The Flash

Andy Muschietti

Grade: D+

It took me more than a little while to work up the courage to tackle this one. My excitement for it has been considerably dulled by a rash of rather disappointing comic book movies, and it’s unfortunate that a movie should suffer for the sins of its siblings, but that seems to be the nature of these sorts of movies today. As I grew up on the comic book store debate stage, and the modern age of the comic book movie adaptation was born when I was in high school, I know that the tendency when discussing these movies is to be hyperbolic. Everything is either the best or, and more likely, the worst thing that has ever been made. This movie is of course neither of those things, and while it has a great many confusing elements, it is not wholly devoid of merit. 

In the main these merits revolve around the performance of Ezra Miller as the two versions of Barry. Whatever his failings off the screen (the discussion of which I will leave to those better informed) Miller does a superb job of differentiating the two versions of Barry and making them believable considering their varied histories. Watching the elder Barry struggle to steer his younger alternate, and the transformation that relationship creates in him, is well acted and in many instances quite touching. Ultimately, this relationship culminates in a truly heroic moment where Barry is forced to allow his mother’s death. It is easy to gloss over considering the films flaws, which are legion, but Barry’s goodbye to his mother as he pulls the can of tomatoes from her shopping cart belongs in the conversation with the end of Sam Rami’s “Spider-Man”(2002) and Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight”(2008) as among the great moments in a genre plagued with frivolous heroism.   This is the purest heart of the movie, and it is at is very best when here its attention lies. 

Some mention must be made for Michael Keaton’s return to the role of Batman. While I’m about to argue that this, and several other elements, are narratively superfluous, the little kid in me could do nothing but smile helplessly seeing him and hearing Danny Elfman’s iconic theme.

For the less successful elements the focus must be the plot. Defying my own self imposed dictate against hyperbole, there is no lazier or more self-defeating storytelling device than a multiverse. For the writer’s it seems to be a blank check to do absolutely anything they want, and for the thoughtful viewer a declaration that none of this really matters anyway. Pair that with the intrinsically contradictory nature of time travel narratives and “The Flash” gives itself in a very real sense the worst of all worlds. The multiverse is the narrative’s excuse for an endless series of callbacks and references that serve no other purpose than to have the audience go,

Though most of these are harmless ephemera, their main thrust drives the unfortunately irrelevant second act involving the rescue of Supergirl and the battle with Zod. This is not to take anything away from the lovely Sasha Calle who performed serviceably though given precious little to do, but the conflict with the Kryptonians serves only to demonstrate that some events are inevitable and beyond Barry’s ability to change and provide an otherwise antagonist free story with some venue for Barry to demonstrate his powers. In truth, Batman and Supergirl (like all of the multiverse elements) are concessions to the wants of the audience rather than the needs of the narrative and, sadly, would have been better absent. Stripped down, I think the story of Barry going back in time to save his mother and becoming obsessed with repairing the rippling effects of his interference until he becomes his own worst enemy is a powerfully compelling story the glimmer of which is certainly hidden here. 

The rest of the film’s weaknesses are neither so structural nor so significant. I don’t like to complain about CGI as it is a luxury rather than a need, but the cartoonish “baby shower” of the opening sequence was particularly egregious and this set a precedent for a strange mix of questionable and quality effects work for the rest of the film, and the runtime is unforgivably bloated. Part of this last issue is caused by the weight of the preexisting universe (colloquially known as the Snyderverse) which the film is obligated by modern convention to bear. Most tragically, in the end Barry does not even learn the lesson that was so painfully and beautifully taught in the film's most poignant moment as he alters history(again in a way he views as insignificant) to save his father from prison. This played-for-laughs George Clooney cameo undercuts Barry’s arc, the moral, and the only significant statement the movie makes. Fun once, but probably not worth a return trip.