The Flash is a great super-hero movie and easily one of the best in the last twelve months from either DC or Marvel. An easily accessible movie that kids will particularly like. Great comedic timing from lead actor Ezra Miller playing multiple characters and Michael Keaton returning as an older but still kick-arse Batman.
Image: ©Warner Bros. Pictures/DC Entertainment
Even if you don't enjoy DC movies in general The Flash easily surpasses recent Marvel efforts such as Thor Love and Thunder and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. What's so great about the Flash is that it doesn't take itself too seriously. It dials in enough humour to entertain without turning it's hero into a joke (case in point Thor: Love and Thunder ruining Thor). Happily the bleakness found in a number of other DC movies is absent so it's kind of like a Marvel movie in its lightness but still has a story to tell.
This is all thanks to a superb performance by lead actor who plays multiple roles. His performance is key to grounding the movie and letting the story unfold during the first two thirds of the movie. His roles contain humour but also sadness, redemption and learning as The Flash speeds to its conclusion. The last third of the movie isn't as great as its beginning due to the inevitable battle of the good guys vs the bad guys (it's a super-hero movie afterall) but it's ultimate conclusion has great pathos as the Flash learns to let go and kind off gets to eat his cake too.
The premise of the movie is that The Flash discovers he has the power to travel back in time and thus goes back in time to save his mother from being killed by an intruder and prevent his father from going to prison after being blamed for the murder of his mum. As per standard time travel movies going back in time sets off a sequence of unforeseen chain reactions that The Flash attempts to remedy while learning an important life lesson along the way.
For a super-hero movie The Flash takes it's time to develop the back story of the Flash and then set him on his way. For a DC movie much of the movie is actually set in the daytime and this tonal shift suits a relatively happy go lucky character such as The Flash. The Flash has been used for comedic in his previous outings but here we get to see a slightly older and mildly wiser Barry Allen kind of mentor a younger version of himself. This is used to great comic effect without getting too cheesy while also not getting in the way of the drama of The Flash losing his parents and seeking to get them back.
You will note that this review doesn't provide much in the way of plot points, other characters in the movie and really what happens for much of it. Why? Your enjoyment and surprise will be lost if more information is provided.
So overall the great things about the movie are a superlative performance by Ezra Miller as The Flash, a returning Michael Keaton as The Batman who threatens to steal the movie but thankfully doesn't (and doesn't feel shoehorned into the movie just because they can), a kick-ass appearance of Supergirl who while not integral makes her presence felt, the great dynamic duo of Barry Allen 1 and 2, a compelling time-travel story that's pretty easy to understand and a great mix of humour, drama and action. And thankfully most scenes in the movie are not superfluous and actually belong there. Credit to director Andrés Muschietti who manages to make a semi-personal movie out of a comic book character and super-hero movie.
The poorest aspects of the movie are some underwhelming CGI in parts (similar to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania) where some CGI isn't the greatest and parts of the last third of the movie where the obligatory action ending is kind of a neccesity (and predictable) in all super-hero movies. Thankfully, the action component is only one aspect of the movies conclusion as the real life drama of the Flash's personal life is the ultimate drama of the movie. This personal story arc of the movie is what elevates The Flash above much of the current super-hero movies. The movie actually has more to tell than just the good guys vs the bad guys and the movie is much better for it.
Rating: 8/10
In a nutshell: The Flash is a great feel good super-hero movie for the masses.
