Here’s our review of “The Flash” as Barry Allen travels back in time to right a wrong that changed his life forever…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
If it feels like forever that we’ve been promised “The Flash” movie, that’s because it has.
Let’s not even explore all the ways “The Flash” has been stuck in development for decades but instead only focus on the DC Extended Universe that effectively launched with “Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice.”
That film directed by Zack Snyder introduced — albeit very briefly — a host of new characters that were expected to then appear in a pair of “Justice League” movies while also spinning off into a series of individual movies. There was a time when “The Flash” film was supposed to be released in 2016.
Obviously, that didn’t happen.
Fast forward seven years later and “The Flash” has finally arrived in theaters but even now the movie is clouded under controversy and that has nothing to do with the legal drama and behavior surrounding star Ezra Miller.
It’s been well documented that James Gunn has taken control over the creative direction of DC film, television and animation with plans to launch a whole new shared universe starting with his movie “Superman: Legacy.” While Gunn hasn’t stated if legacy characters like Miller’s Flash or Jason Momoa’s Aquaman — with another sequel in that franchise set for release in December — could potentially stick around, it seems highly unlikely that anybody originally cast by Snyder will still be part of the DCEU by the time “Superman: Legacy” drops in 2025.
But “The Flash” still cost somewhere around $200 million to make so there was no way the film was just going to get tossed onto the scrap pile (like what happened with the “Batgirl” movie) and ultimately it turns out that was a good decision.
“The Flash” is far from a perfect comic book movie but despite some flaws that haunt the film, this is probably the best DC movie since Snyder was allowed to go back and resurrect his version of “Justice League,” which really was a masterpiece. Director Andy Muschietti leans into a lot of nostalgia and Miller plays to their strength with just enough heart mixed with a whole lot of goofiness to make this movie work … for the most part.
With that said, let’s get to our full review for “The Flash”…
PLOT
The film kicks off with a fully-realized Justice League team protecting and serving the people of Earth to stop all kinds of crimes and diverting major disasters. With Alfred Pennyworth serving as a sort of quarterback calling the plays, he sends an alert to Barry Allen to help stop a hospital from collapsing, which is only necessary because Batman is off chasing thieves and Superman is stopping a volcano elsewhere in the world.
It’s during this action-packed opening sequence that Barry discovers a strange phenomenon — when he runs really, really fast, he ends up crossing boundaries between space and time. It gives him a peak into past, which confirms Barry’s suspicions that he could actually travel backwards in time and that gives him a remarkable idea.
The next day serves as a final appeal for his father in court after he was convicted of murdering Barry’s mother when he was only nine years old. Of course, Barry knows his father didn’t commit such a heinous act but the burden of proof has worked against them and now Henry Allen is standing on the precipice of a permanent conviction that will keep him in prison until the day he dies.
When Barry realizes that he can travel back in time, he considers the possibility of returning to the day his mother died and stopping that tragedy from ever happening. Thankfully, Barry’s pal Bruce Wayne reminds him of the devastating consequences that could result in messing with the past and for a moment it appears that there will be no time traveling.
That is until Barry convinces himself that if he only goes back and changes one very minor detail in an otherwise mundane day, he could prevent his mother from being murdered and his father wouldn’t spend the rest of his life in jail.
What harm could possibly from that? It’s safe to say a lot.
ACTING, DIRECTING AND SCRIPT
For those not familiar, Andy Muschietti, who directed “The Flash,” is probably best known for his past work on “It: Chapter One” and “It: Chapter Two” not to mention “Mama” so almost his entire history comes from working in horror. Going from that to a $200 million superhero movie is quite a change but one that Muschietti handles rather well while following in similar footsteps as James Wan after he started out his career with “Saw” and “The Conjuring” before eventually becoming the “Aquaman” director.
Muschietti nails the perfect balance with tone in this film where there’s plenty of comedy mixed in with heart-racing action and he adapts a smart and creative way to display Barry running faster than the speed of light, which is a really nice effect.
There are definitely a few too many cartoonish like scenes at work in this movie — the CGI budget alone must have cost nine figures — but that’s almost expected with a film like this. Those over the top sequences are somewhat hit or miss in this movie but overall for a comic book film like this, it all works fairly well.
The script by Christina Hodson is strong, especially when it comes to Barry’s emotional turmoil and the pain that continues to reverberate through every cell in his body due to the death of his mother and by extension the loss of his father. Where the story takes a turn for the worse is the introduction of General Zod as the main villain — Michael Shannon is a fine actor but he was absolutely phoning in this performance — and the broody introduction of Sasha Calle as Supergirl.
Neither feel particularly impactful in this movie and truthfully the story could have gone in a dozen different directions without Zod or Supergirl being involved.
Thankfully, Michael Keaton’s return as Batman is not only a welcome addition but he’s by far the best part of this movie. Maybe that’s the kid sitting in a theater in 1989 watching him growl “I’m Batman” talking but Keaton really does fall back into his old role with an standing ovation worthy performance.
And truth be told, Miller is actually rather impressive for the biggest part of this movie — and that’s coming from somebody who never really saw them fitting into the role of Barry Allen or the Flash. Perhaps it was just an unfair comparison with Grant Gustin out there as the definitive version of the character, in my opinion, but it turns out Miller really just needed more time to explore Barry Allen and The Flash rather than just popping up as comedic relief in past films.
Miller still goes a little overboard and manic at times but there are also some really touching moments in this movie that will pull at the heartstrings. It was honestly fun to see Miller actually get to breathe as this character after first being cast all the way back in 2015.
WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE MOVIE?
“The Flash” movie is loosely based on the “Flashpoint” storyline from the comic books where a despondent Barry Allen travels back in time to save his mother from being killed and that results in a paradigm shift that changes the entire universe. On the most basic level that’s what happens here as well — but someone really needs to figure out why every major comic book influenced film and TV series suddenly decided to focus the multiverse all at once.
There’s certainly a creative way to tackle the subject —“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” have done it best — but lately it feels like injecting a multiverse storyline is really just a lazy way of bringing back past characters or introducing alternate timelines that ultimately just turns into a mess.
That’s exactly what happens here with “The Flash,” particularly with the decision to introduce two Barry Allen’s — that’s in the trailer so no spoilers beyond that — but the reason just bogs down the film in a whole lot of unnecessary exposition between characters. The film would have been much better served to stick with one Barry Allen and let Michael Keaton’s return as Batman serve as the biggest shock during the 2 hour and 24 minute movie.
As previously mentioned, General Zod is just about as generic a villain as you could imagine so it’s beyond comprehension why he came back for this film. There’s a vast library of Flash villains that could have been introduced and hypothetically would have been so much better than a tired Kryptonian with no real ties to our lead character. If this was a multiverse movie about Superman, then Zod returning might make sense but otherwise, let’s not forget that this is a movie about The Flash.
FINAL VERDICT
For the most part, “The Flash” is a fun film with a lot of heart, emotion and just enough comedy to keep audiences laughing before inevitably crying. The multiverse aspect is really the worst part about this movie because honestly they just didn’t go far enough or at least get more creative with what was used. Keaton’s return was welcome but the story could have either stopped there or really pushed the envelope to separate the world that Barry travels to back in time or the one he finds when returning to the future.
“The Flash” gets 3 out of 5 of the Skolnick Scale.
