‘The Flash’ Movie Review: Chaos Reigns In Fun, Uneven DC Outing
Photo from Warner Bros. Pictures/DC Comics
From Joe Peltzer
Filled with fan service, great performances, and inspired action sequences, Andy Muschietti’s The Flash is a ton of fun even as it overdoses on comedy, drowning out its emotional strengths and, dare I say, logic?
In The Flash, Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) travels back in time to prevent his mother’s murder, he ends up in a timeline with no Superman, a threatening General Zod (Michael Shannon), a non-powered version of himself, and a Batman (Michael Keaton) who has seemingly hung up the cape. The film opens with one of the most bonkers action sequences seen yet, one that I am sure is going to rub some people the wrong way with discomfort, but it’s a proper introduction to the type of humor that will serve as an undercurrent of the entire film to come. Miller has perhaps their best performance of their career here, playing two versions of the same character with the Barry we know serving as a sort of mentor to the carefree Barry of this alternate reality; writer Christina Hodson should be credited here with effectively back-dooring an origin story in for the character in a different, non-linear way. The VFX when the two versions are interacting with one another is second-to-none, though the same can’t be said for some choppiness throughout the rest of the film. A large swatch of the film, after Batfleck (the excellent Ben Affleck) has his swan song and the time-jumping chaos ensues, is a buddy comedy of sorts between the two Barry’s. It largely works until it simply doesn’t, the snowball effect of joke after joke becoming tired, monotonous, and downright silly just before the action picks up. I’m all for lighthearted fun, but this distracted from the strong emotion pieces established regarding Barry and his late mother, bookend inclusions that play out near the beginning and end go the film with only minor sprinkles of it in between.
Newcomer Sasha Calle (Supergirl) is a standout, her arc an exciting one, but she’s ultimately an unnecessary inclusion. The same can be said for Keaton’s return as Batman; though he is an absolute delight to see back and his one-liners got the theater jumping, it feels like yet another attempt at fan-service in a film littered with it. Perhaps that is my biggest gripe about The Flash, for aside from the great action (filmed tremendously), laughs, and just pure fun, it all seems like a grab-bag of ideas thrown into one film. When at its best, the film is focused on Barry’s internal moral wrestling match as Zod threatens billions and he just wants to get back to save his family. There is a compelling arc that there that isn’t always apparent, but is well-handled when finally delivered. Add in some curious logical inclusions and leaps, from a dinging microwave to a deranged attempt by Barry to get his powers back, not to mention the complete afterthought that Iris West (Kiersey Clemons) is here and you have another jumble of a DC film that pleases, yet confusion remains.
It’s all not nearly enough to make this anywhere close to the best superhero movie ever made, as some have said. There is a ton going on here, perhaps too much for a first solo outing. Those who complained that the storyline of Batman v Superman was rushed instead of a proper linear sequel should probably take umbrage with the speed at which the filmmakers here decided to jettison past the starting line with The Flash and throw him into arguably one of the biggest comic book arcs in DC history.
That’s not to say that I didn’t laugh, perhaps even shed a tear. There were numerous moments of excitement spawned by surprise cameos and references that got the DC fan in me beyond pumped. I just wish I was for the entire film. And yes, there is an after-credits scene.
Two more films until the reset that I had hoped this would be.
The Flash hits theaters June 16th, 2023.
Rating: 3/5
