This review contains spoilers for The Flash.
After years and years of delays The Flash has finally hit the big screen. There has been a lot of talk about this movie being the best comic book film ever to be made and even though I disagree with that statement it is one hell of a film.
Before i get into the details of the film, i do want to quickly touch upon the fact that i am looking at this movie as its own thing and am not letting all the drama surrounding Ezra Miller impact my view on this film, as lots of people have put a lot of work into this film.
Like i said earlier The Flash is one hell of a movie. The emotion in this film is top notch. This film makes you feel all the emotions and really focuses on the mother and son dynamic. Going into this film i was worried about how the film would handle all this as i have watched all nine seasons of The Flash and this just seemed like the same story being retold. Now on one hand it is but it’s done in a much more emotional and nuance way here that makes you feel everything that Barry is feeling.
The reason this film works so well though is all down to Ezra Miller. They give one of the best performances i have ever seen in a comic book film and have to carry most of the film on their own. They are able to play two different Barrys for the whole movie but make them very different and unique to each other.
I was also massively surprised by Sasha Calle who actually isn’t in the film for that long but makes a strong impression as Supergirl. She takes the role in a darker direction but that works very well here and even though her action sequences has terrible VFX she still manages to show that she is a powerhouse. If i was james Gunn i would look at keeping her around as she is really good here.
I also loved seeing Michael Keaton return to playing an older Bruce Wayne but still has it. Although I was surprised by how little he was in the movie considering he has been the main focus in the ad campaign, meaning that the trailers have basically revealed all of his scenes.
This film also serves as a sort of farewell to the Snyderverse as it finally seems that we are now moving on from that. Ben Affleck did get one more chance to show how good he was in the role and it is a shame he had such bad experiences because he really is the perfect Batman. It was also nice to see Gal Gadot again, now she still has the chance to come back but i have a feeling this was the last we have seen of her. We also see Barry and Arthur together in the post credit scene however even here this version seems different to the one we know, so it will be interesting to see how this connects to Aquaman 2.
After seeing this film I can see why James Gunn would want to hire Andy Muschietti to direct their new Batman film as he handles the family dynamics here really good, but I would just hope he would get some assistance with the VFX.
One of the things that weighs the film down is the third act battle. Now im sure you I’ve seen the big fight in all the trailers where you have Zod invading and the heroes have to stop him. The problem with this whole sequence is that the VFX on it as absolutely horrible. It just looks weird in a way you know its all fake and just makes the whole battle feel kind of plasticky and takes you out of the movie as it just looks off composted to the rest of the film.
Also this is a multiverse film which means expect cameos, however they just dont hit the same they have done with Marvel. The main reason for this is that when they appear at the end of the film the majority of these cameos are just digital as the actors are no longer here so they just dont look or feel real in any aspect and therefore doesnt have the same feeling that the Marvel films have had. These cameos would have been much more effective of they had gotten actors who could still play the role instead of using digital avatars. For example it would have been great if they could of got characters from the arrowverse and even Christian Bale to cameo as i think they would of had a much stronger effect.
They even ended the film with a cameo and that was that Ben Affleck had been replaced by George Clooney in the main timeline. This was funny at first but also kinda weird as we know the DCU is being rebooted with James Gunn, so I am going to assume after the ending of this film that it will take place in a completely different universe as we know james Gunn is looking for a new Batman. i think this film would of been much stronger of they just stuck to having Micheal Keaton return instead of stuffing in all these cameos at the end.
Overall this is one of the best DC films in a while and one of the best Comic book films ever made. It’s a shame the film is wrapped up in such controversy but if you can separate it then I think you will have a blast with The Flash.
TVObsessed 