Movie Review - The Flash

 

Yeah, a lot of us were not looking forward to this one. After everything that happened with Ezra Miller, it's probably just as well that this will be their last film for a while. I was actually looking forward to this since its initial announcement, and even more so when it was revealed that the storyline will be a loose take on the Flashpoint story from the comics. One that has been adapted twice before on the small screen and now on the big screen. But then of course Miller did what they did to those minors, and then my excitement turned to dread. But Michael Keaton is back, so maybe he will save the film as well as Ben Affleck, who fell off DC's radar after Josstice League (but made a substantial return in Zack Snyder's Justice League). It can't be that bad, right? Well, let's take a look at this anyway and get it over and done with:

So after what looks like WB's 100th logo opening (or something like it, but cool all the same), we see The Flash (reprised for probably the final time for a while, by Miller) help Batman (reprised by Ben Affleck for the penultimate time most likely) and Wonder Woman (also probably penultimately reprised by Gal Gadot) help stop a bank robbery and save a lot of babies in the Maternity ward of one of Gotham's hospitals. Soon afterwards, Flash goes to revist his childhood home to remember his youth. Upon learning, he can go back in time to prevent the murder of his mother Nora (played by Maribel Verdú), he consults Bruce Wayne about it. Despite Bruce missing his own parents, he warns Barry of the potential consequences of his actions, but Flash goes ahead anyway. His actions, cause a fellow speedster to knock him out of the Speed Force and into an alternative reality where his mum is alive, but the Justice League were never formed due to lack of meta humans and other superheroes. With an alternative General Zod (reprised by Michael Shannon) arriving to Earth to do what he did in Man of Steel, Barry enlists the help of his younger alternative self, a different yet familiar Batman (reprised by Michael Keaton) and a Kryptonian that isn't Superman (played by Sasha Calle) to stop him, while trying to regain his powers and return to his own timeline.

I know I don't usually go in depth with the plot, but I felt it was necessary here because it's a film I know not many of you are planning to see. I felt it was OK. The first half annoyed me because of Ezra Miller's annoying laugh, with the only good bits being the return of Batfleck and Wonder Woman. Whereas, the second half, made the film a little better as soon as Keaton donned the Bat suit once again for what will most likely be his final time doing so. The CGI throughout is up there with MODOK from Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania. It's that bad and for the guy that directed the IT films and also Mama, this is just a mess of a film. You might like it or not, but for me, you are not missing much here. Hopefully the last two DCEU films are better than this mess, and if you want a better Flashpoint adaptation, watch Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. 6/10