The Flash

I was hesitant about watching this film. DC has always left me a bit skeptical, although my doubts are slowly fading with each new release. Plus, Ezra Miller, who’s not exactly Hollywood’s most beloved face, plays the lead. But I was wrong. DC is rising from the ashes and might just be digging Marvel's grave. Flash turns out to be an incredibly enjoyable, laid-back movie that truly earns its blockbuster status. Despite his controversies, Miller delivers a surprisingly likable performance in a dual role. The film is packed with fantastic references to various parallel dimensions that will thrill any fan, especially with the return of Michael Keaton. Overall, this movie is an unexpectedly good superhero adventure with the classic time paradox theme, making it even more delightful if you didn't see it coming. It certainly delighted me. (07/09/2023)

An express train you have to run towards. It's easy for me because I enjoy getting past Ezra Miller's personal life and I can just enjoy how authentic and at the same time neurotic it seems again. He saved Justice League from being unwatchable and he also succeeded here easily. However, since it didn't catch on with the viewers, this is not only the end of him as a hero with a lightning bolt on his chest, but probably also as an actor in major roles and films, and I find that really hard to reconcile myself to. Flash's cursed solo movie is problematic even without a controversial opinion about the main protagonist. It combines witty humor, pathos-filled family drama, and multiverse. A film that wanted to introduce parallel worlds a few years ago now comes as a miss; considering the repeatedly postponed production and changes in the creative chairs, it didn't manage to pave the way to playing with them. I am all the more pleased that even the little that they did manage to accomplish actually works. Looking back into the past rarely fails and the nostalgic sighs for those who are no longer with us fit incredibly well in relation to the main story arc. However, you have to admit that it's not worth pondering too much about the major guest appearances (unfortunately revealed long in advance), namely the participation of the old Batman and the new addition from Krypton. The presence of the grey-haired protector of Gotham will undoubtedly bring tears to somebody's eyes, but as soon as I try to connect the meaningfulness of the aforementioned duo's participation and its (non)impact on the final outcome of the story and the time paradox, I feel perplexed because their participation as a whole seems rushed. Similarly, the possibilities of expanding, rebuilding, or simply throwing the DC publisher's universe adaptations back to the beginning were unprecedented – and nothing happened at all. This temptation, therefore, falls on barren ground and turns Flash into an adventure, fun, enjoyment, and an emotional ending, but never into the giant event that it promised to be for all these years. 70% (27/06/2023)

The Flash is a highly unorthodox superhero movie that defies standards and is so unpredictable plot that it won me over and I'm satisfied! The Flash, thanks to his ability to run faster than light, goes back in time to rescue his mother, but as it happens, everything goes wrong and he gets caught up in a different world. Most of the superheroes don't exist, Michael Keaton is Batman (nostalgia!!), we have Superwoman flying around, and we get a new Flash from the present day of that line. On the one hand, I initially remarked that even DC couldn't avoid the parallel multiverse idea, but in the end they played with this one very well and I enjoyed all those ideas, characters, cameos and changes. The first half of the film runs purely on the comedy side and it's in the second half that we get the bad guy, the action and the unexpectedly engaging multiverse and everything in it, right up until the final shot that suggests there's still more to watch in a sequel. The idea of "walking through walls" and going back in time are fine fleshing out of a "basic" character like the Flash and show that he's a far more important character to DC's version than he originally seemed, and when you add in the backstory reveal of how and when he got his powers, we have another superhero I definitely want to see on screen! Well in the end, a perfectly satisfactory enough popcorn movie, I'm not sure why everyone is hating on it like this. Oh, and the cameo by Nicolas Cage and George Clooney are great! For a director of three horror features, definitely a quality first film in the genre! (15/06/2023)

After Marvel's Spider-Man, I went "across parallel worlds" for the second time this week, and even though DC is a bit behind in this regard, I left the cinema quite satisfied. Though the plot of The Flash, like the new Spider-Man, revolves around the (un)avoidability of fate that goes hand in hand with the reckless actions of the main character, I didn't feel like I was watching a copycat in the theater. In spite of the at times rather trivial visual effects – especially in the opening with the raining babies (it worked better for Quicksilver in Days of Future Past and Apocalypse) and in that vicious knot – I enjoyed Barry's new adventure, thanks in no small part to the participation of Michael Keaton, who is still the most likeable Batman for me, and Maribel Verdú's small but essential role. I liked the return (albeit in CGI) of the old but also never-realized Batman, I enjoyed the allusions to other films and I appreciate that they prepared some nice script surprises alongside the mandatory action. If I were being strict, I'd give the film three stars, but since it just sat right with me in the theater by entertaining, surprising, and moving me, I give it a (weaker) four. (16/06/2023)

The bells are tolling for this phase of the DC universe and The Flash almost feels like a swan song. But don't worry, we still have Aquaman 2 and Blue Beetle to look forward to! Comparing this to Marvel is a waste of time nowadays, but here Spider-Man: No Way Home is literally screaming. Although it's quite entertaining, the plot, which mixes several timelines, has to be kicked off with the main character acting like the world's most irresponsible moron, and everything that happens after that is just mindless action for effect. The excessive fan service will captivate many, on the other hand, the very bad digital effects may surprise some, but otherwise it's a pretty average comic book film, whose existence you will probably forget two days after the screening. (14/06/2023)