The Flash movie review

MOVIE TITLE: The Flash

The newest addition to the DC Comics Universe hits theaters on June 16, 2023

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 2 hours 24 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: A

IN A NUTSHELL:

Barry Allen uses his super speed to change the past but his attempt to save his family creates a world with unintended consequences that ripple into other worlds of the metaverse.

The film was directed by Andy Muschietti. Writing credits go to Christina Hodson and Joby Harold.

Yep, it’s another Metaverse movie. It appears that’s what DC Comics is doing all of the time now. It’s the 13^th movie in the DC Universe with a soft reboot of the DC franchise, led by James Gunn. Any other films outside this new timeline are going to be called DC Elseworlds. Are you still thinking all of this Metaverse hype is fun or are you growing tired of it? Just curious. Comment down below!

THINGS I LIKED:

I attended a press screening with an audience that was ready for a good time. Within 1 minute, the audience was laughing. Nice! There was also destruction and tons of action within minutes.
Ezra Miller did a fantastic job playing two characters: The Flash and Barry Allen. He gives us two-in-one characters to root for and shows us two levels of maturity with entertaining nuances.
I LOVED Michael Keaton as one of the Batmen in previous movies, so I loved that they brought him back for this! I thought it was really clever how they addressed how there could be so many different Batmen in our world by utilizing the Metaverse. Conveniently, this movie ignores the story in the 1995 Batman Forever, as well as the 1997 Batman and Robin to have the 1992 Batman Returns movie make more sense to fit Michael Keaton’s storyline. Michael Keaton is now, officially, the oldest actor to play a live-action Batman. He’s currently 71 years old. Adam West was actually 88 when he voiced the 2017 animation of Batman vs. Two-Face!
Ben Affleck hasn’t been my favorite Batman, but he did a good job in this. I loved the ending of the movie that left us all hanging as to who will be the next Batman in THIS universe! Ha ha Ben Affleck had some issues with the Justice League movie but revealed in a recent interview that he really enjoyed his role in this movie, as short as it was.
The audience I watched the movie with absolutely loved the montage of Superman actors, especially Nicolas Cage who was ALMOST a superhero in a Superman movie many years ago in real life.
Michael Shannon always does such a great job as a villain. His clear mask on his space uniform was pretty cool.
Super amusing sound effects.
While this movie isn’t exactly an origin story for The Flash, we get to learn a lot more about him, his past, and his motivations.
Sasha Calle is the first Latina to play Supergirl. Congrats, Sasha!
Others in the cast include Kiersey Clemons, Ron Livingston, Ian Loh, and Saoirse-Monica Jack. Everyone did a great job.
The movie was shot entirely with IMAX cameras by Henry Braham. The only other DC movie to do that was the 2021 movie The Suicide Squad.
Great special effects.
I always love the Flash’s slow-motion sequences, so I was surprised when the guy I sat next to leaned over and said he thought they lasted too long. I still loved them.
I loved the very last scene. What a great cliffhanger.
The big bad spaceship looked just like a beetle. Some of the designs for weapons were cool too.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

Gotham City is always falling apart. Ha ha
If you get vertigo as I do, be warned that there will be a few scenes that make you a little bit dizzy. There mostly at the beginning of the movie. I was worried it was going to be like that the entire time, but it wasn’t. Drats…I’m getting old!
I wanted to hear the audience’s reactions throughout the film, but the movie was really loud and drowned out most of the noise from the audience.
Surprisingly, there are some fake CGI moments. Some of the action sequences looked like they came straight out of a video game.
Some viewers might complain about the unnecessarily long length of the movie.
Everyone bleeds from the mouth with fake makeup. Ha ha

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

A few conversations about intimate relations.
A surprisingly high number of crude words. Come on, Hollywood!
Some profanity in English and Spanish, including 1 F-bomb
Talk of the death of a parent
We see people get hurt, sometimes with blood
We see a naked guy but no private parts show
We see a guy in his underwear
Someone throws up…a lot. Gross.
Lots of violence
Lots of various weapons
Lots of explosions and destruction
High dead-body count

THEMES:

Fate
Choices, consequences, and accountability
The butterfly effect
Consequences
Criminal Forensics
Space/time continuum
Family
Protecting loved ones
Accepting the past

FUNNY LINES:

“You wanna get nuts? Let’s get nuts.” – Batman, Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton)

INTERESTING LINES:

“Lasso of truth. Never gets old.” – The Flash (Ezra Miller)
“It’s not what I believe. It’s what the truth is.” – The Flash (Ezra Miller)
“Not every problem has a solution. Sometimes you just have to let go.” – Maribel Verdu (Nora Allen)
“Don’t live your past. Live your life.” – Batman (Michael Keaton)
“Time isn’t linear.” Batman (Michael Keaton)
“Yeah, I’m Batman!” – Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton)
“A lot of humans are worth saving.” – Young Barry Allen (Ezra Miller)
“That pain made me who I am.” – Batman (Michael Keaton)