REVIEW: No Amount of Running Can Save ‘The Flash’
Directed by Andy Muschietti, with a screenplay from Christina Hodson, The Flash is loosely inspired by the Flashpoint comic series, which was created by Geoff Jones for DC Comics in 2011. In the comic series, Barry wakes in a different universe with his whole life changed. His mother Nora is alive, his father is dead, the Justice League has never been established, and a whole slew of other changes. But the series ends with Barry returning back to his universe after defeating the villain, Reverse Flash. That comic series followed Barry on an emotional journey, where is he constantly trying to decipher what is right and what is wrong. The series was a huge hit for comic readers and has been retold countless times in a variety of different The Flash entities.
In Muschietti’s film adaptation, Barry (Ezra Miller) goes back in time to prevent his mother’s death. After making, what he believed to be, one minor change to his past, Barry attempts to travel back to his time when he is shoved out of the speed force by a mysterious being. Now, stuck in a new, but familiar universe, Barry must team up with this world’s Batman (Michael Keaton), Supergirl (Sasha Calle), and, well himself, Barry Allen, to find a way home.
Unlike the comics and the other Flashpoint retellings, Muschietti and Hodson’s version lacked a true narrative. The time-travel, multiverse story has been played to death over the last five years, across many different films and TV series, and to see it once again being rehashed in this movie, made the entire film feel unoriginal and lackluster. The beauty of the Flashpoint series is also the focus on Barry’s emotional growth and his connection with his fellow characters. The creative team never takes that time to dive into who Barry Allen is or create any form of relationship between Allen and the other characters introduced in the movie. It’s almost as though the writers didn’t fully trust the character they were writing, nor trust that he solely could carry the film. It’s as if the writers didn’t believe people would see the movie if it didn’t have one of the big DC two, Batman or Superman, in it. They should have spent more time fleshing out Barry Allen and creating a clearly defined villain for him to face than trying to see how many cameos they can fit into the movie.
Miller returns to play the Speedster and lacks the charm needed to pull off the character. Kiersey Clemons steps in to play Iris West and could have been left out of the entire movie. Her character plays no real part in the story, which is a shame because the character is such a big part of Barry’s life. Clemons is a wonderful actress who deserved to play a bigger part in Barry’s journey. Michael Keaton returns as Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, and is absolutely wonderful. The only downside to his appearance is we never see any type of development with his character. There is one brief moment in the film, where the writers look to be touching into an explanation on who he is or why he is the way he is, but that moment is gone as quickly as The Flash can run. Sasha Calle takes on the role of Supergirl for this movie and, like Clemons, was underutilized. Her character lacked any personality and is merely just there to fill a void. The writers could have used her better, but instead chose to just retell the story of Superman, but with her in his place.
The Flash could have been a much needed refresher for the DC Universe had the creative team really trusted their lead character and his story. Instead, they relied too heavily on other DC characters to tell the story, and once again fell flat. If you want to see the movie, I highly recommend waiting until it is out on streaming. The cameos will be spoiled by that point, but it’s not worth heading to the theaters to see this weekend.
Grade: C-