REVIEW: The Flash wasn't able to fully harness the power of the Speed Force

Ezra Miller deserves a lot of praise for his performance
Jun 15, 2023
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PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures

THE 2013 ANIMATED movie Flashpoint Paradox is the epitome of a great DC movie because frankly there aren’t many. Call me a bit biased with all of the memorable flicks that Marvel has churned out through the years but I’m just being real here.

So I came to SM Megamall for the early screening knowing nothing about 2023’s The Flash except that it was going to be paying homage in more ways than one to the Flashpoint Paradox. The movie tried to reach top speed but ultimately fell short.

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-Minor Spoilers-

Oh Ezra

Ezra Miller, the man who plays the titular figure in red tights, was recently plagued with a lot of drama and his otherwise stellar performance as different versions of Barry Allen will still be met with controversy.

The DC bigwigs will have to make decisions down the line specially after such a good performance by Miller. His banter between the highly distinct different versions of himself led to a lot of comic relief and Miller’s performance was one of the highlights in the almost three-hour movie.

It’s going to be highly unlikely we see Miller play Barry Allen again after the allegations and legal troubles, but at least he gave a performance that even diehard comic book fans will be appreciative of.

There were several fun cameos throughout the movie but I won’t delve into them to keep the spoilers at a minimum but make sure you don’t blink cause you might miss some of them. The biggest names beside Ezra Miller to star in The Flash are the Bruce Waynes.

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Ben Affleck has already stated that he plans to retire the Dark Cowl soon but this performance showed great amounts of angst and comfort in the role that he started playing in 2016’s Batman vs Superman.

Michael Keaton’s older and grittier Bruce Wayne is a treat specially for fans who caught his portrayal way back 1989. Hearing him say ‘I’m Batman’ for the first time in the movie gave me chills. Unfortunately since Keaton is well into his 70s lots of animations and effects were used for his fight scenes and they were not comfy to watch.

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Playing with Speed Force

While the story doesn’t quite reach the exhilarating thrill of Flashpoint Paradox, The Flash definitely had its fair share of epic moments. We get an older Bruce Wayne, a very confused younger Barry Allen, and a female Superman…Girl.

The fast-paced story telling made sure that fans of DC enjoyed the whole ride. Scattered across the story are several easter eggs of pop culture and the DC multiverse. The Flash comes very close to becoming one of the best DC movies but it sputtered before reaching its full potential as a whole and it turned into a messy smorgasbord in the end.

Animation Damnation

What greatly pulled The Flash down was the animation. The first big scene of the movie tried to go all in with a CG-heavy rescue scene in a collapsing hospital. While the whole scene was epic, the horrid animation of the debris and the falling babies in slo-mo felt like a cheap deep fake attempt. You couldn't really feel any sympathy for the babies plunging to their deaths because everything felt so fake and unnatural.

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It’s hard to suspend your disbelief if the animation felt utterly low budget. With over $200 million in budget, it isn’t wrong for me to ask for better animation. I’m sorry DC, the undisputed king of the speedster comic book movie scenes, still belongs to Quicksilver in Days of Future Past.

I really expected more polish from a movie that was in production since March 2017. The rest of the animated parts of the movie really let me down and there were alot of them. While The Flash tries to bring the DC Cinematic Universe to next gear, its engine combusted badly in the end turning it into a hot mess. It had its moments but it really wasn’t The Flash movie that it was hyped up to be.

James Gunn will be rebooting the DC Cinematic Universe beginning with Blue Beetle and hopes are definitely high as DC finally tries to take a jab at the established Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures
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