Starring the legally troubled Ezra Miller, and facing a release date scattered with multi-multiverse superhero competition, "The Flash"s opening weekend got off to a slow jog. Heralded earlier this year at CinemaCon as the saving grace of DC Comic’s future, “The Flash” appears destined to crash well below revenue projections under the weight of unsurmountable expectations. Even more telling, the film endured so many re-writes that new writers came and went as frequently as the spring thunderstorms rocking Park City’s afternoon skies.
Director Andy Muschietti (“It” and “It Chapter 2”) and writer Christina Hodson (“Birds of Prey” and “Bumblebee”) were finally tapped to deliver the first full feature for the scarlet speedster since the character’s debut in 1940. The story begins where supporting roles for the Flash in prior DC films left off- the Flash is largely to Batman and Bruce Wayne what Spiderman is to Ironman and Tony Stark- a hyper, superhero pupil still cutting his teeth on the ins and outs of how to save the world while irritating his older, more seasoned counterparts with impulsive, bad decisions and a whiney voice.
The Flash’s alter ego, Barry Allen, while making progress on finding his feet in the superhero role, is still consumed by guilt of the death of his mother and unjust framing of his father for her murder. Barry decides to use his speed force to travel back in time to prevent his mother’s death and clear his dad. Of course, this action sets in motion catastrophic consequences for the timelines of the multiverse and leaves Barry powerless in a version of the world where superheroes aren’t around to save anyone- except for the one superhero who doesn’t have superhero powers to alter- the Batman, in the form of a retro-Batman played by Michael Keaton, reprising his role from 1989.
Batman and Flash also locate a new ally with superpowers yet to be discovered. They set off to right the timeline wrongs and restore the order of things before another retro-bad buy destroys Earth. The challenges of depicting Flash on screen are of course that the Flash moves so quickly he can’t be seen by the human eye. The “X-men” films solved this by reducing the action sequences to slow motion and adding clever choreography, which “The Flash” successfully borrows to deliver some very compelling action sequences. Ezra Miller delivers a complex performance, and the rest of the supporting heroes deliver self-deprecating humor interlaced with tributes to their prior origin stories.
So, on my Black Diamond ski trail rating system, “The Flash” earns my intermediate BLUE ski trail rating. This film is better than it deserves to be, and the Flash’s speed ultimately is not slowed by “superhero fatigue.” The action is fun, and the coming-of-age dramatic scenes ring true. Miller displays the range which once showed their future promise before their self-destructive legal trouble. While the story departs from its Flashpoint Comic origin, fans will delight in the character retrospectives which bring back not only Michael Keaton’s Batman, but a host of Superman and other character tributes.
“The Flash” is playing in theaters and rated PG-13 for violence, strong language, partial nudity and putting babies at risk.
