Carrying on from last week, I’d still like to talk about The Flash. Why? Well, last week I created a non-amusing preview of The Flash movie, which can be found here.
On Wednesday 16th June, I managed to secure a ticket to view an advanced screening of the film. I brought the ticket online; which is something I rarely do. This was strange, because when I arrived at the cinema, I walked inside and brought some food I didn’t really need, then walked straight into the theatre. But get this…not one person stopped me, or asked to see my ticket.
I was sitting in my seat waiting for the trailers, when it occurred to me that I had basically just walked in off the street and sat down in a theatre, without ANYBODY asking about my ticket. My town only has one cinema, so it can be quite lax. It’s truly strange.
Anyway, you haven’t come here to learn about my local cinema’s protocols; you’re here for the review. Unless you’re lost, and I’m terribly sorry, but I have no idea how to help you.
Three things you need to know before you go on any further:
1.) Please be aware there will be spoilers concerning the movie, so proceed with extreme anxiety and caution.
2.) The aim of my reviews are not to rip apart the subject or trash it. If I liked the subject enough to watch or read it, then I’ll give my honest (possibly biased) opinion.
3.) I’m not a professional critic, so I’m not going to dive into deeper concepts and themes, or the art of filmmaking. I’m just a geek; always have been, and always will be. Hopefully.
Sweet? Ok maybe the best place to start, is by stating whether I liked the film or not, which I did. I really did. Also, I’ll be referring to Barry Allen as two different people; Barry-1 (Barry Allen from 2023) and Barry-2 (Barry Allen from 2013).
Let’s discuss some of the things I liked. The first thing was actually something that had appeared in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. In this film, Barry-1 saves Iris West from a car accident. From this interaction, the viewer could possibly think that Barry-1 and Iris are complete strangers. It’s a cool scene, but it has Barry-1 creepily touching Iris’ hair.
Fast forward1 to The Flash, you learn that Barry and Iris actually know each other from university, and Iris says that she thought she saw Barry-1 a few years ago; obviously referencing the car accident. For the sake of continuity, I thought that was a subtle, but clever move.
I know I’m about to go off-topic here, but please stay with me. Like any superhero or supervillain, The Flash has a few weaknesses. One of them is food; or more precisely, his metabolism. Since he runs at ridiculous speeds, his body burns through thousands of calories, because his body is working harder and faster.
To compensate for this, Barry-1, or any Flash, has an extremely fast metabolism. This requires him to eat a huge amount of food, to get the calories he needs to feed his metabolism. Superman needs sunlight, Aquaman needs water, and The Flash needs food.
Because of this, it made me smile watching Barry-1 and Barry-2, trying to eat as much as they could, whenever they could throughout the movie. The vendor machine scene was so on point, it made me laugh. Actually, the whole “baby shower” scene was exactly what I would expect to see in a Flash movie.
And speaking of Barry-1 and Barry-2, I thought Ezra Miller did a phenomenal job at playing two different versions of Barry Allen. Yes, the special effects and editing played their own part to be sure, but Miller really sold the viewer the idea that there were two Barrys. Barry-1 and Barry-2 were similar, but they were still different. I loved how Barry-2’s laugh reinforced the concept that he was younger than Barry-1.
The interactions and dialogue between Barry-1 and Barry-2 were impressive, especially during their training sequences and in the Batman cave.
Barry-1’s costume and lightning were great; especially the scene with the Flash Ring. I only noticed the ring, when Barry-1 was having breakfast with his parents; if he was wearing it before that, I didn’t notice it. Though to be fair, my wife has mentioned that I’m not very observant, so I’m not surprised.
Time travel is part of The Flash’s mythos, along with phasing through objects. Seeing both Barry-1 and Barry-2 phase was unexpected but quite welcome. That also reminded me, I thought the film was really funny. Because Barry (any version) is a little awkward, it provided some hilarious material, that otherwise wouldn’t exist.
Moving onto Batman, we got maybe 15 minutes with Ben Affleck in three-four scenes, so he’s only in the first act. However, the big drawcard was, of course, Michael Keaton. My theory of him being Thomas Wayne was of course destroyed, after one scene.
The fight scene at the prison was impressive, but I was thinking, “This guy would be in his mid 60’s to early 70’s, could he really be doing this fighting without some type of super-armored suit?” Though in fairness, he is Batman. I think the trope of a retired warrior, coming back for one more fight has been done before, but never with a Batwing. It was nostalgic to have Keaton back as Batman, whether for good or for ill.
As for Sasha Calle’s Kara Zor-El, I feel just like everybody else in saying that we needed more screen time for her. I really hope that’s not the last we see of her.
There’s other stuff that I liked as well, like the soundtrack, casting, and practical effects, among others. However, I do need to discuss the things that I didn’t like.
I was approaching this movie with the idea that linear time travel was the standard model for time travel in the movie; but not only did Barry-1 travel back in time and alter the past, which of course changed the future; but Barry-1 was also in another universe, because of multiverse mischief. To me, it sort of made Barry-1’s action worse, because he was screwing up other universes as well.
I thought the CGI was great throughout the film, but there were three scenes where the CGI looked odd. I realise the baby shower scene and Kara Zor-El’s first fight were mainly viewed in slow motion, to really emphasise how speedsters view and experience the world. I get that and understand it, but the babies looked quite strange, and the Russian guards looked even stranger, as Kara was kicking their collective arses.
The other scene was within the Speed Force, where Barry-1 and Barry-2 could run to and insert themselves into the timeline. The concept was cool, but I feel that it looked weird, with CGI characters moving and changing.
This of course brings us to the cameos. I know the backlash Rogue One: A Star Wars Story received for bringing back 1977’s Carrie Fisher, but also that Fisher died the same month the movie was released. Having said that, the amount of people discussing the wisdom about Christopher Reeve’s resurrection is important. Do film companies have the legal right to resurrect a deceased actor’s appearance? Do they have to consult with the actor’s family? I have no idea.
I have to admit, it was amazing to see Reeve and Supergirl (Helen Slater) standing next to each other, which was something that never happened in the films.
Also the Jay Garrick (the original Flash) cameo was interesting, which was Teddy Sears, from The Flash tv series. The problem is when Sears was playing Jay Garrick, he was doing it in disguise, because his real identity was Hunter Zolomon, a supervillain speedster.
Tangled up with all of the cameos, there was the multiverse collapsing, which birthed a new timeline (I think). This has resulted in the DCEU ending, and paving the way for the DCU.
I have a lot of questions because of this:
- Where does Blue Beetle and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom fit into the ongoing story?
- Is the world Barry-1 returned to the new rebooted world, or some sort of bubble universe?
- Is Supergirl dead in all realities?
- Is George Clooney the new (old) Batman?
- Will Ezra Miller stay on as the Flash, or will he recast?
- Do Heatwave, Captain Cold, Mirror Master, and the Reverse Flash exist?
To be honest, I could bring a lot of shame to myself by continuing to list questions, so I’ll stop.
All and all, I liked The Flash. It’s not perfect, but I was happy with what I saw; even if it’s $17.00 a ticket. Thanks, inflation and GST2, you suck.
I’ve said this before, but if you want to read a new book, listen to new music, or possibly watch a new tv show or movie, just do it. That way, you can make your own mind up about it, then you’ll know.
I enjoy writing reviews, but I’m terrible at them. Sorry!
Have you seen The Flash? Please let me know what you thought of it.
Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Remember to walk your dog; read a banned book; avoid destroying the space-time continuum, and I’ll see you next week.
1 That’s a very deliberate pun.
2 One day I’ll write about GST, if I’m feeling angry enough.
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