The Flash

The Flash
Starring Ezra Miller, Michael Keaton, Sasha Calle, Michael Shannon
Directed by Andy Muschietti

If you had the power to go back and change the past for the better, would you do it? I mean, if you're Ezra Miller, that'd be a no-brainer. He'd go back to when he was a strong actor with the likes of "We Need to Talk About Kevin" and "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" under his belt and before he lost his literal mind and embarked on numerous head-scratching moments that landed him in prison and, worse for his career, a social pariah. Yet, somehow, he wasn't removed from "The Flash" movie and was able to keep his job, and even though the production designer said people would forget about Miller's crimes after seeing how good he is in the film, there's no denying the truth: even if he wasn't facing all the social backlash, Ezra Miller just plain wasn't good in "The Flash," and in fact the film's only saving grace is the long-awaited return of Michael Keaton's Caped Crusader.

Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) is by day a forensic investigator who's still trying to prove his father's innocence after he was convicted of murdering his mother, and by night he's The Flash - a speedster who is a part of the Justice League but feels more like the janitor of the group. While reminiscing about his mother, he believes that he can use the Speed Force to go back in time and prevent his mother's murder, despite the misgivings of Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck).

As Barry traverses the Speed Force, he's knocked out and arrives in what he thinks is the past, and finds his mother alive and his father still living with them, and having a happy life. Then he sees himself, and realizes that he didn't go back in time - but created a different timeline, one where his mother is alive, but the Justice League was never formed. As he tries to train his younger self to be the Flash, General Zod (Michael Shannon) arrives on Earth looking for Superman like how it happened in Barry's timeline, and discovers that Superman must be somewhere hiding out. Unable to locate any other Justice League members, he heads to the home of Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton), but finds that he's not the same Bruce Wayne that he knows - he's older, a recluse, and at first isn't willing to help. But he convinces him to help free Superman, and then they learn that it's not Superman, but his cousin Kara Zor-El (Sasha Calle). Together the two Barrys, Batman, and Supergirl take on General Zod and his forces in hopes of saving that timeline from total destruction, but in the process that could bring about the end of all timelines.


The Good:
Honestly there was only one reason I was excited to see "The Flash," and it's because Michael Keaton reprises his role from the excellent Tim Burton-era Batman films "Batman" and "Batman Returns." Keaton is a cinematic icon who's nailed pretty much every role he's ever done, and he once again nails it as his return to Batman. It's like no time has passed from the early 90s to now, as he still exhibits all the talent and abilities that he had when he was a younger man, and is the ultimate saving grace of the film. Anyone who grew up with his iconic portrayal will not be disappointed.

The concept of the film is an admirable one, even if it's been done in multiple time-travel movies. It's a topic that many people face in real life, but having no way of doing it, seeing it done in films is somewhat oddly therapeutic. That concept is the eternal question: if you could go back and change the past to save a loved one, would you do it? Barry Allen in the comics was always plagued by the loss of his mother, and it seems that every superhero has had that defining moment that made them who they were, but Barry is also impulsive and acts before he thinks, so of course even though he thinks he can do a quick in-and-out, it's not that simple, and his seemingly simple action of love could prove disastrous for entire universes.

The film is at its strongest when its addressing this hard-hitting issue, as Barry's father is incarcerated for his mother's murder, to which Barry vehemently protects him. It's to this end Ezra Miller actually does an admirable job, portraying a man still hurt by his mother's sudden and violent passing and how it shaped his future. His performance tugs at your heartstrings, especially if you've lost a family member, and in that sense you feel that if you had the same chance he had, you'd probably take it.

Newcomer Sasha Calle embodies Supergirl and showcases her abilities admirably. Even though she doesn't get a lot of screen time, she dominates it whenever she's on. She plays Kara Zor-El as someone held hostage by humans who at first doesn't want to help them, but after being around the Barrys she learns that there's good to humanity as well, and joins the fight. She showcases a strong action prowess that I hope will lead her to more Supergirl roles in the future.


The Bad:
Apart from Miller's performance in dealing with the death of his mother, the rest of his performance is absolutely annoying. Barry Allen was always a character who's high strung and hyper, but having two of them on screen at the same time only exasperates that problem. While the original Barry is more subdued, the alternate Barry is like a yipping puppy with super speed, running around the screen and shouting every...single...word. It's exhausting.

Despite what the production designer said, I still knew what Ezra Miller did during his entire performance, and there's some supposedly humorous moments Barry has that really feels ill-timed with what he's been accused of doing in real life.

As it is with most movies today, the CGI is absolutely atrocious. There's a scene where Barry has to rescue a bunch of babies falling, and they look as bad as that baby in "Son of the Mask" - true nightmare fuel. It doesn't get any better as the film progresses, and it culminates in a CGI visual fest that was probably supposed to look good, but looked totally, totally terrible.

Michael Shannon wasn't too pleased to return to the role of Zod, and it shows in his totally lazy performance. General Zod isn't at all intimidating, and his presence - as well as his essential motive - is so far on the back burner you'd forget why he was there in the first place. His sole appearance seems to be so there could be an epic fighting sequence, because otherwise he's in the background so far back he looks like a speck in comparison to the rest of the story.

Speaking of the big action sequence, it's a humdrum affair. Again the CGI is off-putting, and it feels like a video game from the mid 2000s. There's no high stakes because the stakes were never raised beforehand, and looks like a bunch of CGI characters mashing into each other in the middle of a desert.

The concept of the multiverse isn't addressed here either, as until the moment the Barrys meet Batman I forgot that they were in another timeline. The explanation as to how they intersect is lazy at best, and coming out after the amazing, spellbinding "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" only added to the laziness of this product. Again, there seemed to be no stakes given in this film in any capacity, and felt like a film based in futility. Like a bunch of half-baked ideas that would've worked well if one was fully developed, but instead it hops from one story to another with little rhyme or reason.


The Verdict:
If it weren't for Michael Keaton, "The Flash" would've been a film that would wish it could live up to its potential of going back in time and bringing back the dead DCU, but thankfully Keaton was around to infuse at least some enjoyment in this otherwise too-long exercise in futility.


The Score: D+