Rent The Flash on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Christina Hodson (screenplay by), John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein and Joby Harold (screen story by), Harry Lampert and Gardner Fox (The Flash created by), Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino (Barry Allen version by), Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (Superman created by), Bob Kane and Bill Finger (Batman created by), William Moulton Marston (Wonder Woman created by)
Directed by: Andy Muschietti
Starring: Ezra Miller, Michael Keaton, Sasha Calle, Michael Shannon, Ron Livingston, Kiersey Clemons, Jeremy Irons
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer
Plot
Barry Allen uses his super speed to change the past, but his attempt to save his family creates a world without super heroes, forcing him to race for his life in order to save the future.
Verdict
This would have been a lot more fun if it had come out a few years earlier, but Marvel has already done the concepts in this movie and because of that, this it feels recycled. A few different movies have banked on nostalgia recently, recreating parts from older movies. This goes back to that well yet again. I like parts of this movie, though it's a bit too long and some of the CGI is questionable, but it always feels like a copy and response to Marvel movies. It's the film equivalent of 'if you can't beat them, join them.'
It depends.
Review
The only reason I watched this was because of the nostalgic cameos from the trailers.
This starts humorously, as Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) is late for work and dealing with a talkative barista. That's ironic, considering. The Flash is called into action, and I like the visual of Flash running hundreds of miles. Unfortunately the time dilation sequences are lacking. While Flash saving a bunch of babies is a neat sequence, the babies look so fake. There are a number of times where the CGI looks so fake that you're thinking more about how strange it looks more than about what's actually happening.
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| Ezra Miller plays Barry Miller/ The Flash |
We get a Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) and Batman (Ben Affleck) cameo where this provides more humor and a spoof on Batman's dark persona. The lasso of truth causes Batman to admit he can't thank others due to his ego and addresses how he deals with childhood trauma by fighting crime as a vigilante despite what he could do with his wealth.
Barry is dealing with his own childhood trauma which seems familiar for a DC super hero. I have no idea how this fits in with the television show as I've never seen it, but apparently this is a sort of parallel world (according to a quick search). Barry decides to alter the past. How many times have we seen movies meddling in time to great devastation? It's a trope at this point. Of course this changes the present and creates an alternate timeline. This feels very similar to Spider-Man: No Way Home with an alternate timeline and a teenage protagonist. Marvel has done the multiverse thing, and this aspect of the story would be so much more interesting if it hadn't been done before. Marvel has created a foundation and done this story line a few times. That make this movie feel like DC is just chasing Marvel. If this didn't feel like a knock-off or copy, I'd like it more. The biggest problem with this movie is how recycled it feels. It really feels like an executive pointed to a Marvel movie and stated, "Do that."
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| Michael Keaton appears as Batman |
Barry has messed up the present, and now he must fix things. Michael Keaton reprises his role as Batman, and that alone almost makes that worth watching. I like Barry's partners in this endeavor. It's a fun aspect to this story, but there are a few plot contrivances. While this mines nostalgia with plenty of quotes referencing older Batman movies, it also has the Batwing jet that just so happens to have two extra seats. That's odd for solo crime fighter Batman.
I appreciate the references, but the nostalgia mining has been done recently Terminator Genisys mined The Terminator to such a depth that it feels almost like a spin-off or reboot.
The way to solve the problem Barry created is just to undo it. That feels like a cop out with how that's quite easily done. Even the explanation for the monster Barry saw in the time stream is predictable. Barry fixes the time stream except for one very specific detail, and that's only so the movie can make another joke/reference about the Batman franchise. While I like the cameo, it's just so contrived like most of this movie.
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| Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 Cabriolet |
My favorite part of the movie, other than Michael Keaton, would be Bruce Wayne's car. It's a Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 Cabriolet. It's beautiful.
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