#26: THE FLASH (UPDATED)

 

Starring Ezra Miller, Sasha Calle, Michael Keaton, and some others. Written by Christina Hodson from a story by John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein and Joby Harold. Directed by Andy Muschietti. Budget $220 million. Running time 144 minutes.

I deliberately missed the last DC movie - Shazam: The Furry Gods, deciding I just couldn't be arsed especially after the woeful Black Adam. But The Flash was a different kettle of fish. When that trailer burst onto the scene highlighting Michael Keaton's Batman I was bloody mad for it! How could I not be, At least 50% of Keaton's Batman movies were great! While the other 50 was okay. 

So like the eager beaver I am I raced off to the cinema, like a flash so to speak to catch it!

The plot sees Bazza (Barry Allen) a nerdy, geeky, dweeby, tech kid and speedster discover that he can travel back in time if he runs really really fast. This is good because he decides that he can now travel back in time and save his mother from getting killed and thus save his father who was jailed for her murder. 

Unfortunately in doing so, Barry encounters a black clad demon-looking speedster who boots Allen out of the time sphere and dumps him into the world where Barry meets his mum and dad and encounters his younger self, who's yet to become the Flash, and promptly loses his own super speed. But just then, General Zod turns up demanding Superman, and the two Barrys head off to put the Justice League together. Trouble is in changing the past, Barry has also damaged the whole time line, indeed a spagetti plate's worth of time lines as Michael Keaton's Batman tells him and so it's up to the two Barrys, an elderly Batman and Superman's cousin to thwart Zod and get everything back to normal or the entire universe will explode, probably. 

It's a sort of Back to the Future meets the entire DCU. As the movie pitch went.

From then on the film builds to the obligatory massive CGI slug fest with the two Allens battling the sinister black clad speedster and our hero discovers that somethings can't be changed. 

it's an overly convoluted film that you just have to resign yourself to letting it wash over you. It's carried entirely on the shoulders of Ezra Miller who turns in two extremely fun performances as the Allen boys, who in turn is helped by the effortlessly cool and charismatic Michael Keaton. And then is promptly let down by some of the worst CGi I've seen in a long time. The opening sequence that sees The Flash racing to Metropolis to help Batman (Ben Affleck) battle a gang of crimbos and save a collapsing hospital is so tonally off kilter and badly animated that it robs the film of any reality. During the collapsing hospital, an entire ward of babies is dumped into the sky to fall to their deaths unless The Flash can save them, inbetween mouthfuls of sugary snacks. None of the babies look remotely real and you don't so much end up in the uncanny valley as race right through it on the way to the Uncanny Universe. Each baby is shiny, plastic and so obviously fake that it's truly jarring. 

Which is a shame. Because when it's just the two Barry's bickering or coming to terms with their powers this film is a hoot, even more so when Micheal Keaton turns up, because he just steals the whole show. The much trumpeted return of General Zod (Michael Shannon) is just a wasted opportunity that leaves far more questions than answers and a huge gapping plot black hole flapping in the wind that's never answered. But this film hasn't got time for answers, no sirre! It's too busy in trying to be clever, and silly and down right relentless, 'gotta keep running' it screams! No time to stop! No time to put your hand up and ask any questions. This plot doesn't have time for that sort of nonsense. It's too busy, like its titular character cramming sugary snacks into its face the whole time.

Anyway, the whole thing comes undone in the final act, and then the status quo is sort of returned and the films comes to a screaming halt, apart that is for the obligatory mid credit epilogue that shoehorns in another member of the Justice League.

Despite being better than the last three Marvel films (not that hard to do) and ditching the grimness of the Zac Synder legacy this still feels like the DCU is trying to find a tone it's comfortable with.

And that's it. A film that's certainly fun, very fast and manic, although why it had to be a 144 minutes to beyond me. You won't remember it much after it's over and I doubt I'll ever find it in my heart to rewatch it again, but I didn't hate it and it was rather entertaining.

7/10

UPDATED

I went back to rewatch this on, what turned out to be, its last weekend of theatrical release and I'm glad I did. In an almost empty cinema and at a respectable 10.30 am I sat centre centre and with my expectations now a distant memory was able to enjoy the film for what it was.

A terrifically entertaining and clever superhero movie that easily knocked the spots and socks off the all of the rest of this year's glut of MCU and DCU movies. Micheal Keaton still steals the show, but Ezra Miller's double-handed performance is the key to the success of this film. I still have deep resevations about the woeful CGI, it's so artificial and wonky and so deeply rooted in the uncanny valley that it proves constantly jarring. But I loved the story and the showdown, despite being a CGI glut, was satisfying and dramatic. And I realised that this will probably be the only superhero movie of this year I bother to own on Blu Ray. 

8/10