The Flash review

THE FLASH: 

REAL-LIFE DRAMA ASIDE, EZRA MILLER GIVES A REMARKABLE PERFORMANCE IN FUN DC MULTIVERSE FLICK! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

WARNER BROS. PICTURES

Ezra Miller in The Flash

 

            Ezra Miller (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Trainwreck, Fantastic Beasts trilogy) races off to save the multiverse in The Flash, the latest installment of the DC Extended Universe and final installment of this iteration of the DCEU before being rebooted by James Gunn with Blue Beetle in a couple months. I should make this clear before we start, I’m not really a Flash expert, I never read any of his comics and the earliest memory I have with the character was seeing him featured in the Justice League animated series from the 2000s even though he wasn’t exactly the main focus of that. 

            With that said, I’ve also seen a decent amount of the live-action Flash TV series that aired on the CW as part of the Arrowverse and found myself enjoying it quite a bit. Despite the character not quite leaving as big an impact on me compared to other superheroes, I still got my Flash fill and enjoyed some of the things he appeared in. 

            Which brings us to this movie with Andy Muschietti (Mama, It: Chapters 1 and 2) as director and Ezra Miller reprising his role as Barry Allen/The Flash from Justice League…and Zack Snyder’s Justice League. The film is heavily inspired by the Flashpoint storyline from the comics in which alternate iterations of beloved DC characters from different universes and timelines collide together via the multiverse and with how popular comic book multiverses in film have become in recent years, it makes sense for The Flash’s cinematic debut. 

            I have to admit, despite its rough production history and controversy surrounding its lead star, I had a good time with The Flash. One of the all-time greatest comic book movies? No, but I really appreciate what the film does with its story and how it depicts the multiverse. 

            The film follows Barry Allen/The Flash (Miller) using his powers of super speed to travel back in time to change events from the past. But when his attempt at saving his mother from being killed goes horribly wrong and inadvertently alters the future, Barry teams up with his younger self (Also played by Miller), a variation of Bruce Wayne/Batman (Michael Keaton-Night Shift, Beetlejuice, Birdman reprising his titular role from Batman (1989) and Batman Returns) from a different universe, and a superpowered woman from Krypton known as Kara/Supergirl (Sasha Calle-The Young and the Restless) in order to stop returning threat, General Zod (Michael Shannon-Revolutionary Road, Premium Rush, Nocturnal Animals reprising his role from Man of Steel) and restore the timeline. 

            The film also stars Ron Livingston (Swingers, Adaptation, The Conjuring) as Barry’s father Henry Allen, Maribel Verdú (Pan’s Labyrinth) as Barry’s deceased mother Nora Allen, Kiersey Clemons (Dope, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, Scoob!) as Iris West, Antje Traue (Seventh Son, Woman in Gold, Dark) reprising her role from Man of Steel as Zod’s second-in-command Faora-UI, Jeremy Irons (The Lion King, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Margin Call) reprising his role as Bruce Wayne’s loyal butler Alfred Pennyworth, and Ben Affleck (The Town, Argo, Gone Girl) reprising his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman. 

            Overall, The Flash is a solid entry in the DCEU and easily the most imaginative out of all of them. The DCEUtends to get a bad rep for being too dark and murky at times, but if films like the first Wonder Woman and Shazam!movies, Aquaman, Birds of Prey, The Suicide Squad, and especially this are anything to go by, it is possible to capture the lighter, fun side of DC in-between all the angst and brooding. 

            I found the plot to be incredibly engaging with Barry desperately trying to undo the wrongs of the past by going back in time, specifically to save his mother from getting killed and his father from being framed for it and the universe gets affected because of his actions. It adds an element of sympathy to Barry’s character and makes you ask yourself if you had a traumatic experience from your past and given the ability to travel through time, would you want to go back and undo that moment? 

            For a character who’s usually been very jokey and comical in other DCEU films, I was impressed at just how emotionally invested I was in Barry and his past. The flashbacks showing Barry as a child with his mother before she dies are genuinely heartfelt and adds to the tragedy of what comes later as you feel their connection and the love they had for each other in only a short amount of time. 

            Which leads me to the titular character himself, say what you will about Ezra Miller’s personal life, but I think he does a fantastic job in the film. He is funny when he needs to be without coming off as super annoying and he also really sells the dramatic moments as well. 

            What I think is extremely clever about his performance here is the fact that he is paired up with a younger version of himself who is a lot more obnoxious and jokey compared to the present Barry Allen. You could argue this was in response to criticisms people had with Miller’s performance in Justice League, but it also gives present-day Barry the opportunity to step up and take his superhero job more seriously. 

            The supporting characters such as Michael Keaton’s Batman and Sasha Calle’s Supergirl aren’t focused on too much, but they both play prominent roles in the story and Keaton and Calle take advantage of the screen-time given to them. Keaton owns every scene that he’s in as an older Bruce Wayne who has retired from crimefighting and while it is very much fan-service, he has great chemistry with Ezra Miller that’s reminiscent of the Miles Morales/Peter B. Parker dynamic from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. 

            I’m not overly familiar with Sasha Calle’s other work, but I really enjoyed her interpretation of Supergirl even though she’s less prominent than Keaton’s Batman. It’s a very different and angsty take on the character who is a lot more aggressive compared to the blonde-haired and bubbly personalities of other Supergirl portrayals, but she still has plenty of charm and I’d love to see more of her someday in the future. 

            While the action scenes are spectacular and well-shot, the CGI during them is admittedly terrible and often looks more like a cutscene from a Batman: Arkham or Injustice video game rather than a live-action feature film. But they at least do very creative and awesome things with them so I’m willing to somewhat excuse it. 

            The Flash is a fun, fast-paced (No pun intended), and wildly imaginative trip through the DC multiverse and one of the DCEU’s finest outings. It’s a little rough around the edges, but the creativity, charm, and human emotion make it worth zipping to your local theater to see it.