Barry Allen/The Flash
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Jun 14, 2023 · One of the most spectacular and frustrating mixed bags of the superhero blockbuster era, "The Flash" is simultaneously thoughtful and clueless, challenging and pandering. It features some of the best digital FX work I've seen and some of the worst.
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Jun 16, 2023 · The Flash is funny, fittingly fast-paced, and overall ranks as one of the best DC movies in recent years. Read Critics Reviews. The Flash has enough heart, humor, and action -- not to...
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- PG-13
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Jun 6, 2023 · ‘The Flash’ Review: Ezra Miller Brings Kinetic Energy to a Movie Caught Up in Nostalgic DC Fan Service. Andy Muschietti’s stand-alone superhero action-adventure features Michaels Keaton and...
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By Joshua Yehl
Updated: Jun 6, 2023 7:23 pm
Posted: Jun 6, 2023 7:00 pm
The Flash premieres in theaters on June 16, 2023.
Fresh, funny, and fast – The Flash is a good time at the movies. Director Andy Muschietti’s clear love of the character anchors the many refreshingly unique action scenes and twisty time-travel plot, never losing sight of Barry Allen’s powerful emotional journey. Though the story doesn’t necessarily justify its excessive fan service and the third act is a bit unwieldy, that doesn’t stop The Flash from being an earnest and entertaining superhero film – and one of the better efforts from DC in recent memory.
In a loose adaptation of the Flashpoint comic event that feels like a more focused version and worthy update to the 2011 source material, Barry rushes to use his newfound time-travel ability to undo the most traumatic event of his life: the murder of his mother when he was a child. Using Back to the Future-esque time travel rules, The Flash becomes a tale of two Barry Allens, two Batmans, and two versions of DC movie continuities colliding. What follows is a sincere and surprisingly humorous morality play where Barry must reconcile what his selfish, grief-stricken actions have wrought. It’s especially effective in telling a story that includes the Flash’s full origin without actually being a typical origin story movie.
Unfortunately, the Supergirl we meet in this mashed-up world feels more like a plot device than a fully fleshed-out character, and it’s sad to watch as her part in the story veers into cringey cliche territory. That said, actor Sasha Calle shines as much as she can given the thin nature of the role, and manages to make an impression with her disillusioned Kara Zor-El, who holds an understandable grudge against humanity.
All of those characters play major roles, but this is the first time we’ve seen Barry in a movie centered around him, and Muschietti takes care to showcase the hero’s signature powers in true blockbuster fashion. Whereas Zack Snyder rendered super speed in slow motion, Muschietti makes you feel the Gs from the the first time Flash strikes his admittedly dorky sprinting pose and takes off.
The Quicksilver sequence in X-Men: Days of Future Past remains the king of slow-motion speedster sequences.
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At times, there’s an uncomfortable (yet silly) intimacy in how the Flash’s powers are depicted. We quickly see that having that kind of speed isn’t as easy as it looks, and learning how Barry navigates things like friction heat and what happens to your clothes when you phase through solid matter gives you an appreciation for how clever and resourceful he is. The Quicksilver sequence in X-Men: Days of Future Past remains the king of slow-motion speedster sequences, but The Flash offers up a new one that certainly gets credit for its inventiveness. It’s a frankly ridiculous situation, but that doesn’t stop it from having genuine moments of horror among the humorous ones.
While a majority of the visual effects are superb, one in particular is not. Time travel is portrayed using a concept unlike anything we’ve seen before – and credit where it’s due for that originality – but when this “chrono bowl” (yes, that’s what they call it) depicts people, they look like eerie wax dolls with plastic hair, as if the CGI render was shut off halfway through. Given that a handful of important scenes take place there, and they ask for a lot of emotional investment from us, the distracting look ends up robbing certain big moments of their intended impact. Let's just say it didn’t bowl me over.
The Flash (Barry Allen)
The Flash (Wally West)
The Flash (Jay Garrick)
Quicksilver
Makkari
Dash
The Flash is an ambitious superhero movie that largely pulls off its tale of two worlds, two Flashes, and two Batmans. The superhero fan service is strong with this one – perhaps too strong at times – but it never fully overshadows Barry Allen’s genuinely tragic and heartfelt story of grief. Though the visual effects aren’t always the best and the ...
Review scoring
good
The Flash may have an unwieldy third act and indulges in too much unearned fan service, but that doesn't stop it from being an entertaining and earnest DC superhero film.
Joshua Yehl
Jun 6, 2023 · Critics say the latest DC superhero flick is a satisfying time travel movie and a multiverse smorgasbord of nostalgia and cameos, even if it does lose steam towards the end.
Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Aug 12, 2023. Rotten Tomatoes, home of the Tomatometer, is the most trusted measurement of quality for Movies & TV. The definitive site for Reviews,...
