‘The Flash’ is a convoluted, hyperkinetic fun mess

[Rating: Minor Rock Fist Up]

Only in theatres

I’ve been hard on the DCEU movies ever since Batman v Superman sucked and set the standard as to what to expect from the continuation of the so called “Snyder-Verse.” The Flash represents a welcome and merciful end to that era, and to my surprise it’s not as bad as it could have been after years of delays, re-writes, re-shoots, not to mention behind the scenes production troubles including multiple director changes and a troubling stretch of dangerous behavior from the film’s lead speedster, Ezra Miller.

Despite everything The Flash has going against it, and assuming you can get past Miller’s egregious behavior (and Warner Bros. is really hoping you can), the movie is actually a lot of fun and a lot better than it has any right to be after all the production issues. It’s goofy, it’s silly, it’s too long, it overly complicates itself by unnecessarily repeating story beats, but for the most part it’s lighthearted, funny, and entertaining. Most of it anyway. While it is not way free of flaws, it is at least a fun way to say goodbye to this version of DC’s beloved superheroes before the hard(-ish) reset.

The Flash finds the neurotic Barry Allen (Miller) consumed by the guilt and grief of losing his mother at a young age and dealing with the final appeal for his father, who is in prison for the mysterious death of mom. So like any good hero, Barry decides to abuse his power and run so fast he travels through time so he can go back in time to make things right, despite everyone including Batman (Ben Affleck) telling him he’s going to make things worse, which of course he does. To make things right, Barry teams up with another Barry (also Miller) and another Batman (Michael Keaton) to save Supergirl (Sasha Calle), who is unfortunately given far too little screen time, to stop Zod (Michael Shannon) — remember him from Man of Steel?

The film works best when it just keeps moving. Director Andy Muschietti (IT, Mama) cobbles together a whirlwind adventure through the speed force, weaving elements of movies we all love like Back to the Future and the nostalgia of Richard Donner’s Superman movies and of course having a Keaton back makes it that much more special, even if his best scenes are when he’s Bruce Wayne. The action is fun. It’s bonkers. At times there is too much going on, but it never loses its whimsical sense of humor, nor does it try and pretend there is more than meets the eye to any of these characters. This is Muschietti and screenwriters Christina Hodson and Joby Harold playing with DC’s toys and having a blast.

Unfortunately, the timing off The Flash release couldn’t be worse, coming just weeks after the release of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse — which is a much, much, much better multiverse movie — not to mention Doctor Strange into the Multiverse of Madness, Spider-Man: No Way Home, even recent Best Picture winner Everything, Everywhere All at Once. Movie audiences are being bludgeoned with multi-versal stories, and instead of creating interesting stories that push the boundaries of the genre, the filmmakers are deferring to over-cramming nostalgic cameos to placate for the lack of originality.

This movie also features some of the worst CGi in a superhero movie in a while. It’s not all bad, but when it’s bad, it’s pretty, pretty, pretty bad. It is downright ugly at times, especially in an awful opening sequence that has Barry trying to refuel on carbs while he’s saving bunch of babies falling out of a crumbling hospital. If you thought it was bad when Indiana Jones got in a refrigerator to survive a nuke, brace yourselves for something even more ridiculous.

Everyone is going to be talking about the return of Michael Keaton, reprising the iconic role as Bruce Wayne and Batman for the first time since the Burton-Verse movies Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1991). The good news is he looks like he’s having a lot of fun, but more importantly he feels like he fits right in with the ridiculousness ensuing around him. But being a muliti-verse movie, DC would be foolish not to cram in some unnecessary cameos and they do. Unfortunately most of them feel like fan service, even if they are fun and strangely long, long overdue.

Ezra Miller is leading his first DC movie after first appearing in Justice League and the release is coming in the wake of mental health issues that had a lot of people wondering if DC could possibly release the movie. But in the wake of sweeping changes, and having already canned Batgirl, which also co-starred Keaton, but more importantly was starring a woman of color (Leslie Grace), Warner Bros. and DC are trying to turn the page to the next era of DC films to the the “Gunn-verse,” as Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn has assumed control of the new DC Universe, in which probably everyone is going to be replaced, except maybe Jason Mamoa as Aquaman. He’s mostly fine here, even if he’s still not quite what a Barry Allen character should be. That being said, this movie, despite adverts focusing on Keaton’s Batman return, but this really is, for better and worse, Ezra’s movie. Whether he gets another crack at the character may be a long shot but if this is his only solo flick, it’s an admirable finish.

The Flash is a lot better than it probably should be. Yes, just like most of the DCEU’s Snyder-Verse and many of Marvel’s recent duds, it’s clunky, overly long and gushing with eyesore CGi, but at it’s core it’s willingly entertaining, surprisingly funny, and even heartwarming at times—plus it tickles that nostalgia bone. Audiences love that.

Tagged as: Ezra Miller, Michael Keaton, The Flash