THERE’S a lot swirling around The Flash as it finally arrives in cinemas after a long and arduous production – it was first announced in October 2014 for a March 2018 release – in fact, a TV series about the character ran for a whole nine seasons from 2014 until earlier this year.
Despite being one of DC Comics’ most iconic characters, many many creatives came and went, unable to make the movie work before Andy Muschietti came on board to direct. In addition, there’s the extensive legal trouble lead actor Ezra Miller is in. It’s so bad that he hasn’t done publicity for the movie and the ads have focused on Batman and Supergirl.
There’s also the fact that The Flash is the latest entry in the DC Extended Universe, a now failed attempt by the comics company to match the stratospheric success (at least until recently) of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While Marvel found mainstream success, DC played catch-up, making movies that tried to be different and ended up gaining a small if rabid fanbase.
Things got so bad that DC poached James Gunn – most recently the director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 – away from Marvel to lead a reset of their movie universe, with a new vision (and new actors) to bring these stories to life.
All this to say that The Flash has a lot stacked against it. The box office failures of the previous two DCEU movies Black Adam and Shazam 2 are also not good signs.
Stuck in the past
When the movie starts Barry Allen (Miller), blessed with the powers of super speed which he has by accessing the Speed Force (it’s complicated), is barely balancing his personal life and being a superhero. Working together with Batman (Ben Affleck), he saves some babies from a crumbling hospital in a delightfully goofy action scene.
At home things are not going well, as Barry’s father is currently in prison, having been wrongfully convicted for the murder of Barry’s mother. There’s a hearing scheduled that could clear his father’s name, but Barry can’t find the evidence to make that happen.
In a fit of emotion, Barry starts running and running, before realising that at a certain point, he can go back in time. Very quickly, he decides to alter events so that his mom lives and he gets the happy family life he missed out on.
However, as can be expected, this moment of happiness leads to a variety of unintended consequences – which first becomes apparent when Barry runs into a more foolish younger version of himself (also played by Miller).
Then, General Zod (Michael Shannon), the villain of 2013’s Man of Steel attacks Earth, but for whatever reason there is no Superman to face him. In fact, superheroes (or meta-humans as the DCEU calls them) don’t seem to exist… except for Batman, who’s stopped fighting crime and has faded into legend.
However, when the two Barrys visit the dilapidated Wayne Manor, we find out that in this universe Batman is no longer played by Affleck, but is now Michael Keaton in full Howard Hughes mode, an aged version of the character he first played in 1989’s Batman.
There’s more twists and turns, including the appearance of Kara Zor-El/Supergirl (Sasha Calle), who has all the powers of her more famous relative but none of the warmth (she’s in Siberia).
Multiverse shenanigans
Yes, the multiverse is all the rage these days, with the Marvel Cinematic Universe going all in with the idea in recent years (Loki, Doctor Strange 2, Ant-Man 3), and Everything Everywhere All At Once raking in all the big awards at this year’s Oscars. Most recently, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse mined similar territory.
All of this is to say that The Flash comes across as feeling like it’s all too little, too late, and that the DCEU is still playing catch up with Marvel – even though the MCU has been floundering a little as of late.
The Flash depends too much on mining nostalgia, especially once we meet Keaton’s Batman. It really wants to be a cross-generational hit and ticks all the boxes, but there’s not enough substance or emotion there.
Even though Batman and Supergirl have been prominently featured in the promotion of this movie, this is still very much a movie about the Flash. Despite all their legal issues, Miller does a good job finding the heart and humour of his character(s). They’re able to embody two versions of Barry well enough that you might find yourself thinking they’re acting opposite a twin.
Keaton’s still one of the best actors working today and it’s a treat to see him suit up as Bats once again. While he’s a lot older, he’s got plenty of gadgets up his sleeve (or on his utility belt) that lets him throw down henchmen with ease.
The problem is there’s not really much for him to do in the story, with most of the emotional connection between him and Barry thinly implied. A lot more could have been done with the character beyond mining nostalgic memories of better movies.
As Supergirl, Calle is fine in the role but also doesn’t have much to do besides being the muscle of the group. She’s stoic and forceful but doesn’t register beyond that. Like a lot of the movie, she looks great in costume but it’s all superficial.
In terms of the look of the movie, there are a lot of dodgy special effects, especially when it comes to faces. When the action is big and seen from a distance it’s decent, sometimes really good, but when it zooms in, there’s just something fake about how the characters look. Combined with the wonky physics of some of the superpowers (Barry’s running motion can look goofy), it makes everything weightless.
The core emotional story with Barry having to deal with loss and coming to terms with the past works, and is heart-wrenching at points, but it gets muddied by all the multiverse shenanigans and nostalgia mining (cameos galore). That being said, there’s enough humour to make it all go down easy and the action is fun, though repetitive.
The Flash isn’t good enough to save the DCEU, but maybe nothing is. – The Vibes, June 15, 2023
