points to a larger issue I have with the DCEU’s version of Barry Allen/The Flash as a whole. It’s such a quirky and awkward portrayal that it’s like Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory got superpowers. Grant Gustin’s version of Barry Allen in The Flash television show is much more in line with my understanding of Barry, to the point that I hope Miller gets recast or James Gunn and company go the Wally West route. But I digress.)

Christina Hodgson’s screenplay also leaves something to be desired. There’s no way to sugarcoat this but sometimes the writing is downright horrendous. Whether it’s the uneven tone, the cheesy dialogue (even for a comic book movie), or the decision to make the younger version of Barry virtually unbearable, the script is riddled with misfires. Again, the strongest element of The Flash is Hodgson’s well-written dynamic between Barry and Nora. However, this doesn’t make up for the fact that Affleck’s version of Batman is akin to the version we saw in Joss Whedon’s Justice League. There’s also no concrete villain aside from Michael Shannon’s Zod, who’s clearly there for the paycheck. He sleepwalks through a performance that is a poorly written pale imitation compared to the nuanced character study audiences got in Man of Steel. Also, the crux of The Flash hinges on the concept that Barry shouldn’t change the past for personal gain as it can have severe consequences. Yet a decision by Barry at the end of the movie completely invalidates this hard lesson, undercutting Barry’s character growth. This is Screenwriting 101, and I cannot understand this colossal gaffe.  

Furthermore, for the life of me, I can’t comprehend the approach to this movie when it comes to the story. My issues are two-fold. First off, how can you have a Flash origin story and not include either the Reverse Flash or Zoom as your primary villain? That’s like having the first-ever Batman movie not have the Joker. Secondly, if you’re going to make Flashpoint your primary basis for the film, why not just do an honest adaptation of Flashpoint? Why do this half-baked, bastardized version of one of Geoff John’s seminal works? It just makes no sense.

Speaking of nonsense, I am utterly perplexed by the final shot of the movie. It involves an unexpected cameo that—while chef’s kiss level amusing—nevertheless feels pointless. Even moreso when you consider the future of the DCU under James Gunn and Peter Safran’s leadership. And the post-credits scene involving Aquaman and Barry? It is a dolphin-sized level wet fart of a scene that adds nothing of value.

When tallying the final race results, The Flash never approaches a world-class sprint. Hell, it barely manages a respectable shuffle.

My rating system:

1 God Awful Blind Yourself With Acid Bad

2 Straight Garbage

3 Bad

4 Sub Par

5 Average

6 Ok

7 Good

8 Great

9 Excellent

10 A Must See

The Flash: 5/10