Warner Bros. Pictures
It has been a very long time in coming thanks to COVID and the star’s personal issues (and that is the extent of which that will be mentioned in this review), not to mention a complete regime change at the studio which produced the film, putting it in a very odd sort of limbo, but the new Grand Poobah’s at DC Studios were actually confident enough with the finished product — even though it’s technically the last chapter of the ‘Snyderverse’ — to not only see it get released, but have actually praised it as being one of the finest superhero films ever. That may be stretching things a bit, but it bodes well for these characters possibly being folded into the new DC filmic universe (or whatever they’re calling it now).
The Flash begins with an attack on the city, Batman (Ben Affleck) and The Flash (with Alfred’s assistance) working together to prevent a disaster from happening. While Batman is busy trying to retrieve a stolen briefcase full of deadly chemicals, The Flash (Ezra Miller) is left to ‘clean up’ Batman’s mess. When Alfred warns Flash, aka Barry Allen, that a building is about to collapse, Barry assures him it’s fine … but it isn’t. The part of the building collapsing is a hospital, including the maternity wing, and before he knows it babies are raining down from the sky. Don’t worry, the scene is played for laughs as Barry goes into Scarlet Speedster mode quickly calculating how to save all of the newborns, a nurse and a service dog. The scene gives us an introduction to Barry’s skills and sets things up for what’s to come.
Barry works in a police crime lab, a job we later learn he took because of his father’s imprisonment for the murder of his wife, Barry’s mom, when Barry was a child. Barry has asserted for years that his dad is innocent, and the one bit of proof they had — a grocery store security video purportedly showing Henry Allen (Ron Livingston, taking over the role from Billy Crudup) there at the time of the murder — is inconclusive because his face is never seen. Feeling defeated, Henry just wants his son to move on and stop his futile quest, but in a moment of total grief and desperation Barry discovers he can run fast enough to time travel. Consulting Bruce Wayne about this newfound bonus power, Bruce warns him that changing the past could drastically alter the future. Noting that he could save Bruce’s parents, Bruce tells Barry that their deaths made him who he is today and he doesn’t want to change anything. But Barry needs to save his father, and his mother, so he puts any concerns aside, promises he will only change one tiny, insignificant thing (placing a can of tomatoes in her shopping cart so Henry doesn’t have to go out and get it, leaving her and Barry home alone), and that will be that. Except it isn’t because Barry can’t keep himself from interacting with his now alive mother, which causes real problems when the Barry in this timeline shows up. And this alt-Barry is a complete doofus, the opposite of Barry Prime, and BP has to prevent his other self from interacting with their parents (Prime has short hair and alt has a skater boy bob). Panicked about how to fix this mistake, Barry Prime realizes this day is the day he got his powers at the lab, but alt-Barry doesn’t intern at the lab so he has to get the alt-Barry there so he doesn’t possibly lose his own powers … which he does in the process leaving alt-Barry with the super speed and no skills to control it. That leads to a quest to find Batman, and in this alternate timeline the Bruce Wayne they find is the Michael Keaton version, who is now older and pretty much out of the superhero business. To make matters worse, whatever Barry set in motion has also resulted in the return of General Zod (Michael Shannon), as first seen in 2013’s Man of Steel, looking for a certain Kryptonian. On top of all that, there’s no Justice League, no Wonder Woman (but Gal Gadot does make a cameo appearance in the opening segment), no Aquaman (as we learn in a fun cameo from Temuera Morrison as Tom Curry), no Cyborg (Victor Stone has not had his accident), so it’s just two Barry Allens, one Bruce Wayne and Kara Zor-El (Sasha Calle), aka Supergirl, to take on Zod and his army before they destroy Earth, leaving the question can Barry fix this and get back to his own unaltered timeline?
To say there is a lot going on in The Flash is probably an understatement, and you’d be forgiven for getting lost in the story’s timey whimey loopholes, trying to figure out if any of this makes logical sense. The biggest question here is why go back to General Zod? It seems a little lazy to fall back on this particular villain — who died in Man of Steel — but I suppose it was the easiest way to tie the Snyderverse up in a neat bow (and perhaps the new creatives at DC Studios also see this as a way to break the Barry Allen character away and into their new film universe). Of course using Zod in this alternate timeline also gives the story a chance to drop a bomb on us about the baby Kryptonian sent to Earth for his safety. The major battle between the villains and our ragtag band of heroes also leads to some incalculable tragedies that the Barrys keep rewinding and trying to fix. And while trying to alter things over and over again in the Speed Force, the Barrys meet a dark Speedster who seems to be trying to stop them. It’s a lot of action in the last act of the movie, but this isn’t really what the movie is about.
Warner Bros. Pictures
The Flash is about family, both biological and chosen. Barry Allen wants nothing more than to have his family whole again, it’s what has driven him up to this point. He knows he can’t bring his mom back, but he can potentially save his father from a lifetime in prison. It’s the impetus for his reckless behavior, and who of us can’t say if we could go back in time to save a loved one we wouldn’t do it? In the alt-timeline, Barry finds a connection with what can be seen as his chosen family — the alt-Barry, Bruce Wayne and Kara. They become his support in this timeline, and he quickly bonds with them as if they are his own family. Early scenes with Bruce are humorous, but they also carry some weight as Bruce explains how time works, and how he may even look at Barry as, perhaps, a son he never had (or a ward named Dick Grayson whom we don’t know exists in this universe). Keaton’s performance is terrific as the bedraggled, hermit-like Bruce Wayne and once he gets back into that Batsuit, it’s like he never left. And he has a great rapport with Ezra Miller that makes the relationship all the more believable. Sasha Calle makes a fine Supergirl even though she doesn’t get much to do other than fight, but she does play a key part in helping restore Barry Prime’s powers, so the bonding she has with him is also believable. It’s interesting to see Michael Shannon back as Zod, and Antje Traue at his side as Faora-UI as plot convenience characters. Kiersey Clemons shows promise as Iris West but she’s absent from most of the film.
This movie, however, succeeds or fails on the shoulder of its star Ezra Miller and Miller makes it complete success playing two characters who are polar opposites almost always on screen at the same time. Miller’s Barry Prime is the sensible, focused one, devoting his life to helping his father. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and we can feel his hurt, his betrayal when his old friend Iris turns up and turns out to be pumping him for information (she’s a reporter) before even she understands that she used their friendship to help herself. Miller then gives a completely different performance as alt-Barry, not the sharpest tool in the box, but with such wide-eyed wonder at his newfound powers that we feel just as joyful as he is. Miller really hits hard in a scene near the end of the film, pouring all of his emotions into the scene. It’s a real gut-punch, especially if you’re still in the process of grieving the loss of a loved one. Trust me on that one. I truly hope that Miller gets their act together because with this tour de force performance, they have proven that they have a bright future ahead in the business.
Director Andy Muschietti has proven he can handle horror with skill, and here he shows that he can handle drama, comedy and action equally as well. The film may be a little long, but it’s never boring and he’s really pulled some great performances from his cast. And be sure to keep your eyes open for all of the fan-service ‘cameos’ within the Speed Force. If there’s any quibble to be had, it’s those weird, obviously CGI babies in the opening scene. They are damn creepy but Muschetti as assured everyone that this was the intention, as we are supposed to be seeing the world through Barry’s eyes at hyper speed. Okay, if you say so. Other than that, the effects are pretty great, the action is fun, the surprises are satisfying (and I am a fan so I don’t care if they were too ‘fan servicey’), and the cast is really on their game. Fans of the ‘Snyderverse’ films should put aside any ill will they have with the studio for taking things in a different direction. Show some support for the film so James Gunn and Peter Safran have a reason to include The Flash in their new line-up! And do stick around through the credits for a fun, though inconsequential, bonus scene.
The Flash has a run time of 2 hours 24 minutes, and is rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, some strong language and partial nudity.
Warner Bros. Pictures
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