THE FLASH

Finally The Flash is in theaters after a very long wait, twenty plus years of story and production design development that kept getting
delayed by the movie studio

until every fan and movie reviewer believed the project was a hoax, or possibly a marketing ploy designed to keep moviegoers hoping, generating buzz and headlines for the studio every so often when their films suffered at the box office.

And the final result is definitely both something to grin grimly about with enough problems to give Barry that crooked shine, plus one broken tooth.

As advertised, The Flash is the final leg of the Snyder Verse DCEU effort from Warner Brothers that was designed as a direct challenge to the threat posed from Marvel’s MCU productions. 

The DCEU failed to draw in as many moviegoers resulting in many commercial half-wins and a publicly derided bankruptcy that brought AT&T onboard as the new owner, followed shortly after by a second bankruptcy and the Discovery Channel acquiring the studio from AT&T.

As announced several years ago, the Flash movie premiered immediately on the heels of the conclusion of the CW TV series The Flash starring Grant Gustin which lasted roughly a decade.

The TV series had produced its own version of the comic book story Flashpoint, in which Barry Allen travels in time to save his parents and in the process creates all kind of time paradox related bifurcations and fracturing of the present timeline from which he started.

For your reference, the story Flashpoint originated in DC Comics in 2011 and spanned 61 comic book issues, making it one of the best-selling stories in DC Comics history.

The Flash, compared to some of its siblings from the DCEU (Suicide Squad, the Joss Whedon Justice League, Black Adam) is significantly more light-hearted and humorous, the story sizzles (and fizzles at times) with giddy moments and silly banter. 

There are some genuine laughs that arise from the situation or the storyline.  It’s clear the script has been polished to a much higher level than previous studio attempts to step away from the dark mood of these films that had become the signature DCEU calling card, ever since The Dark Knight trilogy struck it gold with Chris Nolan.

As alluded to earlier, the CW The Flash had been showing off visual effects of The Scarlett Speedster for almost a decade so it is a delight to notice a much different visual style and concept for the bigger budget movie.  How the camera portrays the visceral experience of moving at near the speed of light is given a new lease on life. 

The Flash, under director Andy Muschietti, does not flinch on visuals and for the most part gives audiences solid and new original expressions of super speed motion and acrobatics, courtesy of a new set of VFX treatments.

Perhaps one of many flaws in this film, revolves around the core motivation for The Flash to provoke Flashpoint.  To save his mother, whose murder continually affects our young hero, while his dad is still in jail awaiting a decision on his claim of innocence, Barry cannot sit still on his ability to travel in time and do something to save his parents, considering that he is saving hundreds if not thousands of strangers as a member of The Justice League.

In addition to the previously mentioned “movitation” for Barry, another flaw in the film is a notably poor casting and development element in The Flash where Nora Allen, his mother, is either Spanish or Latina (a departure from the comic books and TV series). 

Portrayed by actress Maribel Verdú, Nora is the quintessential Latina mom, warm, kind, loving, she serenades her son in Spanish and often breaks out in conversation and song in Spanish but what is a clear disconnect is that Barry Allen does not show any smidgeon of Latino culture or inclination. 

Ezra Miller plays Barry as culturally Anglo not once showing any kind of connection with his mother’s cultural heritage, which to some extent breaks the illusion of that deep mother and son bond that tortured Barry into committing to altering the past.

And this flies into the face of The Flash giving us an African American Iris West, the role reprised from the Justice League by Kiersey Clemons.  While Warner Brothers is marketing to a multi racial audience, the production really misses it big with Ezra not being given any scenes to portray a Latino influence.

Even though by all accounts this is the first cinematic Flash solo movie, the Batman’s role in this adventure cannot be overstated.  While Supergirl is equally prominent, her hold over the film pales by comparison to the Batman’s, and not just in how many actors portray him, but dramatically, emotionally and nostalgically. 

Michael Keaton is as much the headliner star in this film as Ezra Miller is, despite Ezra holding down two roles and playing them with sufficient skill we can indulge in two different Barry Allens. 

As detailed in our previous review of The Batman, this is not by accident.  Warner Brothers management, or mismanagement, of the DC Comics titles have resulted in The Dark Knight having undue influence on all their related cinematic projects.

I looked into the original moment when Barry crosses paths with Iris West while looking for a job at a pet store.  A serious continuity issue arises because Iris and Barry were supposed to be close college friends and Barry had a big crush on her.

In their previous encounter where Barry saves her from a collision with a truck, she crosses path with him at the pet store and neither recognize one another.  It was their first meeting ever.  The problem though is not the encounter per say. 

The entire Barry Allen saves Iris sequence is done in slow motion to a song from Rose Betts, almost an aria, operatic in style, which might have been a cool move from Andy Muschietti.

Next