THE FLASH

The Flash comes at an odd moment for DC.

We are not quite at the new beginnings of James Gunn, but have already left the narrative and tonal mess of the Snyder-verse.

It is not quite one thing or the other, and much like Shazam 2 and the upcoming - and least anticipated film of the year - Aquaman sequel, it can’t help but feel like something of a place holder.

Here we find The Flash / Barry Allen in something of a rut. He remarks earlier on that he feels like the Justice Leagues janitor. Never the first choice, just someone called upon to clean up the mess of the true heroes.

He is also, outside of his superhero duties, fighting a more personal battle, as he continues to try and prove his incarcerated father innocent of killing his mother.

Early in the story he realises that he could, despite the warnings of Ben Affleck’s Batman - and every time travel story ever written! - travel back in time, alter things in an incredibly minimal way, and save both of his parents from their fate.

When all of this inevitably goes wrong he finds himself in a new universe. Face to face with a younger incarnation of himself.  

Ezra Millers performance as the two Barry Allens is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, as the version we have known from Justice League, they are excellent. They can switch from delivering a frenetic anxiety that is appropriate for the character, to bringing the energy levels down for the more somber and serious moments.

There is one moment in the film that brought me close to tears, and that was, in large, down to Millers performance. It was believable, without ever threatening to tip over into melodrama. Sweet, but not cloying.

But then we must also consider the younger Barry. The Barry that our Barry meets after travelling back in time.

This Barry is portrayed more of a slacker. A college student who is probably more interested in the drink and drugs than their classes. The opposite of the Barry we know.

I’m saying Barry too much, I know.

Millers performance as this Barry (there I go again) can, unfortunately, lean towards the annoying. I appreciate the need to make the character different, for reasons that are obvious when you watch the film, but at times it isn’t enjoyable to watch.

Whether this was down to the direction, or to Millers own performance choices, I don’t know, but this version of the character did not fully work for me.

What should be commended however, Is the chemistry the miller has with… well… themselves. The two versions of Barry are together for the majority of the run time, but they bounce off each other exceptionally well.

There were moments in the film, in which they would banter and bicker, that I forgot that both versions were played by the same actor, and that, in particular, is a great achievement, and something you rarely see done this well.

Away from Ezra Miller, I have recently re-watched the Tim Burton Batman films, so it is a lot of fun to see Michael Keaton reprising the role. He is a natural Batman and the film treats his iteration with the appropriate amount of respect; allowing him to fight like a hero, giving him his moments to be funny, without ever allowing him to turn into a joke.

Unfortunately, outside of the enjoyment of seeing him back on screen, he isn’t given anything in the way of character development. Or, at least, what little development there is so rushed and obviously inevitable, it completely fails to be satisfying.

And this is a problem throughout the film. So many characters are introduced – some new to the franchise, some we have seen before; some mere cameos, some with narrative reasons for appearing – that it becomes almost impossible for any of them to be given anything like a satisfying journey.

The moments in which other characters from the Justice League appear it can’t help but feel off. What was likely intended to originally reestablish the characters, and the Justice League itself, ahead of future instalments, now feels like an unearned victory parade. We know that the majority of these characters will appear in this form again, and their cameos here just serve to remind you of that fact.

The only character in the film that has any development is Barry himself, but this makes large portions of the film feel utterly superfluous, as it became apparent fairly early on that he was the only character the filmmakers are interested in.

I feel like I have spoken about threat a lot on this site, but it is something that I keep coming back to. In a film such as the The Flash – or most other superhero films – there is always a presumption that the lead character will be safe by the end of it. Meaning that you need to create supporting characters that the audience cares about.

Something which the The Flash fails to do.

The Flash is not a bad film, it just does nothing to set itself apart from a crowded superhero, and an increasingly populated multiverse, genre. Indeed, it is probably the least interesting multiverse film we’ve seen yet.

It does offer some mildly interesting emotional beats, centred around Barry and his family, but the multiverse storyline is about as basic as they come. Where you have films like Everything Everywhere All at Once and Across the Spider-Verse, attempting to do something new with the idea, The Flash feels like we’ve seen it all before.

 It is a standard time travel film and a standard multiverse film. Neither strand elevating the other above anything but average.

The directors have stated that they don’t know what the future of The Flash as a franchise is, and while James Gunn is said to be a big fan of the film, ultimately money talks, and The Flash’s opening weekend numbers would suggest that we will not see Millers iteration of him again.

And before we finish, some words on Ezra Miller, and the morality of releasing a film when its lead is mired in so much controversy.

Their alleged crimes have been well publicised in the press, this information is very easy to find, and I’m not going to go into those in detail here. Other people have wrote about this is more detail, and with more eloquence than I can

But what I will say is this -

A film is so much bigger than one actor, even if they are the lead. A film is so much bigger than any actor in it.

Especially a film such as this, where the list of credits at the end seems never ending, has a huge number of people working behind the scenes, behind the camera, who have likely never met Ezra Miller. These people will have worked incredibly hard to get the film released, and to do so is just as much their achievement as anyone else, despite the fact that you will likely never know their names.

I obviously do not condone anything that Ezra Miller has done, and while - as someone who wants to believe in rehabilitation - I hope they do get the help that they clearly need, this does not excuse anything that they have been accused of doing.

Obviously, if they are found guilty of any of these things they should be punished in the same way that any other person would be.

But their actions should not necessarily see the achievements of others be diminished. For some of these people working behind the scenes on a movie of this magnitude, working on a DC movie, will have been a lifelong ambition. A dream come true. And why should the actions of one person see this taken away from them?

Am I just trying to make myself feel better for contributing to the films box office? Maybe.

But I have thought about this at length and this is the side I have come down on. Ask me again next week and my thoughts might be different.