The Flash (2023)
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The Flash Movie Review
The Flash is a 2023 superhero film directed by Andy Muschietti and starring Ezra Miller. It’s a surprisingly solid, though messy movie.
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“You wanna get nuts?
Let’s get nuts“
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Barry Allen uses his super speed to change the past, but his attempt to save his family creates a world without super heroes, forcing him to race for his life in order to save the future. A lot has been said about this movie and its troubled production, but most importantly the criticism of Ezra Miller was shamelessly muted when he actually did much worse things than many other celebrities who were cancelled for much less. Eventually, the movie received solid reviews, but it was a box office bomb due to those controversies and DCEU’s already tarnished brand.
But when you discount all of its troubled history (and we should all do that when reviewing movies), this is a surprisingly solid flick that had no right to be this fine. In fact, it’s one of the better of the recent DCEU features and certainly miles better than the mediocre ‘Shazam 2’. Yes, the multiverse concept has been overdone by now and it was here beyond tiresome in its bombastic, unfortunate third act.
However, before that final section the movie worked in the two Barry Allens talking to each other and sharing some fun banter. And that is the main reason why this flick worked for me – its refreshingly irreverent, fun tone that made the messy story more palatable. The humor is pretty solid and the movie flies by in its first two acts that are breezy and very enjoyable.
Ezra Miller himself was pretty good in the main role, well, two main roles. The two characters are well distinguished and his performance worked as it was charmingly endearing. I also loved the Batman scenes, especially the ones with 1989’s Batman. Michael Keaton was very memorable here and I wanted more of him. All the other characters are rushed and underdeveloped with General Zod being a pale imitation of his much better turn in ‘Man of Steel’.
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The Flash doesn’t have the worst effects out there. I don’t find that criticism of the movie valid given that it’s by far one of the lightest and most colorful DCEU movies. These films are usually too dark and boring, but this one had a much brighter palette. The technical aspects overall are solid, but the movie needed better writing, directing and pacing. The action scenes, though, were pretty good and sometimes even a lot of fun.
The Flash is a surprisingly solid flick that could have been so much worse. All controversies aside, the movie is one of the lightest and breeziest DCEU movies, which was refreshing to witness. The multiverse concept has become beyond tiresome by now and the third act was way too messy, but the rest of the movie worked solidly as this very lightweight, humorous superhero movie that is mostly diverting and particularly memorable in those fun Batman sequences.
My Rating – 3.5
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