The Flash: A Spoiler-Filled Discussion
***As the title would suggest, full spoilers for The Flash follow***
Very early on in Thirty Minute Reviews, we spent a long time breaking down a special that ran on the CW called Dawn of the Justice League. In 2016, this show was meant to be DC's way of introducing general audiences to their upcoming film slate including with footage from Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman while also announcing the movies Cyborg, Green Lantern, Aquaman and The Flash. All of that is to say that this movie has been cooking for a long time and it is just a little disappointing that this is the final result. Instead of adapting The Flashpoint Paradox in a way that is emotionally fulfilling, most parts of it just fall flat.
What Works
Some of the acting performances in the movie are very strong, specifically Sasha Calle as Supergirl and Michael Keaton's return as Batman. Sasha Calle brings a brutality and callousness to her performance that sets her apart from Superman while Keaton's Batman is used just enough to keep viewers engaged as the story gets a little long-winded. How much one enjoys Miller's performance as Barry Allen will depend entirely on how much one enjoys their performance in both cuts of Justice League because it is unlikely to change any minds. Along this line, there are a bunch of comedic moments that do work, however when jokes don't land, they fall like a lead balloon and it is just awful.
The opening action sequence with Barry teaming up with Ben Affleck's Batman to take down a terrorist is also pretty fun for the team-up portions. Seeing Batman, Alfred, Flash, and eventually Wonder Woman working together is a weird moment where one can see what would have happened had there been a competently made Justice League movie that general audiences actually liked. It would have been nice to have the full League show up including Superman, Aquaman, and Cyborg, but it is what it is.
What Didn't Work
The effects, oh lord the effects. Muschietti has attempted to say that this is because the Speedforce is supposed to warp perspective but the bad effects extend so far beyond that it is borderline obscene. The fights look bad, the escape from Siberia looks bad, the cameos that are mostly CG composites look bad, the opening sequence in Gotham looks bad, every opportunity for CGI in this movie looks bad and it's just a full on visual assault the entire time.
The bigger issue than the effects is the fact that The Flashpoint Paradox is not a strong way to lead off the solo story of Barry Allen. Considering it is a story about letting go of the past (with all the cameos from the past in this movie it's a little ironic), forcing Barry to go through all the emotional turmoil in one movie while also establishing the rules of time travel, the rules of the new universe, and all of the side things that go along with it is simply too much for anything emotional to resonate. It's like in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 where to score cheap emotional points all of Rocket's buddies are cute animals with cute voices, it's the same thing here but at least there it was the third movie so Rocket's pain had been built up. The other problem is, Barry's decision regarding the new timeline at the end of the movie is less about him learning a lesson and more about self-preservation because he would be unable to live in the timeline he created where his mother lived. What made the comic (and the cartoon, and the adaptation in season three of the show) work is that Barry has to learn he can't live in the past and he has to move on, but the plot makes that decision for him since in this timeline Zod always wins and kills everyone on Earth. Because of that, nothing about this Barry as defined in this movie (and with the laws of time travel as defined here) would learn he shouldn't try again. Since every time he messes with time it creates a new timeline from beginning to end, there is no reason he has to let his mother die and just reroll the dice over and over. Had the Barry that was evil been the one that was him trying to do that, not save Supergirl and Batman, it would have worked a little better.
How You Should Watch This Movie
There are some cool visual sequences, but mostly they are hard to watch. If you're a fan of Keaton's Batman or want to see who should be leading Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, watch this in a theater, but besides that, wait for streaming.
★★★★
