Reel Review Roundup

The Flash (M)

Directed by: Andy Muschietti

Starring: Ezra Miller, Michael Keaton, Sasha Calle

Review by: Julian Wright

The Flash’s first solo outing in the DC universe has a few pleasant surprises up its sleeve but it zips from great to messy.

With his Mum Nora (Maribel Verdu) dead and innocent father Henry (Ron Livinsgton) on trial for her murder (and it is not looking good for him), Barry/The Flash uses his speed to go back in time and prevent the tragedy.

But he bumps into his younger self, and thus begins a domino effect of change that could be beyond his expertise to fix.

Barry’s actions don’t just impact the future, but also events previous to his interference.

He must navigate the multiverse with a different version of Batman (Michael Keaton), Kara Zoe-El aka Supergirl (Sasha Calle) and his newly flashed-up alternate version to stop General Zod (Michael Michael Shannon) from destroying the planet.

What starts as a clever, funny, imaginatively helmed adventure (the hospital sequence is a superhero movie all-timer!) eventually devolves into an over-long, heavy handed, overwhelmingly loud and hectic slog.

In his attempt to mesh Marvel whimsy with Zack Snyder’s senses assaulting action, director Andy Muschietti loses his way and the film buckles under the pressure of his own ambition.

Though Miller is undoubtedly troubled, the impressive range he displays from goofily charming to sinister as the various iterations of Barrys is what holds this entire thing together.

The Easter Eggs and cameos are a hoot, but the very apparent and distracting CGI is a huge let down , with characters often looking like video game creations from the early 2010s.

The Flash is a smashingly entertaining ride, so long as you switch it off at about the two hour mark.

This entry was posted on June 22, 2023 at 8:17 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.