Written by Christina Hodson And John Francis Daley And Jonathan Goldstein And Joby Harold
Directed by Andy Muschietti
Barry: "This can't be happening. I completely broke the universe."
Has there been a DC movie where the knives have been out for it as much as this one? It does feel so many people want this film to desperately fail that they themselves have failed to realise that this might be one of the better DCEU movies to date.
If you know the story of Geoff Johns infamous Flashpoint comics, you will get the general idea of where this movie was going but in some respects, level your expectations. This take is the more stripped back version of that but just as affecting.
Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) has been The Flash for a number of years by now as well as the janitor of the Justice League (his words, not mine). The movie opened with a trip to Gotham where he saved a bunch of babies from a falling hospital while Batman (Ben Affleck) was assisted by Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) in apprehending a would be terrorist named Al Falcone (Luke Brandon Field).
However Barry's Flash antics are getting in the way of doing his job more effectively at STAR Labs while his father, Henry (Ron Livingston) has his appeal on the horizon. That also brought Barry into contact with budding journalist Iris West (Kiersey Clemons), whom he also wanted to take out on a date.
Anyways event get Barry thinking about his mother, Nora (Maribel Verdu) and despite being told by Bruce not to do it, Barry then makes the reckless choice to change his family's fate and yes, it doesn't pan out the way he hoped it would.
Instead Barry ended up in a world where his parents were alive and his eighteen year old (Ezra Miller) self was a bit of a carefree airhead. The movie's biggest strength was having both versions of Barry play off each other and Ezra Miller delivered in the dual roles with aplomb.
While both versions of Barry might have had their differences, they work well enough as a team when the invasion of Zod (Michael Shannon) revealed the lack of heroes in this new world, except for a retired Batman (Michael Keaton), who needed persuading to sign up. Well, Batman and a certain Kryptonian but not the one that Barry was hoping for.
Yes, instead of an emaciated Superman, we get Supergirl (Sasha Calle) filling in the role and while she's absolutely fantastic with what she's given, the role was a lot smaller than the marketing lead it to be. Likewise the same with Keaton's Batman but as someone who grew up with his iteration of the character, I was just happy to see him one last time.
Of course the battle with Zod as well as a returning Faora (Antje Traue) and Nam-Ek. The battle was a disaster, leading to a bigger one the more both Barrys (specifically the younger one) kept trying to change the outcome, resulting in the real villain making their last minute appearance in the movie.
I know many wanted a certain Speedster to be the one pulling the strings here but I thought the use of a corrupted Barry/Dark Flash actually worked better. It worked better thematically as it forced our Barry to undo his mistakes, get an emotional final scene with his mother, exonerate his father, bag a date with Iris, meet another Batman (George Clooney) and oh yeah, lose a front tooth. All's well that ends well though, right?
- Although they don't physically appear, Cyborg was referenced twice while Superman (Henry Cavill) was stopping a volcano and had a Speedforce appearance through footage from Justice League.
- The much debated cameos included Superman - George Reeves, Christopher Reeve and Nicolas Cage, Batman - Adam West, Supergirl - Helen Slater and the Jay Garrick version of The Flash. I actually thought they were fine.
- As well as a new costume for this movie, we actually got to see a prototype costume Barry wore during the events of Man Of Steel. Barry 2 made a costume out of a Batman suit before the big fight with Zod. Both Barrys were also naked, shirtless, tied up and gagged quite a bit in the film.
- The post credit scene included Barry explaining the Multiverse to a mostly drunk Aquaman (Jason Momoa).
- Standout music: Pink Floyd's Time (from the trailers), Chicago's If You Leave Me Now as well as Benjamin Wallfisch's score music.
- Chronology: 2023 at the start and end of the movie but 2013 for the majority of the movie. Barry is 28 in the present day.
The Flash might have taken a decade to actually make the big screen (between multiple delays, writers and directors and a TV show that ended after nine seasons) but the way was definitely worth it. The movie easily is up there with some of the best DC movies to date with a fantastic lead performance from Ezra Miller, great support from both Michael Keaton and Sasha Calle in their smaller roles and no, the ropey in parts CGI doesn't overall detract. A truly excellent movie that has its own chaotic fun exploring the Multiverse.
Rating: 9 out of 10
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