The Flash (2023)

Review

144min

Genre:     Comic-book, Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Director:   Andy Muschietti

Cast:       Ezra Miller, Michael Keaton, Sasha Calle …and more

Writers:   Christina Hodson and Joby Harold

-Synopsis-

When quirky speedster Barry Allen’s abilities take him beyond his universe to a chance at changing his past, he teams up with alternative versions of familiar heroes . . . and himself, and attempts to recruit a different yet familiarly legendary dark knight to help him save an alternative timeline from the destruction he may have inadvertently unleashed.

After a decade for the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) buoyed by early promise but marked by mixed subsequent success, not to mention media scandals and PR nightmares, and more recently defined by subpar offerings and the box office receipts to match, Warner Bros. pre-empts the upcoming James Gunn and Peter Safran overhaul of their shared universe franchise by going out with a bang. Giving two of their existing Justice League members the chance to bring down the curtain on this DCEU era, later in the year with ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ but first charging Argentinian horror director Andy Muschietti (Mama, It) with wowing audiences by delving into the past to define the present and shape the future, jumping on the current trend of blurring time and reality to deliver a big speedy summer blockbuster superhero romp.

Ezra Miller returns as ultra-fast twentysomething Barry Allen, balancing a burgeoning professional career with his duties cleaning up Justice League messes and flexing new abilities, powers which unexpectedly take him beyond his timeline and into an alternative universe where he gets the chance to prevent the family tragedy which shaped him. But his meddling soon backfires and threatens multiple realities, as he teams up with a rookie alternate version of himself to recruit a veteran semi-retired version of Gotham’s billionaire caped crusader (Michael Keaton), and an unfamiliar Kryptonian (Sasha Calle) to try and stop a previously averted extra-terrestrial annihilation whilst trying to unravel the mystery of his self-created chaos . . . and get back to his own life.

Considering the corporate and industry turmoil surrounding him in terms of a Warner Bros. in flux and the uncertainty underpinning DC’s Extended Universe, not to mention the effect of the pandemic plus the personal problems of his star and the accompanying media frenzy threatening to derail the entire project, Muschietti and his screenwriters faced a daunting task trying to craft a standalone film for an existing iteration of a character within an integrated cinematic universe, potentially having to bridge narrative gaps and serve multiple purposes within the DCEU. But with the goalposts constantly moving and flies thrown in the ointment, the Argentine filmmaker plays his hand prudently by choosing the smartest cinematic path—making a well-balanced and entertaining superhero flick which stands on its own.

The film revisits what we’ve seen in ‘Man of Steel’ and ‘Batman v Superman’, threading some of those narrative elements into this story but also turning a few key one on their heads, ultimately to no real long term end as James Gunn will likely be rebooting the entire DCEU, and even if he wasn’t, the very nature of the multiverse concept can often render anything that happens in one film entirely obsolete in the bigger picture anyway.

‘The Flash’ predictably proves to be a flashy (pardon the pun) big modern summer blockbuster spectacle with the frenzied visuals and action to match, and rather unexpectedly injected with heart plus plenty of legitimate humour and personality thanks to Miller’s quirky take(s) on the titular character. But most importantly it delivers true unadulterated and somewhat traditional escapist fun from start to finish, moving the DCEU one step forward by introducing in Supergirl a character not seen on the big screen in nearly four decades, but one step back by resurrecting a couple of other Kryptonians, and of course by hanging the success of the film (at least partially) on the Beetlejuice-sized elephant in the room.

It’s perhaps unsurprising that Tim Burton’s Bruce Wayne underpins the strong nostalgia element at the heart of the piece, but Muschietti just about manages to keep it on the right side of purely paying fan service, and even if you can resist the giddiness of seeing familiar suits and vehicles, once the iconic Danny Elfman ‘Batman’ theme creeps out of the Benjamin Wallfisch score, the inner child truly comes out. In fact that part of the film’s nostalgia credentials works so well that despite the combined charisma of Ezra Miller’s quirky film-carrying lead double duty and Sasha Calle well representing the Els as a solid Supergirl, they just can’t compete with the unique magnetism of the film’s veteran superhero Michael Keaton returning as Gotham’s caped crusader.

There is however some cinematic harkening back that doesn’t work as well here, particularly when combined with the frenzied timeline travelling transition scenes featuring more versions of your favourite DC superheroes than you can shake a stick at. Including some surprises and iterations that never saw the light of day, but ultimately let down by certain visuals and some questionable CGI which feel more appropriate in a video game or a deepfake video than in a Hollywood blockbuster—coming off like a jarring fan service fashion show in the middle of the movie which takes you out of the film, whilst undermining some of the nostalgic intentions of the scene.

Indeed the headline-grabbing proclamations by some that this is one of the greatest superhero movie of all time should be taken with a large grain of salt, and it’s far from a comic-book movie masterpiece. In terms of narrative, tone, style and spectacle, ‘The Flash’ hardly re-invents the wheel and will likely prove of little consequence to the future of the DCEU, not to mention the fact that messing with multiverses inherently makes whatever you do less impactful and definitive when everyone and everything can now be undone, re-done, and re-visited at the stroke of a pen . . . or the click of a keyboard. And despite building just about enough of an audience connection with the characters to hit some emotional notes, it’s not enough to make the human drama truly memorable or moving, despite a valiant attempt and weaving a story about trauma and tragedy not defining us, but still playing a key role in who we choose to become.

Yet given a palpable decline in comic-book film standards over the last few years, from both DC and other major players, ‘The Flash’ marks something of a welcome return to the type of thoroughly entertaining blockbuster filmmaking which is less concerned with being all things to all people, and more focused on pulling audiences out of the doldrums of real life—delighting them with well-judged, non-lowest common denominator story and spectacle for a couple of welcome hours.

The Bottom Line…

A well-balanced, dynamic modern summer superhero blockbuster that’s forward-thinking yet also reverential and has its priorities right, while ‘The Flash’ may not revolutionise the comic-book movie genre or take its place in the pantheon of its greats, Muschietti manages to attune the old with the new and keep on the right side of the nostalgia and fan service line, delivering a timeline-blurring standalone romp that entertains from start to finish.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

Justice League (2017)

Following Superman’s ultimate sacrifice to save humanity and with a rekindled faith in humanity, ‘Bruce Wayne’ and ‘Diana Prince’ join forces to recruit a team of powerful ‘Metahumans’ for the inevitable battle against an even greater gathering threat to the planet, as DC gets into the full swing of its cinematic ‘Extended Universe’.

Directed by Zack Snyder & Joss Whedon and starring Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot and Henry Cavill among others.

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