The Flash (2023) – Review

It seems that nowadays, recent superhero movies are no longer forged by an exploding planet, dead parents or a burst of lighting, but instead are molded inside the raging fires of development Hell or mired by almost constant controversy.
Thanks to a changing rosta of directors and shifting start dates, it seemed like The Flash could barely get off the blocks, let alone get up to enough speed to finally enter production, but after multiple delays and the curious, highly publicized rampage troubled star Ezra Miller enacted across Hawaii, it’s a miracle that the movie ever crossed the finish line into cinemas at all.
However, cross the finish line it did with It director Andy Muschietti at the helm, but not only is it the Flash’s solo debut on the big screen, it’s also technically the end of the DCEU as we know it, with this lose adaptation of the Flashpoint storyline acting as a closing point for the entire, controversial, connected universe. Can a beleaguered Barry Allen get us up to speed before an entire universe comes to an end?

Barry Allen, aka. The Flash has settled into his role as a member of the Justice League, but is getting a little tired of being Batman’s janitor as he is called in to tie off all the potentially lethal loose ends as the Dark Knight roars off in pursuit of criminals in order to hospitalize the living shit out of them. Despite saving many lives, Barry is nevertheless under a fair bit of strain. His superhero side gig is eating into his boss’ patience due to his tardiness at his job in a forensic lab, he’s frustrated that he’s not taken as seriously as follow heroes such as Superman and Wonder Woman and the latest appeal is coming up for his father who was wrongly accused, years ago, for the murder of Barry’s mother.
Among all this stress, Barry discovers that if he runs faster than ever before, he manages to slip into a space between time he dubs the chrono-sphere and discovers he can reverse time. However, despite some very smart advice from Bruce Wayne not to fuck up the time stream, Barry does exactly that, slipping back in time and changing one minute detail in order to change history and save his mom from a fatal stabbing and his dad decades of watching his back in the prison showers.
The good news is that he manages to change everything. The bad news is that he manages to change everything and finds, to his horror, that he’s altered the entire time stream.
Cast out of the chronosphere by a monstrous creature and dumped in an era where his past, 18 year-old self has enjoyed a life with a living mother, Barry has to figure out how to get home. But not only does he have to ensure that this younger, dorkier and way more annoying self is in the right place at the right time for him to get his powers in the first place, but the lack of Superman means that when General Zod arrives looking for Kal-El, he’ll have to forge a new Justice League to protect the Earth. But with no Cyborg, no Wonder Woman and a Batman who is decidedly different that the one Barry remembers, call he possibly prevail?

Presumably destined to be divisive on multiple levels, it would have been easy to stride into The Flash ready to fling scorn at a film that seemed custom made to hate. Just check the list: there’s that laundry list of Miller’s real life offences; there’s the fact that the movie has to facilitate the change from the DCEU to James Gunn and Peter Safran’s upcoming God and Monsters universe; there’s the fact that Miller plays Barry as overwhelmingly obnoxious; there’s been repeated accusations that the CGI is overwhelmingly below par and let’s be honest – both Black Adam and Shazam 2 hardly set the box office alight as both also came with a laundry list of behind the scenes issues.
However, despite all these issue (plus quite a few more) I found Andy Muschietti’s garish love letter to all forms of the DC Universe something of a gas. Serious fans and Snyderverse devotees will undoubtedly despise the broad, zany humour that makes Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3 seem as goofy as The House Of Sand And Fog, yet I found the film to be an endearingly silly scrapbook of a movie that professes it’s love for all things Detective Comic in an appropriately fidgety manner.
Other, recent superhero flicks that have tried to fully embrace the inherent ridiculousness of comic book superheroics – such as Wonder Woman 84 and Thor: Love And Thunder – hasn’t quite managed to find the balance between heart and humour that they were aiming for, but The Flash somehow manages to pull it off despite being frequently very absurd.

The key to this is Ezra Miller himself who plays both his alpha self and his staggeringly annoying teen version as essentially Marty and George McFly respectively – one of the many grade-A Back To The Future defences the film carries in its armory. Flawlessly playing opposite himself as both straight man and comic relief, it’s a remarkable comedy performance that’s strengthened by some virtually invisible effects. In fact, the effects here are so good, its extraordinarily curious that the CGI throughout the rest of the film is so painfully evident and many action scenes are rendered somewhat lest effective to make the people into look like mannequins.
With that being said, conceptually, the opening scene that sees Barry literally juggle multiple babies from multiple perils as they all fall from a collapsing building is magnificent and the other superhero smackdowns are appropriately huge enough to satisfy despite the dodgy visuals, but the true draw here is the frankly overwhelming array of cameos that’ll truly determine your true feelings about the film.
Essentially planting itself as the DCEU’s answer to Spider-Man: No Way Home, some of the cameos will delight, some will annoy and one will undoubtedly confuse anyone not up to date on Kevin Smith interviews or Jon Schnepp documentaries. The best belong to the dual Batmen that sees Batfleck battag out with an admirable style and Michael Keaton battag back in after thirty years away from the suit and, to give him his due, Keaton’s grizzled return virtually steals the film. Others don’t fare quite so well with Sasha Calle’s tortured Supergirl not being utilized enough and Michael Shannon seemingly phones in his return as Zod from another planet as his disinterest feels palpable, but the real talking point is some internet breaking cameos during the swirly, unfocused climax that pushes the boundries of good taste way beyond the line drawn by Ghostbusters: Afterlife and options on these will undoubtedly range from fanboy raving to downright ghoulish.

In closing, The Flash is a mess, but it’s an overwhelmingly fun one that had me legitimately laughing out loud all the way through. Whether that actually lasts for repeated viewings, only time will tell – but it’s a welcome change to the slightly muted reception I had for the DCEU’s previous two outings as they padded out time until the franchise came to it’s well documented change of management.
Flawless? Hardly, but The Flash contains enough nervous energy and big laughs to guarantee that you’ll have a great time if you just let it. Just don’t be too quick to judge.

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