The Flash

The Flash

The Flash travels back in time to prevent the murder of his mother, an act which disrupts time significantly.

  • Released: 2023-06-23
  • Runtime: 120 minutes
  • Genre: Action, Adventure
  • Stars: Ezra Miller, Michael Keaton, Kiersey Clemons, Sasha Calle, Ben Affleck, Ron Livingston, Maribel Verdú, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Rudy Mancuso, Ian Loh, Richie Lawrie, Michael Shannon, Antje Traue, Temuera Morrison, Gabriel Constantin, Bastian Antonio Fuentes, Liam Edwards, Paul Fairlie, Nina Barker-Francis, Andoni Gracia, Oleg Mirochnikov, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Rudy Mancuso, Temuera Morrison, James McAvoy
  • Director: Andy Muschietti
 Comments
  • XweAponX - 25 June 2024
    Brilliant reconstruction of Michael Keaton's batcave
    His involvement with this film is what attracted me to it. I wanted to see how they were going to fit the Tim Burton Batman into the Zack Snyder man of steel Universe.

    And it was done brilliantly. There was no problem with the CGI in this film, it was done well. I think what would surprise people would be how much practical effects were used, because it's seamless. Especially when Kara Zor-El is beating her captors into pulp, you can't really tell what is CGI and what is her fist plunging into a helmeted Face, of course it is very sped up, but her movements look real. I suppose what they are complaining about is we have this one section where Barry-Prime and Barry-2 are in the Chronobowl and they are seeing events played over and over. My argument would be that it is supposed to look a bit unreal, because these events are occurring in universes in the next quantum from where they were, and then they are seeing mirrored reflections of even more timelines, and those events look even more unreal the farther from Barry-2's universe they get. It is all shown the way that it would have been in a comic book, which is exactly where these images originated from.

    And although Ezra Miller is kind of problematic as the flash, he still stays within the character that was created for Justice is Grey. He even portrays his character twice, maybe even more.

    And he is even able to parody that character by showing us the flaws with it and admitting those flaws. And because of this, we can almost like the character a little bit more, which was difficult to do in the original theatrical justice league, but was a little bit easier to do with Zack Snyder's Justice league.

    And there is even an unexpected plot twist that centers around an "inevitable intersection". Although I can't get into what that is very much other than, "it's a piece of spaghetti. Or, a whole bunch of pieces of spaghetti."

    I always thought that the Ben Affleck Batman was the closest to the Tim Burton/Michael Keaton Batman as far as darkness of character. Which is all based upon the 80's "The Dark Knight" concept of, "what happens to Batman when he gets old?".

    Ben Affleck answered that question in Batman V Superman and Zack's Justice League, but Michael Keaton answers that question definitively here.

    And it is even a way for Batman to return to the hero he used to be, by accepting his ultimate fate.

    But what this film does the best is to explore the concepts of alternate realities, which have been explored in shows from Star Trek to Farscape to Stargate SG-1 to even "crisis on infinite earths", A major storyline from DC that was shown across several WB shows. Also in the dreams of Ben Affleck Batman and Cyborg- in which the flash always represents a central figure.

    Sasha Calle gives us an alternate Kryptonian, that can stand up to Zod briefly and she was quite magnificent.

    But this story gives us a look at alternate timelines, and Universes converging, which includes just about everybody who has ever played a DC super hero going all the way back to the serials of the 40s, and there are even slight nods to films that were never made. And this would be interesting for anybody who has studied the history of the DC franchise, because it gives us a little bit of reality for those unmade films.

    I was hoping there would have been more of the Michael Keaton Batman, but we got plenty. I wish there had been more time in the film to explore all of these inevitable intersections.

    I think this film is about as close to "zero hour" that we will ever get- "crisis on infinite earths" gave us a small look into zero hour, this film gives us a little bit more.

    I just thought it was unfortunate that the actor who would have played cyborg did not want to be involved in the film.
  • MoviLife - 24 May 2024
    Is there a flashpoint to save this mess?
    I was thrilled when they announced a big-screen adaptation of the beloved TV hit series "The Flash." As a huge fan of the series, my expectations were sky-high, especially with the substantial budget and the integration of other DCU characters. However, my excitement quickly turned to disbelief after seeing the film. What were the creators thinking?

    Firstly, the CGI was shockingly poor. If securing top-tier CGI talent was an issue, they should have opted not to showcase such glaringly bad effects, especially since even the TV show managed better visuals. This was a disappointing start.

    The casting and portrayal of Barry Allen was another major letdown. Known for his awkward, geeky charm in the comics and TV series, I expected a toned-down version for the film to match its more serious predecessors. Instead, Ezra Miller's portrayal was far from what fans of The Flash would expect. His character felt off-his dialogue was cringeworthy and failed to gel with his appearance. Every attempt at humor was painfully awkward, making me miss Grant Gustin's portrayal even more.

    As for the storyline, it lacked coherence and strayed too far from its central character, focusing instead on Batman and Superman. The movie missed a great opportunity to delve deeper into Barry's backstory and his evolution into a hero. This could have created a strong emotional connection with the audience. Moreover, the main villain was a huge disappointment with a predictable twist and an anticlimactic demise.

    I'm profoundly disappointed by what could have been a pivotal moment for DCU on the big screen. It's disheartening to see such potential squandered, leaving fans like me questioning the direction of the DCU and MCU alike. It's been a rough year for these cinematic universes, which once sparked so much excitement and anticipation. Now, it feels like waiting for a hero who never shows up.
  • auskooper - 11 April 2024
    The Flash Review
    The Flash is the first and only movie about the Flash in the DCEU. The main complaint I have is that it really feels like a sequel and this is the first Flash movie. I haven't watched the show with Grant Gustin or Zack Snyder's Justice League yet, so I don't know anything about how they developed Flash and how he handled getting his powers there. It does delve into the multiverse. I prefer the Marvel multiverse movies that came out, of which I'm talking about Quantumania and Across the Spider-Verse. They feel like sequels and are actually sequels, with this one just feeling like one but isn't actually one. That's mainly because it's trying to do the Flashpoint storyline, of which is better to pull off if there's a previous Flash film developing the character.

    Another complaint is that it kinda revealed a couple things that are meant to be reveals/surprises in the advertising, makes it kinda predictable.

    For what I find on the better side, it does feel like it does raise the stakes a bit. Barry really shows a conflict of thought and grows as a character. The action is alright, not bad but could be better.