Written by James Krieg
Directed by Jeff Wamester
The Flash: "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Central City any more. Except I am in Central City."
With the DC Extended Universe ending a slight whimper with Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom, it was up to the Tomorrowverse (a similarly divisive DC movie universe) to go that extra bit harder. Time for a Crisis.
Yes, four years ago, the CW tackled Crisis On Infinite Earths over the span of five television shows and in my opinion, they did a damn good job with it as well. This first part of a three part event also has gotten off to a good start with one character well and truly driving the narrative here.
I'm talking about The Flash (Matt Bomer) himself. In a different continuity, both him and a certain someone else were responsible for this new universe and while that person's punishment finally got revealed here, the focus was largely on Barry Allen himself having his past catch up with him.
Jumping in and out at different points in time, we got one of the best depictions of Barry and Iris's (Ashleigh LaThrop) relationship. We got to see them meet for the first time, fall in love, getting married, grow old together all while the threat of total annihilation dominated proceedings. I think this movie might have given one of the best depictions of their relationship in media.
Of course there was also the formation of the Justice League. Previous movies hinted at them being a team but this one showed the origins of The Flash, Green Arrow (Jimmi Simpson), Superman (Darren Criss), Batman (Jensen Ackles), Vixen (Keesha Sharp), John Stewart (Aldis Hodge) and Martian Manhunter (Ike Amadi) banding together. A good portion also being focused on defeating Lex Luthor (Zachary Quinto) and freeing Amazo (Nolan North) from the latter's grip.
However, that was the least of The Flash's problems. He ended up on a world where the Crime Syndicate, comprising of Johnny Quick (Liam McIntyre), Superwoman (Stana Katic), Power Ring (Aldis Hodge), Owlman (Lou Diamond Phillips) and Ultraman (Matt Lanter) reigned supreme before also becoming casualties as the Crisis spread over towards different Earths. We didn't get to see enough of them as villains to make impact but I liked their screen time regardless.
With the Crisis getting worse and worse, we had both Harbinger/Supergirl (Meg Donnelly) and The Monitor (Jonathan Adams) bring virtually every hero they could onto the station in order to formulate a plan. It meant finally having Wonder Woman (Stana Katic) again with contemporaries but gave the chance to see Blue Beetle (Matt Lanter), Hawkman/Psycho Pirate (Geoffrey Arend), Doctor Light/Huntress of Earth 2 (Erika Ishii) and Earth 2 Robin (Zach Collison) to name the many appearances we got here.
Then there was the Homeless Man (Nolan North) who kept stalking both The Flash and Crime Syndicate throughout the movie. When he wasn't warning them that world were ending, it was also practically confirmed that it was none other than John Constantine taking on the Pariah role as punishment by the Spectre (Lou Diamond Phillips). I was delighted with this particular reveal and the link up to Constantine's DCAU appearances was much appreciated.
As for the rest of the movie. It took a lot of people but mostly Barry to stop the Crisis and it almost worked, excepr it didn't. History got changed yet again and that alone set up a big cliffhanger for the second part that I cannot wait. Poor Barry, he can't do right for wrong in these situations.
- There's a dedication to George Perez (1954-2022) at the end of this movie.
- Other characters who appeared included Aquaman, Hal Jordan, Alfred Pennyworth, Lois Lane, Hawkgirl, Dawnstar, Creeper, Nightshade, Captain Atom, Wally West, Brainiac 5, The Question, Batgirl, Zatanna, The Ray, Mister Terrific, Swamp Thing, most of them in silent cameos though on the ship.
- There's a nice reference to Death from The Sandman, courtesy of Spectre.
- While it's made clear the Homeless Man is John Constantine, he doesn't seem to remember himself, just that he's being punished and walks all doomed Earths as a warning.
- The second part of this trilogy will be released on April 23rd.
- Chronology: Present Day Central City, Gotham, Metropolis and outer space as well as scenes from previous movies.
I've been a mixed on the Tomorrowverse as a whole but I personally thought this was a terrific start to their take on Crisis On Infinite Earths and having The Flash anchor the first part of this story was a smart move. Easily the best movie from this verse after it's debut one of course. Looking forward to the concluding parts of this saga.
Rating: 9 out of 10
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