Regarding DCEU movies, The Flash is the most anticipated one for various reasons. Despite lead actor Ezra Miller’s recent disturbing allegations, most people can agree that their portrayal of Barry Allen/The Flash is one of the brighter moments in both versions of Justice League. It is mainly for this reason that people were initially jazzed about this movie. Well, a lot has changed since then.
Since their criminal allegations surfaced, people have had mixed and negative feelings about the release of this movie. I know I have had them. At the same time, the promise of the return of Michael Keaton as Batman breathed some new life into the interest of this movie. Also, the fact that Warner Bros is somewhat proud of this movie has not stopped them from releasing a film featuring an actor accused of atrocious crimes.
That is precisely what makes this movie review so very bittersweet for me. At the same time, I am appalled by what Ezra Miller is being accused of, but I was confident that they would deliver when it comes to the performance of their character. I also hoped this film would provide a fun and exciting superhero entry. As it turns out, The Flash is a very good movie with flaws and issues.
Since the events of Justice League, Barry Allen/The Flash has taken a job at Star Laboratories but is also pulling double duty as a superhero. Though he feels moderately content with this new life, he continues to live with the personal baggage of the tragic murder of his mother (Maribel Verdu) and that his father (Ron Livingston) has been wrongfully charged and convicted for the crime. Using his speed powers, Barry discovers that he can travel so fast that he can travel in time.
Upon this discovery, he decides to return and save his mother. However, he soon realizes that time travel and tampering with past events have their consequences when he eventually finds himself in an alternate timeline/universe where metahumans do not exist. In this new world, the Kryptonian villain General Zod (Michael Shannon) attacks Earth, but no Superman lives to save the planet. After Barry unintentionally runs into his younger self in this universe, the two decide to work together to attempt to correct everything that has gone wrong.
Written by John Francis Dailey, Jonathan Goldstein, Joby Harold, and Christina Hodson, director Andy Muschietti’s The Flash is full of heart and poignancy and works tremendously well as a comedy. The movie does have its problems in both the writing and some of the CGI effects, but the overall experience is undoubtedly moving and entertaining. Not all of the CGI is terrible, though. The effects allowing two versions of Barry Allen to interact seamlessly are amazing. However, regarding some battle sequences and super heroics, the CGI in these scenes is so bad that I cannot believe the effects were allowed to make the cut.
Still, because this movie has such a sincere heart, I enjoyed it and was affected by it emotionally. There is so much to love about this movie. The return of Michael Keaton as Batman delivers what fans have been longing for for a long time. Keaton slips into the character as no time has passed and has plenty of beautiful moments that are sure to please his most ardent fans.
The Flash also marks an introduction to a new character that had yet to appear in a DCEU entry. This movie introduces Supergirl, aka Kara Zor-El (Sasha Calle), a Kryptonian Barry discovers when searching for the Superman he knows and admires from his world. While the introduction is this character is exciting, the development of this character could be better, despite the solid performance of Calle.
Overall, I still recommend The Flash as a delightful superhero movie. Despite its glaring problems, I had a lot of fun with it. It’s a damn shame that so much talent exists within Ezra Miller because I get the feeling we won’t see much of them anymore. I am not saying I want them to rebound right away from their current situation. They must answer for their crimes and work on their problems.