The Flash
Hey everyone and welcome, today we will be talking about the film The Flash. Fun Fact: the Barry Allen version of the Flash made his debut in 1956 in the comic showcase Vol 1. #4 and was the second Flash after Jay Garrick. This movie came out in 2023, stars Ezra Miller, Michael Keaton, and Sasha Calle, and was directed by Andy Muschietti. So, without further ado, let's get right into it.
The Flash follows Barry Allen, aka The Flash, who is on a mission to travel back in time to prevent his mother from dying. He succeeds in saving his mom, but because of this, he changes the course of the future in ways he didn't plan. Now, Barry must decide if he wants to stay in this world or live in a world without his mom.
The Flash is a superhero multiverse movie. It has similar vibes to Flashpoint Paradox, Back To The Future, or Man of Steel.
Ezra Miller did a decent job as the Flash in this film. When I think about all of the, let's say, the drama behind the scenes with Ezra, I find it shocking that one, they aren't in jail, and, two, that this movie still got released. I was thinking about how it must feel to put so much work into a film, whether you are behind the scenes or in front, and then to see the star of the film being a menace to society and bringing the film down. I hope that the victims of their crimes are healing.
Sasha Calle did well as a Supergirl in this film. I had never seen the actress before, and I was impressed with her taking on the role of an iconic character and making it her own. I love that she was so strong but not strong enough to take down Zodd because she didn’t have years of practice because she was being held prisoner. Even though she wasn’t as powerful, she fought hard trying to stop Zodd, which proved that Supergirl was a good alien.
One thing I feel DC always does correctly is the superhero suits. I feel like they aren’t afraid to make sure the colors show while also keeping them pretty close to some iteration of that suit in the comic books. With all these different superheroes it was impressive to see them do such a good job on the outfits.
The movie adds cameos, but I feel like it is overpacked with too many cameos. I will say I enjoyed the Nicholas Cage cameo because I've heard the rumors of him almost playing Superman in the '90s, so it was cool to see that come to life on screen. However, I will say that "cameos" from Christopher Reeve, Adam West, and George Reeves were weird, considering they are dead, and I truly believe we should let the dead just rest. I thought it would be more beneficial to have cameos from, IDK, the two living people who have played The Flash in live-action, Grant Gustin and John Wesley Ship, or even maybe use it to show that the other shows and movies from DC in the past were different universes to show that some of those characters won't Be coming back cause were focusing on a different universe. It just seemed like, hey, let's add these people in here, and will we explain it? not really. Will they have significance to Flash fans? Most of them, no, but maybe one. I just really think that scene could've been better.
It feels like DC doesn't have faith in any superhero outside of Superman, Batman, or Wonder Woman. I'm not saying I haven't enjoyed those three characters, but I've realized that in all the DC films, they seem to make a cameo or play a big role, often overshadowing who the film is actually about. I mean, this movie might as well have been called The Flash, Supergirl, and Batman. DC has some of the best comics with the best stories, and I think they should really let these characters shine without adding in cameos from the big three that kind of overshadow the main character. There are plenty of flash comics to pull from, and I would've loved to see it focus more on him and his own villain.
The effects were weird because, at some points, I was like, wow, this is really good, but then in some scenes, I was like, wow, this is so bad. There was a scene with The Flash saving babies, and I was watching and shocked at how bad the CGI was. Some of the scenes looked like the budget was running low or they were rushed, and I was shocked that they kept some of the scenes in. Also, his running, in general, looks goofy.
The comedy in the movie was good. I thought they were able to nail that aspect of the film to lighten the mood.
They hinted at the Black Flash as a potential villain towards the beginning of the film, but he doesn’t come back til the end then we finally see his story, and then they wrap it up so quickly. There was so much time hyping up this Zodd fight, and it didn’t really seem like a villain for the Flash but more for Supergirl. I wish they would’ve focused more on a villain that’s a big threat to the Flash and really built on that villain throughout the movie. In the comics, the Flash has some arch nemesis, and it would’ve been great to have them in a film that is centered around this character.
The Flash goes back and saves his mom from being killed, and that was great and all, but the question I had was then, who killed her? That’s actually part of a comic where the Reverse Flash kills his mom, and I thought it would be interesting to see that on screen and the birth of an arch-nemesis. Instead, we see her get killed, but they never bring up who did it, even though that death haunts Barry into his adult life.
My favorite part of this movie was seeing one of my favorites, if not my favorite Batman, Michael Keaton. He was funny and really brought the nostalgia with his Batman. I'm glad they kept the gothic style of his mansion and even kept all the crazy stuff he had in his house. When we first get to his house, we even get the Batman music from the Batman film of 1989. Keaton killed this role in the late 80’s, and he once again killed it in this movie.
The Flash is a movie that is truly a mixed bag. It has an interesting story with lots of action and some funny bits, but it also feels very overcrowded and sometimes like it’s not even a Flash film. If you haven’t seen The Flash, I say check it out and see if you think it’s worth the hype.
