The Flash (2023) - My Thoughts Real Quick

(Minor Spoilers ahead)

I guess multiverse movies are the trend in movies now.  Everyone's crossing timelines and popping into different universes and all that. Then they just get themselves into a world (or worlds) of a mess. 

This is the premise for the recent superhero movie "The Flash" based on the superhero from DC Comics. 

Andy Muschietti, who did a decent job directing the 2017 horror film "It" and its 2019 sequel, "It Chapter Two," based on Stephen King's novel about a child-eating clown, sits in the director's chair for this latest flick for DC. 

Anyways, we've seen this alternate timeline premise a lot in the last several years such as in 2009's "Star Trek" movie where young Spock meets old Spock. Disney/Marvel used it in the "Doctor Strange" movies, and Marvel's 2021 movie "Spider-Man: No Way Home" used the alternate timeline premise to mix the different Spider-Mans into one flick. 

This kind of trope is a playground for movie producers to throw in all kinds of callbacks and old characters as callbacks and the return of old characters are also a current trend in films. 

In "The Flash," Ezra Miller plays Barry Allen who can move at superhuman speeds, calling himself "Flash." Flash, nicknamed "the Scarlet Speedster," is a member of the Justice League. 

His mother was murdered when Allen was a young boy. His father, played by Ron Livingston, was accused of his wife's murder even though he was at the grocery store at the time, buying a can of tomatoes which his wife forgot to pickup. 

In a moment where Allen is overcome with sadness thinking about that day, he starts running at a speed force so fast and accidentally forms a "Chronobowl." This gives him access to past timelines. 

So, he goes back to that fateful day, and changes his history. Back in the Chronobowl, a mysterious speedster knocks him into a parallel universe. By chance, he's kicked back to the day back in 2013 when he obtained his powers. But his past is now changed as his mom is alive.

It also happens to be the time when General Zod (from "Man of Steel") is attempting to invade Earth.

So, this alternate timeline is the means by which writers bring back Batman/ Bruce Wayne, played by Michael Keaton, from Tim Burton's 1989 movie "Batman." It's also the means by which writers include Kara Zor-El / Supergirl (Sasha Calle) as having come to Earth from the planet Krypton instead of Kal-El/Superman. 

I was primarily interested in seeing this movie just to watch Keaton play Batman once again. As I sat and watched, I imagined it to be the third Batman we never got after Burton's 1992 sequel "Batman Returns." "Batman Forever" didn't cut it back then. 

For me, it was the selling point of "The Flash." I have a huge nostalgic soft spot for Burton's "Batman." All in all, Keaton didn't disappoint. I enjoyed seeing him in the batsuit one more time. 

Plus, a bunch of multiverse DC superheroes show up including George Reeves as Superman, Adam West and Burt Ward as Batman and Robin, Jay Garrick as Flash, and Nicholas Cage as Superman. 

Cage as Superman?

Well, Cage's appearance as Superman comes from an abandoned Tim Burton movie that never came to fruition called "Superman Lives." Test shots and stills of Cage dressed as the Man of Steel have made the rounds online. Now, CGI Cage as Superman is reality in "The Flash." Even in CGI form, nobody can Nicolas Cage better than Nicolas Cage. He's so Nicolas Cage that he can be both verb, noun, and adjective all at once. Seriously, his CGI cameo looks like he's a wax museum figure. In fact, most of the CGI characters look completely fake, including an initial scene in which Flash rescues several newborn babies plummeting from a hospital window. 

In one scene, Christopher Reeve as Superman flies in along with Helen Slater as Supergirl standing next to him. Reeve was initially supposed to appear alongside Slater, at least for a cameo, in the 1984 movie "Supergirl." I guess this makes up for that a little. Unfortunately, they also look laughably fake. 

My wife accurately pointed out how lousy the CGI is commenting that it would be great for a video game, maybe.  

The pace and storyline feels clumsy and too convenient at the same time. As Barry messes with the timeline, each problem that arises seems to have a conveniently timed solution. This is especially true when older Barry attempts to get his powers back, with the help of Batman and Supergirl, by recreating the circumstances in which he initially got his powers in the first place. And this doesn't happen once, but twice. 

The constant scenes of younger and older Barry Allen together are impressive and well-acted. But young Barry is insufferable. 

Despite its problems and weaknesses, and there's a good number of them, somehow I still found "The Flash" an entertaining and a passable superhero film.

"My Thoughts Real Quick"

I tend to put in more effort on my site 1000daysofhorror.com while this blog gets much less traffic. In an attempt to remedy that, and write more posts especially on new releases, I plan to jot down my thoughts rather than write up lengthy reviews.

Oh, there will still be lengthy reviews on older films. But for newer releases, I'll try to make them quick. 

Nicholas Cage (CGI) as Superman in "The Flash."