By Keith Walther | Rose Law Group Reporter
Another DC superhero movie, and another epic flop as “The Flash” only succeeds in taking the title of worst DC film ever made, even surpassing the horrendous “Wonder Woman 1984.” A storyline that is utterly pointless, weak acting and even weaker direction, and shockingly bad visual effects runs “The Flash” straight into a brick wall.
When Barry Allen (Ezra Allen) realizes he has the power to run so fast he can travel back in time, he decides to change the past to keep his mother from being murdered despite the grave warnings from his closest friend, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck). Predictably, his actions have undesirable rippling effects on both the past and future that could once again put humans on a collision course with annihilation.
After altering the past, Barry realizes he’s stuck in a timeline with his goofy alternate version without a way to return to his timeline. Unfortunately, General Zod (Michael Shannon) returns to once again terraform Earth, exterminating humans in the process, and Barry’s Justice League buddies are not present in that timeline. It’s up to Barry to find new friends and another solution to stop the impending apocalypse. Will two Flashes, a retired Batman (Michael Keaton), and a Supergirl (Sasha Calle) be enough to win over an insane general and his Kryptonian army?
The real question for the audience is will anyone really care? Director Andy Muschietti answers that question with a resounding no. Viewers might expect a darker, more suspenseful thrill ride from the horror director of both “It” movies, but they’ll be sorely disappointed. Instead, Andy fills “The Flash” with constant frivolity that undermines the serious, more dramatic elements of the plot. One of the opening scenes of the film depicts “The Flash” cartoonishly saving a bunch of newborns from a falling hospital building. This effectively sets the stage for the nearly two and a half hours of silliness the audience will be forced to endure before a predictable ending that renders the film completely pointless.
To make matters worse, the director curiously includes some of the worst CGI you will ever see in a modern film. It was distractingly bad to the point that makes the recent CW show of the same name look award worthy. Speaking of the CW show, they already did this same storyline and executed it far better, which isn’t saying much. Andy Muschietti attempted to cover up plot holes with obvious attempts at nostalgia referencing 1989’s “Batman,” as well as previous Superman iterations. Unfortunately, plot holes were not the only goofs to occur throughout this film. Continuity was a complete mess as evidenced by glaring mistakes such as Barry’s regular clothes burning off in some scenes while remaining intact in others.
Having a plot that tries to mimic “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and Marvel’s multiverse story arc is not a solid foundation. Furthermore, the poor writing and absence of character development does nothing to help slow this derailed train. At times the dialogue was cheesy and ineffectual with Batman and Flash spitting out eye-rolling one-liners, while characters like Supergirl and alternate Barry come across as overly weak, making them useless and annoying. There’s truly no depth given to any of the characters resulting in audience ambivalence towards them.
The performances in this movie also leave a lot to be desired. Ezra Miller completely fails to bring any life to his character as both versions of Barry Allen. His lack of screen presence and emotional attachment to the roles clearly shows he is not ready to shoulder a star’s responsibility. Actor Grant Gustin portrays the same role in the CW series remarkably better, leaving the audience scratching their head as to why he wasn’t brought over to the film instead.
This is the feature film debut for Sasha Calle and it definitely shows. Her inexperience and cue card reading line delivery turn what should be a powerful role into a diminished little girl wearing a cheap looking Halloween costume. Even the Russian accent she tried to employ initially faded over the course of the movie, much like her character’s importance. “Supergirl” is currently in production, but don’t be surprised if it gets shelved after this debacle.
While it is fun to see Michael Keaton wear his iconic Batman suit again, it is evident his acting prowess cannot overcome the poor writing, but his line delivery is still flawless. Michael Shannon is also quite talented and reprising his role as General Zod should have buoyed the film, but he comes across almost as tired and bored as the writing, inducing only yawns from the audience.
To put it mildly, “The Flash” sucks out loud and does not deserve one moment of your time or one cent of your money. Even the end-credit scene is not worth watching. This is not only the worst DC film made to date, but also the worst overall film so far this year. With underperforming box office numbers much like “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” and “Black Adam” over this past year, Warner Bros. and DC may want to reevaluate their future plans.
This movie earns:
