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One of the most spectacular and frustrating mixed bags of the superhero blockbuster era, "The Flash" is simultaneously thoughtful and clueless, challenging and pandering. It features some of the best digital FX work I've seen and some of the worst. Like its sincere but often hapless hero, it keeps exceeding every expectation we might have for its competence only to instantly face-plant into the nearest wall. 

Then it hits the reset button and starts again—which, come to think of it, is what "The Flash" keeps doing over and over again narratively, with time, parallel universes, and the question of whether "canonical" events in the life of a person or a whole dimension can be altered. From start to finish, it suffers the double misfortune of being its own worst enemy, despite real thoughtfulness and an intriguingly unstable cocktail of genres (slapstick comedy, family drama, heavy metal action flick, philosophically driven science fiction adventure); and also arriving on screens right after the release of "Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse," a high watermark for both superhero movies and major studio animated features that explores most of the same concepts as "The Flash" in a more aesthetically innovative way. 

Ezra Miller , whose  offscreen brushes with the law  make some of the film's raunchier comedy land poorly, stars as twentysomething forensic scientist and secret superhero Barry Allen, who feels like the "janitor" of the Justice League and is still grappling with the impact of his mother's murder and his father's wrongful imprisonment for the crime. Here, again, in this very review, we encounter a double bind characteristic of "The Flash": it's poor form to discuss the meatier parts of the movie because you can't do that without describing the plot in detail, and yet at the same time, a lot of it has already been "spoiled," not just on social media and online forums but in the film's own trailers and marketing material (Warner Bros. supplied the photo at the top of this review) and on Wikipedia. If you read all that, you know whether to keep going or put the rest of this piece aside for later.  

For those still reading: Remember the ending of the original 1978 "Superman: The Movie," where Christopher Reeve's Superman has to choose between stopping a nuclear missile headed for Miss Tesmacher's home state and preventing his great love Lois Lane from getting killed by an earthquake, tries to do both, loses Lois, then turns back time to resurrect her? Well, that sequence has been expanded into an entire film and merged with the " Back to the Future " series, courtesy of Barry's decision to try to go back in time and change one detail on the day his family was destroyed. Mom ( Maribel Verdú ) sent Dad ( Ron Livingston ) to the local supermarket to fetch a can of tomatoes she needed for a recipe. When little Barry hears a commotion and comes downstairs, he finds Mom on the kitchen floor with a knife jammed into her bloody chest and Dad weeping over her corpse with one hand on the hilt. Barry surmises that he can use his Flash powers to return to that fateful day, add a can of tomatoes to Mom's supermarket basket, and save both parents. Anybody who's seen a time travel movie (or read Ray Bradbury's short story The Sound of Thunder ) knows it's not that simple.

Directed by Andy Muschietti (" Mama ," both " It " movies), from a script by ace genre screenwriter  Christina Hodson ("Birds of Prey," " Bumblebee "), "The Flash" deserves credit for taking its ideas and the pain of its characters seriously without devolving into glum, colorless machismo. When Miller enters what he believes is "the past" (it's actually an alternate timeline), he not only encounters another version of himself with an intact, happy family but befriends and mentors the other Barry, discovering along the way how annoying he can be to others. 

Muschietti over-directs the pre-time-travel version of Barry, emphasizing his anxiety, clumsiness, and facial tics to the point where he seems like one of those schlemiels that Jerry Lewis used to play. But once the original Barry teams up with the other Barry, Miller keeps the schlemiel energy high for the second Barry while dialing it down for the original. This lets the first Barry mature in increments, part of the traditional arc of a young hero. The film showcases its finest effects in these mirror-image duets. The result is the most convincing instance of a leading man playing opposite himself since Michael Fassbender in " Alien: Covenant ." The shots of both Barrys even have a smidge of handheld shakiness that's visual shorthand for "authenticity." Within a scene or two, you'll likely forget that it's one actor playing the same part and instead focus on what Miller does with both incarnations of the character. 

The master narrative of the DCEU defines Superman's city-leveling battle with General Zod in " Man of Steel " as a character- and team-defining canonical event for every interlinked feature film in the series. The aftermath of that contest figured into the plots and dialogue of more than one film, most notably "Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice." When it's referenced again in the film's first act, you know Barry and Barry will have to deal with it again in another universe. Sure enough, here comes Zod with his villainous teammates, scarab starships, armored shock troopers, and terraforming World Engine. 

The problem is, there's no Justice League to team up against him, and only one superhero: the Caped Crusader. Not Ben Affleck's grizzled, Frank Miller-y Batman, but the one played by Michael Keaton in the 1980s Tim Burton films. Only he's older, more haggard, and even more alienated from the society he monitors. As the time-ripened version of Burton's Batman, essentially Bruce Wayne fused with the long-haired hermit incarnation of Howard Hughes, Keaton gives the movie's subtlest performance. He underplays and reacts in a way that adds freshness to a story that's probably too dependent on recycled situations and makes Miller's jumpy, abrasive tendencies easier to take. He's the acting version of a shock absorber, smoothing the ride without slowing it down. 

Barry, Barry, and Bruce become convinced that this universe's Superman is trapped in a Siberian prison run by Russian mercenaries and fly there to bust him out. Turns out he's a she: Kara Zor-El, Kal-El's cousin, aka Supergirl ( Sasha Calle , rocking a modified pixie cut and a killer stare). Superman, we're told, might still be out there somewhere, but his cousin (who was sent to protect him) is a powerful ally who can stand up to Zod. When the modified four-person Justice League substitute confronts Zod's invading army, the movie proves that its obsessive referencing of the "Back to the Future" films was not just a running gag.

The reimagining of Zod's attack is this movie's equivalent of the end of the second "BTTF" movie, where time-traveling adolescent Marty McFly (played by Michael J. Fox in our world, and in Barry's by Eric Stoltz , the actor Fox replaced!) had to attend the same prom that ended the original "BTTF" while avoiding a potentially time/space disruptive encounter with himself. (This movie's decisions about what to save and what to delete from real world history are weird; I'd love to hear the logic behind erasing a lot of the DCEU superheroes from the second Barry's universe while determining that "Back to the Future," "Footloose," and " Top Gun " and the first Chicago album were immutable occurrences.)

The film's big battle is its least convincing sequence (parts of it look like cutscenes from an early-aughts game). It's too bad, because it's the most thought-provoking: as Batman and the Flashes and Supergirl battle Zod, the two Barrys disagree on whether traveling back and forth along dimensional pathways will solve problems or add new ones. Like most science fiction with even the thinnest veneer of seriousness, "The Flash" connects back to the godmother of science fiction, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus . Shelley warned readers that using science to mimic God or defy nature has bad consequences, and it's better for the story's Prometheus figure to give up his illusions than continue traveling a ruinous path. Is this the sort of film that will heed Shelley's warning, or ignore it to give the hero what he wants and the audience the wish-fulfillment fantasies it craves and that superhero films nearly always endorse? Even the first two Reeve Superman films erred on the side of audience wish-fulfillment; the first film lets him turn back time, while the second has him erase Lois' knowledge of his secret identity with a super-kiss. "The Flash" deserves credit for threading the eye of that needle, giving audiences a somewhat hopeful ending without negating the philosophical and scientific issues it raises elsewhere. 

Unfortunately, "The Flash" also has a countervailing tendency that undermines its best self. Even as it cleverly translates Shelley's worries into contemporary comic book terms, it serves up callback after fan-wanking callback to other versions of heroes and villains from film and TV, seemingly with no other purpose than to burnish Warner Bros' properties and make the audience point to the screen and whisper the names of actors, characters, films, TV shows, and comic books that they recognize. Batman, Batman, Batman, Batman, Superman, Superman, Superman, Superman, Flash, Flash, Flash, etc., keep popping up scenes set in the "Chrono-Bowl," a cosmic switching station with a design that alludes to clockwork gears, the concentric rings of chopped-down trees, theater-in-the-round, and a tribunal. 

And rather than find an artful, modest way to repurpose library footage from earlier adaptations of DC comics—as, say, "In the Line of Fire" did with footage of a younger Clint Eastwood from " Dirty Harry "—the actors who originally played them, many of whom died long ago, have been scanned (or rebuilt) as vaguely three-dimensional but uncanny grotesques, like Madame Tussaud's wax figures laid over audio-animatronic puppets. Remember the process that "reanimated" Peter Cushing in "Star Wars: Rogue One," and later served up an even more unsettling "young Carrie Fisher " in the climax, paving the way for a nearly expressionless "young Mark Hamill " on "The Mandalorian," and de-aged '70s movie stars for various legacy sequels? It gets trotted out and multiplied ad nauseam here, even though the technology hasn't improved much. 

The film's principal cast also gets the zombie CGI treatment in the Chrono-Bowl, to visualize alternate realities. Some of the versions of these real, living actors with SAG cards and regularly updated IMDb pages look faintly demonic. The torsos and hands aren't anatomically credible. One has eyes that point in opposite directions like a gecko. Were the deadlines rushed and the digital effects artists exploited until quality control disappeared— a problem throughout the entertainment industry —or is the technology just not there yet? And even if it ever does "get there," will it ever not seem one (digital) step removed from wrapping a mannequin in corpse-flesh? Doing this sort of thing in a purely animated format moots such concerns. Everything in an animated comics adaptation is a drawing inspired by other drawings, and therefore a representation of a thing that is not meant to seem "real." Not so in live-action. "Hey, that's Actor X!" gives way to, "He looks kinda creepy and unreal," and the spell is broken.

What a mess. And what a shame, because what's good about "The Flash" is very good. The movie puts a lot of thought into what it wants to say and not enough into how it says it. It avidly warns against a thing while at the same time doing a version of that same thing. Barry, driven by a desire to resurrect the dead, grapples with the ethics and advisability of actions that the film constantly performs, in small ways and large, without breaking a sweat.  

Opens Friday, June 16th.

Matt Zoller Seitz

Matt Zoller Seitz is the Editor at Large of RogerEbert.com, TV critic for New York Magazine and Vulture.com, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism.

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Film credits.

The Flash (2023)

Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, some strong language and partial nudity.

144 minutes

Ezra Miller as Barry Allen / The Flash

Sasha Calle as Kara Zor-El / Supergirl

Michael Shannon as General Zod

Ron Livingston as Henry Allen

Maribel Verdú as Nora Allen

Kiersey Clemons as Iris West

Antje Traue as Faora-Ul

Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne / Batman

Ian Loh as Young Barry Allen

Saoirse-Monica Jackson as Patty Spivot

Rudy Mancuso as Albert Desmond

• Andy Muschietti

Writer (story by)

• Joby Harold
• Christina Hodson

Cinematographer

• Henry Braham
• Jason Ballantine
• Paul Machliss
• Benjamin Wallfisch

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The Flash is a eulogy for every DC movie that never was

DC runs a victory lap in a race against itself

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For a movie about a guy who can move incomprehensibly fast, The Flash sure did arrive late. Originally planned for a 2016 release, according to a 2013 DC movie plan that ultimately proved too ambitious, The Flash arrives a full decade later from a chastened DC that’s getting ready to restart its cinematic universe with James Gunn in charge . In 2023, The Flash now serves as one of the final films in the Snyderverse , a eulogy for the Zack Snyder era of DC — but also, surprisingly, for all DC’s page-to-screen adaptations. The result is messy and strange: It’s a bright, breezy film that is overwhelmed by corporate hagiography, a pat on the back for a bunch of movies that never really worked out.

Given all this, the worst thing a movie called The Flash could do is feel slow. To its credit, the movie’s two-and-a-half-hour run time moves at an impressive clip. This is even more astonishing given that it has one of the most convoluted plots in a recent stretch of superhero films that are absolutely lousy with multiversal exposition. While it lacks the clarity or resonance of, say, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse , Christina Hodson’s script keeps the story squarely focused on its protagonist’s emotional journey and treats the finer points of its metaphysical world-building as flavor, an excuse to do some extremely comic book things.

The opening briefly reestablishes Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) as a part-time Justice League member and full-time forensics lab analyst on a personal journey to clear the name of his father, Henry (Ron Livingston), who’s been convicted of murdering Barry’s mother, Nora (Maribel Verdú). The plot kicks into gear when Barry learns that the last big potential break in his dad’s case will not exonerate him. In a moment of anguish, Barry discovers that if he runs fast enough, he can surpass the speed of light and travel through time, observing history in a ring of space-time he calls “the chronobowl.” Ignoring a warning from Bruce Wayne/Batman (Ben Affleck) about the perils of altering history, Barry decides to time travel to prevent his mother’s murder and his father’s imprisonment.

In spite of this angst-fueled premise, director Andy Muschietti ( It and It: Chapter Two ) smartly infuses the film with a Looney Tunes sensibility, reintroducing Barry with one of the goofiest opening sequences in a superhero film to date, and using the time-travel premise to make The Flash a buddy comedy, pairing Barry with a younger, more obnoxious version of himself from the past.

Most of the film takes place in a new timeline Barry creates, where the decision to save his mother ripples outward to create a version of the DC movie universe with no metahumans, on the brink of its foundational disaster: General Zod (Michael Shannon) arriving as he did in 2013’s Man of Steel , but this time, with no one to stop him. Barry is forced to recreate his superhero origin with his younger self, and to team up with the only known superhero in this timeline: Batman, but the one played by Michael Keaton in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman and its sequel.

This is where The Flash stops being a movie and instead becomes several other things, some of them outright cynical. There is the blatant nostalgia play in making Keaton’s Bruce Wayne/Batman the film’s biggest supporting character — a role Keaton, to his credit, does not phone in. Yet The Flash doesn’t stop there. Like Barry, the filmmakers run too far, too fast, and too wild, until their film nearly spirals out of their control in a confused tangle of meta-commentary and eulogy, contemplating the history of DC movie adaptations as well as the Snyderverse that began it, and that’s coming to a close shortly. (There’s still a second Aquaman movie and Blue Beetle on the way before Gunn’s universe, labeled the DCU, kicks off.)

In pivoting from time-travel caper into multiversal doomsday epic, Muschietti treats Barry’s emotional arc of acceptance less as the heart of The Flash , and more like its bookends, an experience Barry grows from in the hopes that the audience will also find it worthwhile. But so much of the substance of The Flash isn’t for Barry. It’s for the DC stalwarts who’ll get all the meta nods and in-jokes. The movie is a chronicle of corporate synergy, mashing together the old and new in an attempt to lure DC fans from across generations, with the assumption that meaning will emerge from mere recognition.

What’s so peculiar about The Flash ’s version of the multiverse shenanigans that have now taken place across three Spider-Man films, an entire Marvel animated TV series , and a Doctor Strange sequel is that so much of it leans on its audience knowing what might have been, and still craving it. It’s a film full of wistful what-ifs. What if Michael Keaton stayed on as the definitive movie Batman? How would he fit into the modern landscape? What if the Snyderverse wasn’t coming to an end as the James Gunn era of DC begins to lay its plans? What if The Flash could be free of having to address the controversy surrounding star Ezra Miller , and a bankable franchise could be built on their frankly bighearted and earnest performance?

The Flash is a bright, colorful, imaginative film with enough verve to pop off the screen, even though it’s often nonsensical in its wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff. But as fun as its imagery can be, it also signals the same priorities Muschietti showed in the It movies. So much of The Flash gives way to computer-generated effects, not just for the depiction of super-people fighting to save the world — Sasha Calle puts in a rage-fueled performance as Supergirl, even though the film leaves her with frustratingly little to do — but for its longing glances at alternate possible pasts, as Barry travels through time and space to see what might have been.

In these glances, the audience is shown a computerized guernica of faces and characters they know, or might have known. Yet disconcertingly, almost none of those familiar faces and familiar properties are played by real people. They’re just likenesses. Brands. A reward to the faithful who have actively followed not just the DC stories that came out in theaters, but the ones that almost did. In this, The Flash is the biggest, the ultimate DC comics movie. And it feels so much smaller for it.

The Flash opens in theaters on June 16.

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Batman aside, 'The Flash' is far from one of the best superhero movies ever made

• Warning: Mild spoilers ahead for "The Flash."
• The Andy Muschietti-directed superhero movie has been overhyped by early critics.
• Michael Keaton's long-awaited return as Batman/Bruce Wayne is the film's best asset.

Early critics heralded "The Flash" as one of the best superhero movies ever made . That couldn't be further from the truth.

There's a scene early in Warner Bros.' latest DC outing where the titular hero (Ezra Miller) saves a group of babies and a nurse from falling to their deaths.

The dragged out, slowed-down scene involves a baby getting closed inside an unplugged microwave to save its life. Then, Miller's Barry Allen/The Flash offers mental health advice to a screaming nurse who's in shock. 

It's supposed to elicit laughter. Yet the fact that these scenes made the film's final cut given Miller's legal troubles , " complex mental health issues ," and accusations of grooming children make it difficult to separate the actor from his superhero facade. 

It gets better from there, but "The Flash" isn't the spectacle some critics and celebrities promised months ago.

The Andy Muschietti-directed movie, which has been in development as far back as the '80s, loosely follows the popular DC story "Flashpoint," in which the speedster travels back in time to prevent the death of his mother (Maribel Verdú) during his childhood. Unfortunately, changing the past alters the present. 

The Flash finds himself trapped in an alternate timeline where the Justice League doesn't exist and Superman villain Zod (Michael Shannon from 2013's "Man of Steel") threatens to once again take over Earth and transform it into a new home for his nearly extinct Kryptonian race.

Barry runs into his past self, a doe-eyed dingbat sans superpowers, and together they need to stop Zod and send the hero home. Help comes in the form of Supergirl (Sasha Calle) and a blast from the past — Michael Keaton's Batman, a cameo that's strategically been used in marketing, likely to take some of the attention off the film's troubled star.

Stuffed with unnecessary cameos seemingly for the sake of it, "The Flash" contains glimpses of fun, but is tonally uneven. It's often in conflict with itself over whether it wants to be a Batman nostalgia fest or about the fastest man alive.  

Michael Keaton's Batman is the best thing about 'The Flash' 

Let's be real. Despite being called "The Flash," audiences are likely venturing to theaters to see Keaton's reprisal as the Dark Knight. And Keaton doesn't disappoint. 

"The Flash" meanders and relies on cringey and juvenile jokes for much of its first hour. (The film lingers on an unfunny gag that will go over young viewers' heads about Eric Stoltz playing Marty McFly in "Back to the Future" in a different timeline for far too long.) 

It's not until Keaton shows up to fight two versions of the Flash with a broom on a table in nothing but sweats and one flip flop that the movie livens up. 

Every moment with Keaton on screen makes this movie worth watching. The actor gets the film's best fight sequence while effortlessly taking down Russians to Danny Elfman's familiar theme. 

Keaton reminds us his Batman can do anything efficiently, including delivering the most straightforward explanation of the multiverse in any comic-book movie to date using nothing more than a bowl of spaghetti. 

Every other hero outshines The Flash in this movie.

Miller gets overshadowed in their own film any time a version of Batman shows up (I won't spoil them all here). Affleck's latest and likely last outing as the Caped Crusader delivers an exciting chase scene through Gotham, while Keaton and one other Batman received the majority of the cheers in my early June screening filled with fans and journalists.

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At times, it feels like you're watching a follow-up to Tim Burton's "Batman Returns" instead of a standalone about the speedster. Throughout the film, Flash relies on Bats to formulate plans to get them out of trouble, help him restore his powers, and take down Zod.

The result is that The Flash feels more like a sidekick in his own film — even the movie poster has an identity crisis over which hero should be featured more prominently in a film titled "The Flash."

It's not just the Batmen who steal scenes.

Sasha Calle's Supergirl is another bright spot, featured in an adaptation of the popular "Red Son" Superman comic that explores what would've happened if Supes crash landed in Russia instead of a farm in Kansas. Though the film barely scratches the surface of the Eisner-winning Mark Millar story , Calle taps into a darker, more vengeful version of the hero than we've previously seen. 

Unfortunately, without giving away spoilers, the way the film wraps up Keaton and Calle's storylines makes it seem likely this will be the last time we see them in live-action.

The film is riddled with awful CGI

Noticeably wonky CGI makes "The Flash" tough to fully enjoy.

The babies Flash saves near the film's start look nightmarish . Any time the hero enters the Speed Force to try and turn back time, viewers see humans who look strangely animated, as if editors didn't have time to complete the film's effects. 

Apparently, it was intended to look " a little weird. " Muschietti and his sister, Barbara, who serves as a film's producer, told io9's Germain Lussier the CGI isn't a mistake . The visuals look the way they do on purpose to showcase those moments from Barry's point of view. 

Such an explanation would be fine; however, viewers have seen scenes from Barry's POV in previous DC films where his surroundings look well-defined. This jarring new take doesn't match with what's been introduced in the past. 

There's a better adaptation of 'Flashpoint' you can watch on Max.

"The Flash" is very good when it's a Batman movie and mediocre when it's about Barry Allen. 

The film fails to answer its biggest question: Who killed Barry's mom? Any fan familiar with The CW's nine-season "Flash" series — a show that debuted after WB's 2014 movie announcement and concluded weeks before its release — knows the culprit as Reverse Flash. Here, the question is ignored despite being at the heart of the film.

A Flash baddie could've naturally tied into the film's main story. 

Instead, "The Flash" bizarrely reintroduces Zod, a stale but familiar villain from one of DC's most divisive films, 2013's "Man of Steel," with a cliché goal of overtaking the planet. 

In doing so, the studio oddly revisits the Snyderverse era of DC that WB refused to continue . (As a reminder, Henry Cavill reprised his role as Superman in October's "Black Adam" only to be kicked to the curb two months later .)

By the film's end, Barry doesn't learn his lesson about fiddling with the past as his selfish actions result in another (less life-threatening) shift to the multiverse. It feels like a rushed sunset and solution to cleanly reset the DC universe moving forward, likely without Miller.

WB already made a more enjoyable Flashpoint adaptation in 2013 called " Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox ," currently streaming on Max . After you get your Keaton fix, watch that.

"The Flash," also starring Kiersey Clemons and Ron Livingston, is now in theaters.

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The Flash review – nicely irreverent superhero film

Ezra Miller plays the turbo-charged time traveller in a fun DC film ​featuring an underused Supergirl and the return of Michael Keaton’s Batman​

T here’s a skittish energy and humour to this latest picture from the DC universe. Foregrounding the Flash (Ezra Miller), the juvenile, socially maladroit dogsbody of the Justice League, proves to be exactly the injection of irreverence that the series needed. And while some of the special effects may not be as polished as you might expect from a big-budget film, but it’s a perfectly serviceable and frequently amusing addition to the ever-increasing list of superhero pictures that unfold in multiverses or parallel realities, albeit one that covers similar territory to the recent, superior Spiderverse outing .

In this picture, Barry Allen realises he can run so fast that he can travel back in time (the science on this is unconvincing). Still grieving his mother’s death when he was a child, he decides to nip back to the past and save her, but in doing so inadvertently creates another timeline with an alternative Barry Allen, an adolescent buffoon with impulse control issues. And that’s not all – he discovers a replacement Batman, and in place of Superman, there is Supergirl (Sasha Calle, somewhat underused). It’s efficient, pacy and largely enjoyable stuff.

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The Flash Review

Flashback to the future..

The Flash premieres in theaters on June 16, 2023.

Fresh, funny, and fast – The Flash is a good time at the movies. Director Andy Muschietti’s clear love of the character anchors the many refreshingly unique action scenes and twisty time-travel plot, never losing sight of Barry Allen’s powerful emotional journey. Though the story doesn’t necessarily justify its excessive fan service and the third act is a bit unwieldy, that doesn’t stop The Flash from being an earnest and entertaining superhero film – and one of the better efforts from DC in recent memory.

In a loose adaptation of the Flashpoint comic event that feels like a more focused version and worthy update to the 2011 source material, Barry rushes to use his newfound time-travel ability to undo the most traumatic event of his life: the murder of his mother when he was a child. Using Back to the Future-esque time travel rules, The Flash becomes a tale of two Barry Allens, two Batmans, and two versions of DC movie continuities colliding. What follows is a sincere and surprisingly humorous morality play where Barry must reconcile what his selfish, grief-stricken actions have wrought. It’s especially effective in telling a story that includes the Flash’s full origin without actually being a typical origin story movie.

It’s impressive that it still manages to get all of that across, because for a film called The Flash, there sure is a lot of Batman in it. Even though it indulges in unnecessarily long Batman action sequences and numerous overt references to the Tim Burton Batman films, they never overshadow Barry’s story. The two Batmans are contrasted to excellent effect to accent Barry’s plight, with Ben Affleck’s Dark Knight lamenting that scars shouldn’t be undone because they make us who we are, and Michael Keaton’s Caped Crusader admitting there is an allure to the idea of being able to undo all that pain. As men orphaned by violence as children they have a lot in common and thus provide Barry with juicy philosophical food for thought. For his part, Affleck seems more at home as Batman and Bruce Wayne than ever with a ( very likely final ) performance that’s all business and sadness with a perfectly measured dash of dry humor.

Keaton, on the other hand, portrays an aged Bruce with an understated performance – too understated, at some points, almost as if he’s reluctant to rattle off his character’s most memorable lines (and some not-so-memorable ones seemingly just for the heck of it) for the nostalgia-hungry crowd. Keaton’s action scenes are the exact opposite, as we watch his Batman fight like never before thanks to modern special effects. On one hand, it’s cool to see him fling Batarangs and glide around like a bat out of Hell, but it’s also overly cartoonish when we all know that Keaton is in his 70s. It's enough to make you question why we'd ever need Batman Beyond when Senior Citizen Batman can kick that much ass. It feels like a missed opportunity to not acknowledge and explore how an older Bruce can still be Batman despite his age, especially because there's precious little substance to his character or motivation to begin with.

The Flash Trailer Images

Unfortunately, the Supergirl we meet in this mashed-up world feels more like a plot device than a fully fleshed-out character, and it’s sad to watch as her part in the story veers into cringey cliche territory. That said, actor Sasha Calle shines as much as she can given the thin nature of the role, and manages to make an impression with her disillusioned Kara Zor-El, who holds an understandable grudge against humanity.

All of those characters play major roles, but this is the first time we’ve seen Barry in a movie centered around him, and Muschietti takes care to showcase the hero’s signature powers in true blockbuster fashion. Whereas Zack Snyder rendered super speed in slow motion, Muschietti makes you feel the Gs from the the first time Flash strikes his admittedly dorky sprinting pose and takes off.

At times, there’s an uncomfortable (yet silly) intimacy in how the Flash’s powers are depicted. We quickly see that having that kind of speed isn’t as easy as it looks, and learning how Barry navigates things like friction heat and what happens to your clothes when you phase through solid matter gives you an appreciation for how clever and resourceful he is. The Quicksilver sequence in X-Men: Days of Future Past remains the king of slow-motion speedster sequences, but The Flash offers up a new one that certainly gets credit for its inventiveness. It’s a frankly ridiculous situation, but that doesn’t stop it from having genuine moments of horror among the humorous ones.

While a majority of the visual effects are superb, one in particular is not. Time travel is portrayed using a concept unlike anything we’ve seen before – and credit where it’s due for that originality – but when this “chrono bowl” (yes, that’s what they call it) depicts people, they look like eerie wax dolls with plastic hair, as if the CGI render was shut off halfway through. Given that a handful of important scenes take place there, and they ask for a lot of emotional investment from us, the distracting look ends up robbing certain big moments of their intended impact. Let's just say it didn’t bowl me over.

It’s obvious going in that The Flash deals with time travel, but nothing can quite prepare you for the blast from the past that is returning to the era of Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel from 2013. It feels strange revisiting these events 10 years later, yet that ends up working to The Flash’s advantage as Barry begins to notice how things have changed in this timeline. In ways big and small, this story feels like a parting love letter to the Snyderverse, as it plays with the many toys the DCEU has introduced over the years and adds a new layer to that foundational film, and in doing so expands on Barry’s superhero journey in a profound way. Only James Gunn and Peter Safran know what’s in store for the future of the DC Universe, but if this is truly the last in-universe chapter of the Snyderverse as we know it then it’s a fitting swan song because it brings things full circle. (Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is technically part of the Snyderverse but comes after what Gunn described as a “reset” of the DC Universe in The Flash .)

Who is your favorite speedster?

All of this leads up to one of the most ambitious and unwieldy third acts we’ve seen in a superhero movie in quite some time. The amount of chaos – both in action and storytelling – that unfolds threatens to overwhelm and confuse, and at times it does, but it ultimately succeeds because it manages to keep Barry’s arc at the heart of it all.

That’s owed to the fact that Barry Allen is the most impressive part of The Flash, and why it all works so well. By having Barry meet his younger self, a version of him who was never traumatized the way he was, it helps us better understand what makes him tick and where his peculiar personality comes from. Barry doesn’t start off as the most likable character, but by the end it’s hard not to root for him. We see the ways in which grief affected his life, from his non-existent social life to the way he defies the system at his forensics job to ensure proper justice is carried out.

Actor Ezra Miller excels in this double role, offering two dramatically different looks at the same character. One of the most affecting scenes of the film is just Barry having a passionate argument with his younger self. Muschietti brings in a delightful, off-beat sense of humor and Miller proves they have the comedic chops to deliver it, taking all-too-familiar superhero story ideas and upending them into laugh-out-loud moments or creative action scenes. Yet the superhero theatrics are all in service of an intimate story about the pain of grief and the strength it takes to find acceptance, and in those moments of vulnerability Miller shines just as bright.

The Flash is an ambitious superhero movie that largely pulls off its tale of two worlds, two Flashes, and two Batmans. The superhero fan service is strong with this one – perhaps too strong at times – but it never fully overshadows Barry Allen’s genuinely tragic and heartfelt story of grief. Though the visual effects aren’t always the best and the third act is a bit overwhelming, strong performances and a refreshing earnestness keep The Flash on track and running circles around many of the recent DC Universe movies. If this is the truly last stop on the Snyderverse express, then it’s a respectable way to go out.

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‘The Flash’ Review: Electric Company

In the latest DC Comics blowout, Ezra Miller suits up as the speedy superhero alongside special guests like Batman (hello, Michael Keaton).

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By Manohla Dargis

The Flash, the latest DC Comics superhero to get his very own big show, isn’t the outfit’s usual brooding heavyweight. He’s neither an old-style god nor new (a.k.a. a billionaire), but an electrified nerd who joined the super-ranks by accident, not by birthright or by design. Out of uniform, he is a normie, a goof and kind of endearing. He’s really, really fast on his feet, you bet. But what makes him pop onscreen is that when things go bigger and grimmer here, as they invariably do in blowouts of this type, he retains a playful weightlessness.

That’s a relief, particularly given how the movie tries to clobber you into submission. Big action-adventures invariably give the viewer a workout, smacking you around with their shocks and awesomeness, though it sometimes feels as if contemporary superhero movies have taken this kind of pummeling to new extremes. That may be true, though movies have long employed spectacle — pyrotechnics, lavish set pieces — to bait, hook and bludgeon the audience so it keeps begging for more. If the bludgeoning feels more inescapable these days, it’s partly because the major studios now bank so heavily on superhero movies.

“The Flash” is one of the more watchable ones. It’s smartly cast, ambitious and relatively brisk at two and a half hours. The story tracks Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) and his superhero persona, the Flash, as he whooshes, wrapped in tendrils of lightning; traverses space-time continuums; and tries to exonerate his father (Ron Livingston), who’s in prison for killing Barry’s mom (Maribel Verdú). As is usually the case with superhero movies, the story is nonsensical and convoluted — it’s no wonder a character uses a tangle of cooked spaghetti to try to explain a major plot point — but not calamitously so. The overall vibe is upbeat.

Some of that liveliness comes from Miller, a tense and almost feverishly charismatic presence. (Their well-publicized offscreen troubles hang like a cloud over this movie.) Some of the Flash’s appeal, of course, is also baked into the original comic-book character, “the fastest man on Earth,” who first hit in 1940 (via creators Gardner Fox and Harry Lampert) and was revamped (by Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino) in 1956. Five years later in Issue No. 123 , these versions of the Flash (there are others) discover that they exist on two seemingly separate Earths, an idea this movie, well, runs with by introducing parallel DC Comics realms.

It’s a conceit that pays off the second a shambolic Michael Keaton makes his entrance as a graybeard puttering about a near-derelict Wayne Manor. Having hung up his Bat-suit in his reality (while DC has repeatedly rebooted the franchise in ours), Bruce appears to have entered the Howard Hughes chapter of his cosseted life when Barry drops by. Long story short, the two rapidly join forces, dust off the Batcave tech, furrow their brows and suit up, as other members of the DC stock company join the party, including Alfred Pennyworth (Jeremy Irons), General Zod (Michael Shannon) and Supergirl (Sasha Calle).

The entrance of these company players are timed like special-guest appearances — ladies and gentlemen, Zod the Zaniac! — and they’re obviously meant to delight true believers. To a degree, they also feel like they’ve been brought in to shore up the Flash during his first stand-alone outing. Cramming the screen with established names to hedge their expensive bets is an old-fashioned studio gambit, whether in a 1920s musical revue or 1970s disaster flick. Whatever the rationale here, the results are amusing, and it’s especially nice to see Keaton, who first played Batman in Tim Burton’s 1989 film . He seems to be having a good time, and when he looks in the mirror approvingly, it’s easy to share in his self-admiration.

Working from a script by Christina Hodson, the director Andy Muschietti keeps these pieces greased and quickly moving, though he almost blows it as soon as the movie begins. It opens with an unfunny protracted bit in which Barry, who’s late for work, orders a sandwich from a pokey server. (That the first villain in the story is a service worker is a choice.) While the guy readies the order, Barry turns into the Flash to help his world’s Batman (an uncredited Ben Affleck) dispatch some villains. It goes as expected — bam, splat — but then a hospital wing collapses, and newborn babies go flying, hurtling toward the street.

It’s a creepy setup that Muschietti milks for laughs that become queasier and ickier the longer and the more gleefully flamboyant the scene plays out. It’s absurd, outrageous, digitally fabricated and needless to say the Flash will save the day. The problem is that Muschietti, who has a talent for fraying your nerves with images of child endangerment (as he showed in the “It” horror flicks), is so obviously pleased with these airborne babies that he keeps showing off (turning a microwave into a bassinet), which drains the sequence both of its outlandish comedy and of any tension that might make the Flash’s heroism resonate.

The movie more or less recovers, settling into its lively groove, even if the Flash remains a curiously uncertain presence. Surrounding him with bigger superheroes may have made branding sense, but the net effect is that the movie never persuasively establishes the Flash as a confident stand-alone entity. That may make the question of Miller playing him in the future moot. Who knows? Last year, Miller apologized for their behavior and said they were seeking treatment for “ complex mental health issues .” I liked “The Flash” well enough while watching it. But thinking and writing about it and everything that has gone down has been dispiriting — real life has a way of insinuating itself into even better-wrought fantasies.

The Flash Rated PG-13 for superhero violence. Running time: 2 hours 24 minutes. In theaters.

Manohla Dargis is the chief film critic of The Times, which she joined in 2004. She has an M.A. in cinema studies from New York University, and her work has been anthologized in several books. More about Manohla Dargis

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The Flash review: This superhero movie proves multiverses have outrun their welcome

Ezra Miller does double time as the Scarlet Speedster, while Michael Keaton returns as Batman to help sort out a time-travel mess.

Christian Holub is a writer covering comics and other geeky pop culture. He's still mad about 'Firefly' getting canceled.

The Flash may be the fastest man alive, but DC has been hilariously slow at adapting its iconic characters and stories onto the big screen. To wit: The first time a superhero encountered the concept of a "multiverse" was in a Flash comic (1961's The Flash #123, a.k.a. "Flash of Two Worlds") and yet this new timeline-hopping The Flash movie can only seem redundant in the wake of Spider-Man: No Way Home breaking pandemic box-office records and Everything Everywhere All At Once winning a bunch of Oscars . Rather than the beginning of a cool, new idea, The Flash now feels like it should be the last word on movie multiverses.

The Flash stars Ezra Miller as Scarlet Speedster Barry Allen, reprising their role from the two versions of Justice League . Now, as many are probably aware, Miller (who uses they/them pronouns) has had a weird couple of years, involving arrests and legal complaints in multiple states . But since the actor is apparently undergoing mental-health treatment (which their superhero character implores a traumatized nurse to do within the first scene of this movie, oddly enough) and blockbuster movies like this are made by hundreds of people, it seems only fair to judge the final product by what's on the screen.

The movie begins at breakneck pace, with Miller's speedster being called upon by Batman ( Ben Affleck ) and Alfred ( Jeremy Irons , still cashing checks) to help evacuate a major Gotham hospital that's just been attacked. Here, director Andy Muschietti and the film's writers (the screenplay is credited to Christina Hodson, with story credits for Joby Harold and the Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves duo of John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein) actually come up with a clever take on the Flash's powers: He really needs to load up on carbs before superhero activity!

This is a fun idea and matches the visual effects of the new film which actually show Flash running — as opposed to Justice League , where director Zack Snyder preferred to depict superspeed by having everyone else slow down around Barry. Unfortunately, this opening sequence devolves pretty quickly into CGI mish-mash, and Flash's main act of heroism (catching babies as they fall from the hospital's maternity ward) quite simply beggars belief.

The film slows down a bit after that, as Barry catches up with his incarcerated dad ( Ron Livingston , stepping in for Billy Crudup ). As viewers may already know from The Flash TV show , Barry is as defined by a traumatic dead-parent origin as Batman is — which may explain the insistence on using him for both the small- and big-screen versions of the superhero, when the Flash mantle has been held by multiple different characters in DC comics. Barry's mother (Maribel Verdú) was killed when he was a young boy and his father was jailed for it. Barry has always protested his father's innocence and strives tirelessly to prove it. Who killed his mom, you ask? Good question.

Dismayed by the consistent failure of legal appeals to vindicate his dad, Barry decides — after brief conversations with Batfleck and love interest Iris West ( Kiersey Clemons ) — to travel back in time and stop his mother from ever being killed. At first, this plan (adapted from the 2011 event comic Flashpoint by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert) seems to work great! But rather than returning to the present day, Barry ends up stuck in 2013 alongside a younger version of himself.

Viewers who enjoy Miller's take on the character are thus welcome to a double serving (several scenes in the film consist of this one actor talking to themselves), while those who get easily annoyed by performative eccentricities might find it a lot to take. The upside is that, in the alternate reality created by Barry's time travel, Michael Keaton is still Batman.

Keaton was not the very first actor to play the Dark Knight on the big screen, but remains arguably the best (at the very least, 1992's Batman Returns is EW's pick for the best movie ever made to feature Batman and/or Superman ). Thirty years later, he finally gets the chance to play the old man Batman of Frank Miller's legendary comic The Dark Knight Returns , and he breathes a lot of life into the proceedings.

At the same time, Keaton's presence proves how little DC movie history there is to draw from. While the Marvel Cinematic Universe has hours upon hours of viewer emotional investment to draw from for climaxes like this year's Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 , the DC movies can only keep harkening back to the Kryptonian invasion of Man of Steel — and the closest they can get to replicating the multiple Spider-Men of No Way Home and Spider-Verse is by literally duplicating Miller on screen. Some superhero fans will always prefer DC to Marvel, but this doesn't exactly reek of originality.

With all the other heroes of DC's Snyder era — Aquaman ( Jason Momoa ), Wonder Woman ( Gal Gadot ), and so on — erased from existence by time-travel ripples, only Keaton, the two Barrys, and new arrival Supergirl (Sasha Calle) stand ready to protect the Earth from General Zod ( Michael Shannon ). From there, the film's final act takes some twists and turns, and there are a few other surprising multiverse cameos — fun, but also pretty flat. The "Cosmic Treadmill" of the original "Flash of Two Worlds" story — which Barry uses to travel through time — is here described as a "Chrono-Bowl," and looks just as unappealing as that sounds.

The Flash ends on a purposefully open note (and a pretty good joke), so that if the film succeeds at the box office, Miller's Barry can run again another day. If it doesn't, the precedent is set for a full continuity reset. Whatever DC movies await us in the future, let's hope they avoid multiverses. It's well-trod territory at this point, even for a speedster. Grade: C+

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Related content:

• The Flash filmmakers say movie was not in danger of shutting down over Ezra Miller controversy
• The Flash director says he'd bring Ezra Miller back for potential sequel
• Michael Shannon on The Flash costar Ezra Miller's recent controversies: 'I always give people a lot of slack'

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‘the flash’ review: ezra miller brings kinetic energy to a movie caught up in nostalgic dc fan service.

Andy Muschietti’s stand-alone superhero action-adventure features Michaels Keaton and Shannon reprising canonical roles, with newcomer Sasha Calle as Supergirl.

By David Rooney

David Rooney

Chief Film Critic

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The biggest news on the retro front is the return of Michael Keaton , more than 30 years after he last squeezed into the Batsuit. The frisson that exhilarates the audience when he first appears as a long-retired, reclusive Bruce Wayne, and shortly thereafter as a reborn Batman, continues in waves as each of his iconic Bat-vehicles revs its engine. And The Flash takes a leaf out of the Spider-Man: No Way Home book by welcoming back multiple actors who have played the Caped Crusader.

Spoiler avoidance makes it essential to keep the many cameos under wraps, but they pluck from both contemporary and vintage DC entries, even including one anticipated project that never came to fruition.

But before all that gets underway, Muschietti makes the smart decision to show us Barry at full speed in an amusing superhero riff on a James Bond-style action prologue.

Habitually late for his job in criminal forensics analysis at the Central City Research Center, Barry is further delayed at the breakfast bar where he picks up his regular morning fuel. An urgent call from Bruce Wayne’s butler Alfred (Jeremy Irons) alerts him to a situation unfolding that requires his immediate presence. Batman is in pursuit of fiends who have stolen a potentially deadly virus from Gotham Hospital, which is now collapsing into a sinkhole caused by their explosive entry.

The sequence gets us acquainted with the Flash’s red suit and zippy movement — a cool combo of high-cadence Tom Cruise sprint and ice-skater elegance, trailing luminous ribbons of electricity — as he sparks up and bolts across land and sea. It also introduces the self-deprecating humor that amps up the charm in Miller’s characterization as Barry. He describes himself as “the janitor of the Justice League,” always last on Alfred’s emergency call list and invariably cleaning up some Bat mess.

Back in Central City, Barry encounters his college crush, Iris West (Kiersey Clemons), now a journalist reporting on his father’s case. But that character’s presence here is more of a placeholder for later developments with which fans of the Flash comics will be familiar.

Pained by raw feelings stirred up by the trial, Barry stumbles on a way to use his superpowers to travel back in time, ignoring Bruce’s warning that tampering with the past will trigger an uncontrollable butterfly effect. The kinship between veteran and novice superheroes whose lives have both been defined by tragedy weaves in a moment of poignancy. Barry’s experiment works to a degree, but he gets punched out of the time-space continuum before completing his journey, landing him in the same timeline as his 18-year-old self, on the day he got his powers.

That glitch allows for Miller to display their sharp comic timing, as mature, mindful Barry and his impulsive adolescent counterpart struggle to find a workable middle ground. Their differences become more pronounced when a corrective experiment goes wrong, leaving the more seasoned Barry powerless and his reckless younger self equipped with gifts he can’t wait to use.

That development prompts a desperate attempt to round up the rest of the Justice League to halt Zod, starting with a very ornery Batman, who takes a hard pass on stepping back into the fray. In a scene that will tickle anyone who has ever gotten lost in superhero time-travel plotting, jaded Bruce uses spaghetti to explain multiverse theory, with a bowl of cooked pasta representing the tangled mess created by screwing with the continuum.

But the combination of older Barry’s reasoning and younger Barry’s excitable obstinacy inevitably reawakens Batman’s belief in justice and gains them access to the dusty wonders of the Batcave.

Like far too many superhero movies, The Flash gradually bogs down, devolving into rote mayhem as the protagonists go up against their mighty enemy in a chaotic clash where busy CG excess takes over from human — or humanoid — engagement. Shannon is wasted in generic snarling supervillain mode, while his vicious female sidekick (Antje Traue) looks fierce but mostly serves as a reminder of Sarah Douglas’ deliciously evil Ursa, second-in-command to Terence Stamp’s Zod in Superman and Superman II .

While the nostalgia often threatens to marginalize the central plotline, those scenes do yield pathos as the older Barry explains the futility of all that exertion to his teenage self, forcing them both to make the most painful sacrifice in order to set the world right.

The other distinguishing factor of the later action is the introduction of another seminal figure from DC lore — which, like the multi-Batman element, doesn’t really count as a spoiler since it’s all over the trailers.

While the search for Superman in a Siberian prison is unsuccessful, it does turn up his cousin Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl (Sasha Calle), who proves herself an invaluable ally and a tenacious opponent with a family grievance against Zod. In an impressive feature film debut, newcomer Calle is a quiet scene-stealer, channeling sullen Kristen Stewart energy and tough physicality that bodes well for her potential elevation to her own stand-alone movie.

If The Flash ultimately proves uneven, its wobbly climactic showdown far less interesting than the more character-driven buildup, the story’s core of a young man struggling to reconcile with the loss of his mother carries it through. Miller effectively layers that vein of melancholy beneath both the smart-aleck brashness of 18-year-old Barry and the rueful introspection of his older self.

The early word on The Flash calling it one of the greatest superhero movies ever made was pure hyperbole. But in the bumpy recent history of the DC Extended Universe, it’s certainly an above-average entry.

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‘The Flash’ Is the Best DCEU Superhero Movie Yet, But Can’t Outrun Ezra Miller

• By David Fear

He’s the fastest man alive, able to sprint at superhuman speeds, vibrate his body through solid matter, generate electrical currents, and even disrupt the ebb and flow of time. On his own, this legendary superhero has consistently defeated boomerang-throwing bad guys, temperature-dropping supervillains, his own negative-image doppelgänger, and the toughest alpha simian in Gorilla City. As a key member of the Justice League, the man in the red ear-winged mask has helped saved the world several times over — not to mention propped up the CW network and added some much-needed levity to the Snyderverse. Even death couldn’t slow him down.

And now, Barry Allen, a.k.a. The Flash , will attempt to do what he’s never been called on to do before. We are about to witness this decades-old DC Comics ‘ icon face the greatest challenge that any man, or super-man, could ever encounter. He must outrun negative press and an actor’s toxicity.

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These are all things that this universe’s direct competition has already learned, though after 15 years of IP gouging, even their results have unsurprisingly varied . To say we’re grading on a curve here is self-evident. Yet this solo joint for DC’s resident speedster understands how these types of movies are supposed to work, and whether you love this genre or hate it, The Flash serves as a prime example of why it’s capable of achieving something more than just selling toys and T-shirts from Tacoma to Taiwan. None of which excuses what’s happened offscreen in the slightest. It only make things that much more complicated in terms of a reaction. Rarely has “Oh my god!” and “Oh, dear god” coexisted together in the same gasp.

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It begins with his parents, naturally. His mother ( Y Tu Mama También ‘s Maribel Verdú) was murdered when Barry was a child. His father (Ron Livingston) was convicted for the homicide, though his son knows that’s he’s innocent; the whole reason he’s devoted his life to criminal forensics was to get his dad out of jail. Even his longtime crush, muckraking crime reporter Iris West (Kiersey Clemons), is sympathetic to his plight. Thanks to Bruce Wayne, some new evidence comes close to exonerating the elder Allen. Close, but not quite.

What Barry has just discovered, however, is that he can run fast enough to create a “chronobowl” that propels him backward or forward through time. He can stop the murder from happening. “You can’t live in the past,” Wayne tells him — physician, heal thyself! — and messing with it creates an unavoidable butterfly effect. Barry thinks he can tweak one crucial element without harming anything. He’s wrong.

The resulting time-traveling excursion pairs Barry with his 18-year-old self, also played by Miller, and puts them both in the presence of a different Batman . Different, but very, very familiar. Reports of Michael Keaton’s return to the bat-fold a few years back inspired both squeals of delight and eye-rolling — either way, it felt like a nostalgiabait ploy. Yet Keaton not only reprises his role wonderfully, he knows how to slot himself into this complicated narrative so that, oddly enough, he’s in line with what The Flash as a whole is trying to do. The past is impossible to re-create and even more impossible not to pine for, especially when your memories are so tied to a specific moment, or an era, or a singular instance of unfathomable loss. Yet it’s something that must be reconciled with one way or the other. Here, Keaton seems to have embraced the cowl again in a way that suggests he’s made peace with a legacy that includes, but doesn’t stop at, the Caped Crusader. It’s neither a cash-in nor an appearance crushed under the weight of caveats. He’s simply [ low voice ] Batman, again. The veteran even makes the inevitable fan-service callbacks feel fun.

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There were layers to this superhero, however, and given the spotlight, Miller peels back every single one of them here. The parallel performances they’ve crafted here don’t just suggest two separate people and timelines — they suggest a one-actor double act with impeccable timing, dual psychological profiles, and the complete range of the joy-to-sorrow, juvenile-to-sensible scales. Miller gives us a giddy man-child, suddenly given powers beyond their comprehension and wild to the possibilities of this newfound need for speed. And they gives us a reluctant, world-weary savior who understands that you can save someone, but you can never, ever save everyone. Sometimes those two are in the same scene. Sometimes they’re in the same frame. Sometimes they’re arguing with each other and respectively bringing a breeziness and a heaviness to this pop magnum opus in the exact same moment.

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The Flash Reviews

For 2/3 of The Flash -- and it's too long -- it's kind of fun... in the last sections it becomes slightly video game-ish.

Full Review | Jan 9, 2024

Despite having fun throughout, The Flashisn't flawless, especially in its final act. But Miller as the eponymous superhero is clearly having fun, and so are the other key characters that wouldn't think twice.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 28, 2023

Simply put, this movie is way fun and worth a watch in the theaters, put it on your list of to-do's this weekend.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Nov 13, 2023

Given that seemingly every piece of media is unleashing its perception of whatever the multiverse may be, it’s refreshing that The Flash treats it as more of an existential test.

Full Review | Nov 10, 2023

... fun, generous, and entertaining. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 3, 2023

The Flash may be the most underrated, most underappreciated movie of the year.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 27, 2023

Are multiverses just an excuse for not picking a tone or choosing a story? Our cinema’s flavor of the last few years may just be the child of channel-surfing... The Flash makes you feel simultaneously overserved and underserved.

Full Review | Sep 29, 2023

The Flash creates not just an origin story but lays the foundation for an emotional and layered performance few expect from superhero movies. He can see how things could have been, allowing him to question how he became the man and hero he believes he is.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 23, 2023

The result of literally decades of unsuccessful development, culminating in something that – if not borderline unwatchable – is certainly the most pronounced death throe of Warner Bros’ DC Extended Universe to date.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/10 | Sep 18, 2023

Color me shocked.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 8, 2023

Overall, The Flash is one of the better DCEU entries, but that’s not saying much for a universe of films often found thin or clunky. Muschietti focuses on the human side of meta-human Barry and that leads to a solid emotional journey.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 7, 2023

Perhaps the main problem with The Flash is there is too much of everything packed into its not short runtime. By the time we get to the final crisis of universes colliding it seems so inevitable that it’s tiring.

Full Review | Sep 6, 2023

With eighty percent of The Flash devoted to other DC heroes and underwhelming visual effects, the result seems like a foregone conclusion.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/10 | Aug 30, 2023

The Flash has about two-thirds of a decent storyline, utilizing a much better characterization of the beloved superhero than we saw previously in the DC cinematic universe, but sadly the film is let down by a final act that unravels into a muddled mess.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 28, 2023

Ezra Miller’s superhero outing has an affecting storyline, fan service aplenty, and an easy-way-out anticlimax; maybe this is a befitting conclusion to the DCEU storyline.

Full Review | Aug 25, 2023

Ultimately, what you want to know, dear reader, is whether or not the film is worth your time? The best answer I can offer is: sorta.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 25, 2023

The characters are so driven that the film’s most earth-shattering moments don’t come during an epic battle, but in quiet moments of reflection and recognition of one’s responsibility. If you can get beyond multiverse overkill, this one is worth watching.

Full Review | Aug 23, 2023

It's an irregular superhero film that, with a handful of cameos and visual pyrotechnics, gets off to a fast-paced start by showing the origin of a solid Barry Allen played by Miller, but whose flashes fade at considerable speed. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Aug 12, 2023

Setting aside the actor’s numerous legal issues, Miller turns in a masterful pair of performances.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 9, 2023

Director Andy Muschietti does little to make the front half of the film interesting other than to try to explain the always complicated rules of time travel.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Aug 1, 2023

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The Flash First Reviews: Packed with Nostalgia and a Scene-Stealing Michael Keaton

Critics say the latest dc superhero flick is a satisfying time travel movie and a multiverse smorgasbord of nostalgia and cameos, even if it does lose steam towards the end..

TAGGED AS: DC Universe , First Reviews , movies , Superheroes

Here’s what critics are saying about The Flash :

Does it live up to expectations?

“ The Flash may not be the greatest comic book movie ever made, but it comes damn close.” – Pete Hammond, Deadline Hollywood Daily

“ The Flash doesn’t reinvent the superhero genre by any means, but it’s still one of the most consistently entertaining entries in the genre in years.” – Daniel Howat, Next Best Picture

“It’s certainly an above-average entry.” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

“The good barely outweighs the bad here, at least enough for me to give The Flash a marginal recommendation.” – Matt Singer, ScreenCrush

“One of the most spectacular and frustrating mixed bags of the superhero blockbuster era, The Flash is simultaneously thoughtful and clueless, challenging and pandering.” – Matt Zoller-Seitz, RogerEbert.com

(Photo by ©Warner Bros.)

How does it rank among DC movies?

“One of the best DC Comics movies out there.” – Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics

“At its core, The Flash is a film that exudes the aura of the past, channeling its predecessors, Superman ’78 and Batman ’89.” – David Gonzalez, The Cinematic Reel

“One of the best DC Extended Universe films.” – Brandon Zachary, CBR.com

“The Flash is, by far, the best movie to come out of this modern, post-Nolan Warners/DC collaboration.” – David Fear, Rolling Stone

“ The Flash is the first DC movie to somewhat emulate the early films from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, something DC has been chasing for a very long time.” – Daniel Howat, Next Best Picture

“I would hesitate to even put this film on the same level as others in the increasingly-tired genre that both Marvel and DC have run into the ground.” – Pete Hammond, Deadline Hollywood Daily

“It does not work as a pseudo-finale to the DCEU, which it seemed to have been pigeonholed into becoming pending the upcoming reboot.” – Sheraz Farooqi, CinemaDebate

How is Ezra Miller’s performance?

“Miller excels in their performance as the dual Barry Allen/The Flash.” – Carla Hay, Culture Mix

“Miller, putting a spin of effrontery on every line, is the perfect actor to play this corkscrew superhero.” – Owen Gleiberman, Variety

“Miller does an impressive job making the two Barrys into distinct people; the illusion is so convincing that you sometimes forget that a lot of this movie is just one actor talking to themselves.” – Matt Singer, ScreenCrush

“The troubled star turns out to be the film’s chief asset, bringing humor, heart, and a vulnerability not often seen in big-screen superheroes.” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

“Simply put, better casting you could not imagine. Whatever the well-publicized personal-life troubles the actor has had simply do not matter here; Miller is the real deal and a superhero superstar is born.” – Pete Hammond, Deadline Hollywood Daily

What about Michael Keaton?

“The highlight is Michael Keaton, who fully embraces a tired and almost stir-crazy Dark Knight to deliver a performance that’s impossible to not appreciate.” – Brandon Zachary, CBR.com

“He very much steals the show at times, proving that he has still got it.” – Tessa Smith, Mama’s Geeky

“It’s a performance to go nuts for.” – David Gonzalez, The Cinematic Reel

“Keaton still has that old Batman joie de vivre ; even belatedly, it’s really fun to see him back in another adventure.” – Matt Singer, ScreenCrush

“Keaton has never been better in the role. It is a terrific reinvention of the character for the actor, and for Batman himself.” – Pete Hammond, Deadline Hollywood Daily

“Keaton gives the movie’s subtlest performance. He underplays and reacts in a way that adds freshness to a story that’s probably too dependent on recycled situations and makes Miller’s jumpy, abrasive tendencies easier to take. He’s the acting version of a shock absorber, smoothing the ride without slowing it down.” – Matt Zoller-Seitz, RogerEbert.com

How is Michael Shannon’s return as the villain?

“He is a scary and powerful villain. Always has been. Likely always will be.” – Tessa Smith, Mama’s Geeky

“It is fun to see Shannon taking on more weight as Zod.” – Pete Hammond, Deadline Hollywood Daily

“Shannon is wasted in generic snarling supervillain mode.” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

“The final showdown with Zod does feel a bit redundant.” – Mike Ryan, Uproxx

“Michael Shannon returns as General Zod again in the Man Of Steel timeline, but the real conflict is internal as Barry must resolve the cracks in the timeline and learn to let go of his tortured past.” – Daniel Howat, Next Best Picture

Does anyone else stand out?

“The absolute bright spot for the film is Sasha Calle’s Supergirl.” – Sheraz Farooqi, CinemaDebate

“Sasha Calle is sensational as Kara as she evokes the fierceness of Supergirl and offers an intense persona that gives individuality to her Supergirl while removing comparisons from other iterations.” – David Gonzalez, The Cinematic Reel

How is the action?

“When the action kicks into gear it’s damned impressive.” – Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics

“Director Muschietti handles the action with confidence.” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

“Muschietti has a great handle on superhero action. Especially considering the film’s creative uses of the Flash’s abilities, the flow of action could have become difficult to follow — but it remains clear and (more importantly) very fun throughout.” – Brandon Zachary, CBR.com

“Muschietti’s direction is a perfect tonal balancing act that makes the action gripping and appropriately silly when necessary.” – Daniel Howat, Next Best Picture

What about the special effects?

“The effects when Flash is speeding through the city or into battle are an explosion for the senses, capturing the fun and freedom of moving faster than the speed of thought.” – Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics

“It features some of the best digital FX work I’ve seen and some of the worst.” – Matt Zoller-Seitz, RogerEbert.com

“The movie’s visual effects fall a little short… It’s a little distracting, but it doesn’t ruin the movie.” – Carla Hay, Culture Mix

“The CGI/VFX is a detriment to the film’s third act.” – David Gonzalez, The Cinematic Reel

“There are a few times where the CGI is downright laughable.” – Tessa Smith, Mama’s Geeky

And the script?

“A lot of the jokes, scripted by Christina Hodson (from a story credited to John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, and Joby Harold) are clever, as are the winking homages to the long history of DC movies and other famous cinematic time travel stories like Back to the Future .” – Matt Singer, ScreenCrush

“Even despite being saddled with the baggage of the DCU’s failures, that the story that works in The Flash manages to shine through the noise is no small feat.” – Justin Clark, Slant Magazine

“The fact that the movie can withstand all of [its] diversions and still maintain a strong emotional core is a testament to the power of the script by Christina Hodson, John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein, and Joby Harold.” – Ben Pearson, Slashfilm

Is the movie too nostalgic for the past?

“While the nostalgia often threatens to marginalize the central plotline, those scenes do yield pathos as the older Barry explains the futility of all that exertion to his teenage self, forcing them both to make the most painful sacrifice in order to set the world right.” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

“It’s surrounded by so much fat, damaged by all the mistakes of DCU films past, which makes all of its appeals to nostalgia come across stilted and awkward.” – Justin Clark, Slant Magazine

Does the movie have any major issues?

“Like far too many superhero movies, The Flash gradually bogs down, devolving into rote mayhem as the protagonists go up against their mighty enemy in a chaotic clash where busy CG excess takes over from human — or humanoid — engagement.” – David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

“It gets bogged down… There are so many twists and turns, and such a large cast, that even with two Barrys onscreen in a lot of scenes, the title character(s) and their motivations occasionally get lost.” – Matt Singer, ScreenCrush

“The trouble with The Flash is that as the film moves forward, it exudes less of that Back to the Future playfulness and more of that mythological but arbitrary blockbuster self-importance.” – Owen Gleiberman, Variety

“The final battle overpowers you with fan-service nonsense that many casual moviegoers won’t come close to understanding.” – Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics

The Flash opens in theaters everywhere on June 16, 2023.

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Movie review: Ezra Miller speeds back to the future in ‘The Flash,’ fueled by calories and cameos

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Ezra Miller, from left, Michael Keaton and Ezra Miller in a scene from “The Flash.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Ezra Miller, from left, Ezra Miller and Sasha Calle in a scene from “The Flash.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Ezra Miller, from left, Sasha Calle and Ezra Miller in a scene from “The Flash.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Ezra Miller, left, and Sasha Calle in a scene from “The Flash.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Ezra Miller in a scene from “The Flash.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

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“It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature,” went a famous ’70s commercial catchphrase. But we learn in “The Flash” — the much awaited, long gestated new DC Studios offering — that it’s Father Time one musn’t cross. Because trying to change the past can really mess you up when you get back to the future and realize you’ve inadvertently changed that, too.

But of course, we already knew that. We learned it from Marty McFly, immortalized by Eric Stoltz in “Back to the Future.”

Relax! Of course it was Michael J. Fox, though Stoltz was initially cast in the role. But in “The Flash,” Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) realizes just how badly he’s messed up the space-time continuum when he arrives back from changing the past — just one teensy little thing, really — and learns that in his current world, Fox never replaced Stoltz. “I’ve destroyed the universe,” he frets in a laugh-out-loud moment.

If only the whole film, directed by Andy Muschietti and written by Christina Hodson, felt this breezily clever and entertaining. Alas, the final act bogs down in what feels like an endless, generic CGI battle and a kitchen-sink resolution that leaves one feeling just a little exhausted and somewhat confused.

We first meet Barry — Miller, whose naturally jittery energy is an excellent fit here — on the way to his job at a forensics lab, stopping to order breakfast. But then he gets a call from Alfred — yes, you know the one — needing his help in an imminent disaster. Barry turns into his red-suited alter-ego but desperately needs calories for fuel, begging a bystander for her candy bar.

Soon, in a rescue scene that’s audacious but also a little absurd, Barry is saving falling newborn babies from a collapsing hospital while desperately eating snacks. He also saves a maternity nurse — then suggests she seek the help of a mental health professional to cope with the trauma, noting “the Justice League is not very good at that yet.”

And now we must take a moment to consider the elephant in the room. Because it sure seems the movie wants us to.

If you’ve been reading about Miller lately, you know about the talented actor’s offscreen troubles. They’ve apologized for past behavior and said they’re undergoing mental health treatment.

So it hardly seems the line to the nurse is a coincidence, even if much of the trouble emerged during lengthy post-production. Could this be a subtle plea for empathy, so we can then appreciate what is, certainly, a compelling performance from Miller as not one, but two lead characters (why two? We’re getting to that.)

In any case, that line also sets a tone for many self-referential quips and sequences in a film that seems to thrive on, well, referring to itself and its roots. In this, the first standalone “Flash” film, the lineage of past Batmans, Supermans and associated characters is evoked early and often through surprise cameos. At one moment it feels like we’re watching an Oscar memorial reel; it garnered reverential applause at the screening I attended.

But back to the plot: Barry needs food, but what really powers him is the tragic murder of his mother (Maribel Verdu) in their home when he was a boy. Even worse, his father (Ron Livingston) is imprisoned — unjustly — for the crime.

Barry, desperate to prove his father innocent, suddenly discovers a way to go back in time (technical details are sparse, but it partly involves running REALLY fast) and comes up with a grander idea still. What if he could go back and prevent the whole sequence of events that led to his mother’s death? His friend and current Batman (the Ben Affleck version) tells him what a bad idea this is.

But Barry goes back anyway and makes a change, and what do you know — oops! – a younger Barry shows up (you may have seen them both in the trailer.) And now, for reasons too tough to explain within our word limit, Barry senior is potentially stuck in the wrong universe, with Barry junior.

What’s more, villainous General Zod (Michael Shannon) has returned, threatening total destruction. The Barrys need help. That’s how we find them with Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne, analyzing a pack of spaghetti.

It’s Keaton, having a fine time in his return as a graying, reluctant superhero, who explains the whole multiverse thing, showing with a deft manipulation of pasta strands how the past can’t change without the future changing. It all ends up with a gaggle of crazy spaghetti drowning under a shower of tomato sauce: a hot mess.

And we haven’t had time to mention Supergirl — newcomer Sasha Calle, who doesn’t get much to do before the battling starts, but at least provides some minimal female presence. Kiersey Clemons as a vague love interest has even less to do.

At one point in this 184-minute drama, I started wondering if I was seeing a bunch of disco balls trying to destroy each other. But maybe this was a moment of sensory overload.

Is a sequel in the offing, if the stars align offscreen as well? They’d have to come up with even more cameos, more surprises. Speaking of surprise: it’s probably never a good idea to leave while the credits are still rolling.

But again, we already knew that.

“The Flash,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release, has been rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America “for sequences of violence and action, some strong language and partial nudity.” Running time: 184 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

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'The Flash' throws off intermittent sparks

Glen Weldon

Barry Allen/The Flash (Ezra Miller) is full of running gags. Warner Bros. hide caption

Barry Allen/The Flash (Ezra Miller) is full of running gags.

In the comics, the character of Barry Allen, aka The Flash, aka The Fastest Man Alive, occupies a specific role.

Whenever there's any kind of confusing and overcomplicated shenanigans going on — the kind that involve parallel dimensions, alternate timelines, irreconcilable paradoxes, etc. — you can generally find ol' Flash at the center of it all. He's the key.

Makes sense: After all, he was the guy who first discovered that alternate Earths exist, replete with alternate versions of our Earth's familiar heroes and villains ( The Flash #123, Sept. 1961). He was also there in the mix when, decades later, DC decided all those alternate realities had grown too confusing and combined all of their multiple Earths into one ( Crisis on Infinite Earths #1-12, Apr. 1985-March 1986). In the years since, the publisher has continually relaunched their multiverse and collapsed it, again and again, as if its vast narrative canon were some sort of space-time squeezebox.

The Flash has been there for every expansion and contraction, every cosmic do-over, ever metaphysical mulligan. He signals a cleaning of the slate, a new beginning. He's what biologists call an indicator species, and the precise set of environmental conditions his presence indicates is: Things Are So Screwed Up We Need To Start Over.

So the fact that a live-action The Flash film only arrives in theaters now, even though Warner Bros. Pictures has been trying to make one since the late '80s? And that it comes weighted down with so much baggage, in the form of studio turnover, a ceaseless churn of rewrites and a star surrounded by allegations of abusive behavior and other legal troubles ? And that the state of Warner's superheroic universe is currently so fraught and fractious that it's inspired sweeping regime change, a slate of cancelled projects and promises of a new direction ?

Makes sense. The slate is dirty, it cries out for a dry-eraser.

So does The Flash (the movie) do what the The Flash (the comic book character) famously does?

Yes. Up to a point.

Fast off the starting block

Like most superhero films, The Flash starts off with a drive and focus that inevitably flags over the course of its running (heh) time. This reviewer will confess a weakness for a grounded, hero-rescues-everyday-schmoes-from-danger set piece. I realize that any given superhero film will eventually degenerate into multicolored brawls (or, in the case of mystic superheroes, into actors grimacing at each other across a distance while teams of professionals add Eldritch magicks or laser beams in post).

But show me a character using their powers to whisk a harried restaurant server out of a collapsing building or evacuating a busload of panicking kids off a crumbling bridge and I'm happy. Leave the more esoteric, lore-besotted threats to the very fabric of the multiverse or whatever for another day! Focus on what's in front of you! Save the schmoes!

What if, as is the case in The Flash , the schmoes in question are a passel of CGI babies and a therapy dog hurtling to their deaths? And our hero must figure out a way to pluck them out of the air at super-speed while replenishing his calories such that he's even able to maintain said super-speed? All the better. It's what superhero movies are made for.

On a micro level, screenwriter Christina Hodson's script delivers. Line-by-line, it crackles with nimble jokes, broad winks and clever sight gags. But on a macro level — the level of characterization and character development — things don't so much crackle as fizzle.

The fact that The Flash debuts in theaters so fast on the heels of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is doing the DC film no favors. Leave aside the fact that both movies traffic in multiversal michegoss — that's a surface similarity.

All of the elements that make the Spider-Verse films so memorable and effective — their humor, their heart, their stakes — grow directly out of how real and rounded their characters are depicted. That roundedness and complexity determine the choices they make, and thus drive the plot.

Here, however, it's plot that's paramount, and it kind of forces the characters along for the ride. As a result, there's a flatness to our hero and his allies that precludes us from investing in their fates.

A family plot

The story of The Flash is based on a 2011 comic called Flashpoint (written by Geoff Johns with art by Andy Kubert) in which Barry/The Flash goes back in time to save his mother from the home invasion that killed her. That simple act screws up the DC Universe.

The situation's much the same in The Flash . Barry (Ezra Miller) decides to go back in time to save his mother (Maribel Verdú) from a deadly home invasion. This act brings him into contact with a younger, stoner-bro version of himself (Miller again) as well as a Batman from a different Earth (Michael Keaton, reprising his take on the character from the Tim Burton films) and a super-powered cousin (Sasha Calle) of Superman.

They are forced to band together to save this alternate Earth from an attack by the Kryptonian despot General Zod (Michael Shannon, briefly reprising his dyspeptic take on the character from Zack Snyder's Man of Steel ).

Miller's comic timing is solid, and serves the script's many gags well. But Miller's take on adult Barry is one-note, as is their decision to portray younger Barry as your most irritating college roommate. (That's two notes, I suppose — a simple interval). The movie attempts to frog-march both Barrys through a pair of purely perfunctory, emotional-growth-and-development narrative arcs, but Miller never manages to make either one register onscreen.

Neither does the film accord Calle's Supergirl enough space to become someone we can be bothered to care about; her screen time is given over to Keaton's Batman. It's hard to complain about what Keaton does with that stolen spotlight, but it does reflect the film's willingness to coast on the familiar in favor of putting in the work necessary to create something new.

CG Ay-yi-yi

The film's keystone digital effect, that of both Barrys sharing the screen and interacting with one another, works more seamlessly than it has in any film to date. Credit Miller, sure, but let's also note that the level of technical precision in those scenes — with respect to camera blocking and frame-matching and a slew of other cinematographic factors — are so effortlessly accomplished that you instantly forget you're watching one actor acting against themselves.

When it comes to the film's time-travel CGI, however:

Here's where we are forced to address the (checks notes) "chrono-bowl."

The "chrono-bowl" is an invention of the film, a visual device to depict Barry's time-travel. Basically, he starts running and a series of images begin to rotate around him — scenes and characters from his past. These scenes look as if a Playstation 2 were struggling to render a Caravaggio painting; characters depicted therein regard the viewer from across an uncanny valley that quickly widens into a terrifying canyon. This disquieting effect extends to the glimpses we eventually get of alternate worlds and their alternate heroes.

Now: It's possible, I suppose, to believe this is purely intentional, a stylistic choice on the filmmakers' part. After all, these alternate timelines and universes are comparatively insubstantial, compared to Barry's actual reality, so perhaps it makes sense that The Flash would signal to viewers that they are peopled by men and women who look as if they've just stepped off the Polar Express and Xeroxed themselves 47 times.

That's a generous reading, to be sure. But it's precisely that kind of overgenerous benefit-of-the-doubt that this often funny but ultimately confounding film requires. Barry's constant need to consume calories is the film's go-to gag, and it's no wonder: Like its main hero, The Flash doesn't hide how hungry it is to be seen as worthy, even though it spends much of its time running on empty.

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Intense, long superhero adventure explores loss, teamwork.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

The biggest messages are about importance of team-

Barry and Batman (in any timeline) are selfless an

Most main characters are White (Ezra Miller, Ben A

Several different forms of violence, including the

While holding the Lasso of Truth, Barry says he un

One prominently featured (but humorously deployed)

On screen: Mercedes, BMW, iPhone, Apple, Mac, Puma

Adults drink occasionally (wine or beer). A charac

Parents need to know that The Flash is part of the DC Extended Universe and is based loosely on the comic Flashpoint , when Barry Allen/The Flash (Ezra Miller) travels into the past of an alternate timeline to prevent his mother's death. That decision wreaks timeline havoc, so Barry must work with his…

Positive Messages

The biggest messages are about importance of team-building and working with others for the greater good, plus recognizing when you must let go/sacrifice a personal desire for the sake of the common good. Barry is shown (both by his younger self and the alternate Batman) how to come to terms with the fixed moments in time that he can't change and why the totality of people's childhoods and pasts, including their pain and trauma, inform who they become. The power of rescuing those who are defenseless/innocent, regardless of their background (or even whether they're human), is also a message. Themes of courage, self-control, perseverance, and teamwork.

Positive Role Models

Barry and Batman (in any timeline) are selfless and brave, but they also have to learn to communicate, to work together to highlight each other's strengths, to defer to one another depending on circumstances. Kara Zor-El is a strong role model who's willing to fight for humanity after being saved by Barry and Batman. Both Barrys have to come to terms with their limitations and how their superpower has the ability to save -- but also to destroy.

Diverse Representations

Most main characters are White (Ezra Miller, Ben Affleck, Michael Keaton, etc.), and most are men. Lead actor Miller is nonbinary and plays a male character. Two female superheroes: Wonder Woman (Israeli actor Gal Gadot, briefly seen), and, more prominently, Supergirl/Kara Zor-El (Sasha Calle, who is of Colombian descent). Barry's mother is a White Spanish-speaking woman (her nationality is unnamed, but actress Maribel Verdú is from Spain). Barry's love interest is Iris West (Kiersey Clemons), a Black reporter with a small but important supporting role.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Several different forms of violence, including the disturbing recollection of Barry's childhood trauma: his mother's death from a fatal stab wound, his innocent father going to prison for it. Batman and The Flash engage armed thieves in a tank in a street pursuit that leads to explosions, injuries, and presumed deaths (fairly high body count). At one point, The Flash has to save several newborn babies and their nurse, who've fallen from a high-rise hospital that's crumbling into a sinkhole. Although they all survive (as does a therapy dog that also fell), it's a tense scene. A mysterious villain throws Barry out of his known timeline into an alternate universe, wreaking havoc on the timelines and forcing Barry to relive Zod's invasion of Earth. Barry, Barry, and Batman use their combined forces to rescue a Kryptonian being who's tortured and starved by the Russians, leading to a huge shoot-out and multiple injuries/deaths. Other large-scale violent scenes similarly involve a battle between the Justice League forces and evil aliens (Zod's lackeys). (Potential spoiler alert !) Heartbreaking scenes involving Barry and his alternate Barry and Barry and his mother at the end of the movie.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

While holding the Lasso of Truth, Barry says he understands what sex is but has never had it. He's interested in Iris, but they don't do more than briefly have a beer together. The alternate-timeline Barry has an obvious crush on Kara. Wonder Woman and Batman stare at each other lingeringly. Nonsexual partial nudity in a sequence when the second Barry realizes that using superspeed can leave him naked. His entire torso, legs, sides, and butt are visible. He covers up his genitals with cookware, hands, etc.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

One prominently featured (but humorously deployed) "Who the f--k is this?"; frequent use of "s--t," plus "d--k," "bats--t," "big scrotum," and more.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

On screen: Mercedes, BMW, iPhone, Apple, Mac, Puma shoes, Twinkies, Kikkoman soy sauce. Off-camera merchandising includes apparel, games, toys, etc.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Adults drink occasionally (wine or beer). A character does a shot of unspecified liquor at a bar.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Flash is part of the DC Extended Universe and is based loosely on the comic Flashpoint , when Barry Allen/The Flash ( Ezra Miller ) travels into the past of an alternate timeline to prevent his mother's death. That decision wreaks timeline havoc, so Barry must work with his alternate younger self, as well as other members of the Justice League who exist in that timeline, to fix it. Expect lots of comic book-style action violence, including explosions, military-grade weapons, lethal alien technology, and, of course, Bruce Wayne/Batman's cache of high-tech vehicles, weapons, and gadgets. The body count is fairly high. The movie also explores mature themes about how trauma and the past shape people and shouldn't be tampered with. Language is occasionally strong, with "s--t" used the most frequently, plus "d--k" and one humorously deployed "f--k." There's not much romance, though it's clear Barry is interested in Iris West (Kiersey Clemons), and two other characters briefly make eyes at each other. Nonsexual partial nudity includes a funny sequence in which the second, younger Barry realizes that using superspeed will cause his clothes to fall off, leaving him naked in public spaces. He uses his hands and other available accessories to cover his genitals while his torso, side, and buttocks are visible. Characters drink occasionally. The movie's biggest messages are about the importance of team-building and working with others for the greater good, as well as recognizing when you must let go/sacrifice a personal desire for the sake of that good. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (15)
• Kids say (14)

Based on 15 parent reviews

Best DC Movie I've Watched In My Opinion

Bro this movie is fine...., what's the story.

THE FLASH begins with The Flash/Barry Allen ( Ezra Miller ) helping Batman/Bruce Wayne ( Ben Affleck ) with a catastrophic situation at a hospital and feeling like the "janitor of the Justice League." Eventually, Barry has an epiphany: He should use his superspeed to revisit the past and stop his beloved mother's death. But when he does that and then returns to the future, he ends up in an alternate timeline where another, much less awkward and more laid-back version of him exists and is still 18. While in this alternate timeline, the original Barry realizes that a familiar villain poses a threat to the other Barry's world, so he trains the younger Barry and then sets out to convince that timeline's Batman (a considerably older and retired version played by Michael Keaton ), to join their cause. Together, the three attempt to find Superman but run into even more complications.

Is It Any Good?

This time-traveling, nostalgia-filled adaptation of Flashpoint is entertaining and benefits from Keaton's standout supporting performance. The two Barrys are amusing to watch, particularly because the original Barry is fairly socially awkward, while the younger Barry is somewhat spoiled and easygoing (having not been burdened by his mother's death and father's subsequent false imprisonment). The two develop a surprising chemistry as they try to track down Batman and Superman and do something that seems impossible. Three memorable female cast members also offer impactful supporting performances: Kiersey Clemons as Iris West; Maribel Verdu as Barry's mother, Nora Allen; and newcomer Sasha Calle as Kara Zor-El (aka Supergirl). But this is definitely the story of the two Barrys -- and, later, their camaraderie with Batman.

Andy Muschietti directs, based on Christina Hudson's script, which ramps up the pop-culture references and nostalgic bits. There are several jokes about how the original Barry's time travel has created a world in which all of the Brat Pack actors swapped signature movie roles. Keaton's appearance is also nostalgic, of course, and there are a host of Easter eggs and cameos that will make audiences either applaud, laugh, or roll their eyes, depending on how they feel about the sentimentality of the sequence. While Miller's two roles complement each other, it's difficult to talk about the actor without acknowledging the many accusations and criminal allegations that have been made against them. The DC Extended Universe is reportedly not going to recast the role, even though all the time travel makes the Flash an easy character to consider for that strategy. And a few of the scenes are a bit cringey to watch given the nature of the charges against Miller, but ultimately they're largely outshined by the movie's crowd-pleasing elements.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the popularity of superhero movies like The Flash . Why do you think these larger-than-life comic book characters so often enthrall viewers?

Discuss the prevalence of superhero movies featuring multiverses and alternate timelines. What are the advantages and limitations of time paradoxes?

Do you consider Barry or any of the other Justice League members to be role models ? How do they demonstrate character strengths like teamwork and courage ? What do they learn over the course of the movie?

Do you prefer individual superhero stories or team-based adventures? What are the pros and cons of an ensemble movie?

Has the news about star Ezra Miller's arrests, allegations, and mental health impacted your thoughts about this movie? When and why should an actor, filmmaker, or artist's personal life affect the audience's treatment of their art?

Movie Details

• In theaters : June 16, 2023
• On DVD or streaming : November 14, 2023
• Cast : Ezra Miller , Sasha Calle , Michael Shannon
• Director : Andy Muschietti
• Inclusion Information : Non-Binary actors, Queer actors, Female actors, Latino actors, Female writers, Asian writers
• Studio : Warner Bros.
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Topics : Superheroes , Friendship
• Character Strengths : Courage , Perseverance , Self-control , Teamwork
• Run time : 144 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : sequences of violence and action, some strong language and partial nudity
• Last updated : March 18, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

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The Flash review: a spectacular superhero face-plant

“Director Andy Muschietti's The Flash doesn't just trip and fall; it lands flat on its face.”

• Michael Keaton and Sasha Calle's scene-stealing performances
• Horrible VFX throughout
• An overstuffed, Easter egg-reliant plot
• A pandering, soulless third-act climax

The Flash was, by all accounts, an extremely taxing labor of love for those involved, including director Andy Muschietti. No pleasure can be derived then from reporting that the film is, through and through, an unmitigated disaster. An overstuffed 144-minute wannabe epic that packs in more cameos, Easter eggs, and DC tie-ins than it knows what to do with, The Flash is a hollow exercise in fanboy wish fulfillment. Over the course of its runtime, the film repeatedly raises a handful of legitimately interesting ideas only to abandon them in favor of zero-calorie, nostalgia-bait moments that seem solely designed to make comic book fans scream with excitement in the theater.

No film has ever made Martin Scorsese’s characterization of superhero movies as “theme parks” seem more valid. The Flash wholeheartedly embraces all of the worst trends that currently dominate the superhero genre, including the kind of mind-numbingly bad visual effects that feel like they could only have been made by overworked and underpaid artists who weren’t given enough time to actually do their jobs. Even more distressingly, the film moves its genre closer to a form of empty spectacle that prioritizes brand logos and spandex suits over the flesh-and-blood human beings that actually bring life to the superhero genre’s characters and worlds.

Heavily inspired by the iconic Flashpoint comic book arc, The Flash picks up with its eponymous hero, Barry Allen (Ezra Miller), sometime after the events of Justice League . In its opening sequence, which follows Barry as he saves an entire room of babies from the wreckage of a crumbling hospital, The Flash establishes its hero’s place as his superhero team’s go-to “janitor.” Unsurprisingly, it isn’t long before Barry has made a colossal mess of his own.

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After discovering that he has the ability to travel through time, Barry decides to go back into the past and prevent the death of his mother, Nora (Maribel Verdú), which not only permanently robbed him of one parent, but also wrongly sent his father, Henry (Ron Livingston), to prison. In doing so, Barry creates a new reality, one in which an alternate version of himself got to grow up without knowing what it was like to ostensibly lose both of his parents. While he doesn’t realize it at first, Barry’s actions have a number of other ripple effects.

Throughout The Flash ’s second act, Barry discovers that his time-traveling decisions have resulted in Ben Affleck’s Bruce Wayne being replaced by Michael Keaton’s, Jason Momoa’s Arthur Curry (aka Aquaman) never being born, and Kara Zor-El/Supergirl (Sasha Calle) arriving on Earth instead of her cousin, Kal-El (Henry Cavill). These changes give The Flash a chance to experiment with the DCEU’s existing canon, honor some of Warner Bros.’ past titles, and even incorporate plot elements and characters from Man of Steel . Michael Shannon, notably, reprises his role as General Zod, whose 2013 invasion of Earth emerges as a potentially even more catastrophic event in Barry’s new timeline than it was in Man of Steel .

The Flash ’s script, which was penned by Birds of Prey writer Christina Hodson, zooms through all of its various multiversal twists at such an admirably fast pace that the film is never slowed down too much by any of its game-changing revelations. Hodson, for her part, brings the same zany, slightly manic sense of humor to The Flash that she did to Birds of Prey , though, Muschietti and Ezra Miller don’t prove to be quite as adept at handling it as Cathy Yan and Margot Robbie. Not even The Flash ’s brightest moments of wit and fun are able to make up for its many missteps, either.

There are multiple moments throughout the film in which characters are rendered with the kind of unconvincing CGI that makes them look more like globs of poorly molded Play-Doh than living, breathing human beings. In case its repeated references to the director’s Back to the Future movies weren’t enough, the film often unintentionally occupies the same unnerving, uncanny valley space as many of Robert Zemeckis’ live-action-animation hybrids (see: The Polar Express , A Christmas Carol ). Its consistently lacking visual effects make many of the film’s action sequences legitimately hard to watch and cover The Flash in a layer of visual cheapness that doesn’t reflect its reported $200 million budget.

The lackluster nature of The Flash ’s visual execution robs its better moments of the weight they might have otherwise had. Many of Barry’s emotional breakthroughs regarding his relationship with his mother and the immutability of the past, for instance, are hampered by the fact that they often take place in unconvincingly realized CGI environments. Muschietti, meanwhile, brings the same disconcertingly flippant, unearned comedic tone to much of The Flash ’s violence and chaos that he did in 2019’s It: Chapter 2 , which only makes it all the more difficult to actually get invested in its arena-sized superhero set pieces.

On-screen, their real-life actions over the past few years make it inevitably impossible to get lost in Miller’s dueling lead performances in The Flash . That’s a shame, especially considering that The Flash ’s most impressive VFX lie in how seamlessly it manages to make you believe that there are two versions of Miller’s Barry sharing the same physical space throughout most of its second and third acts. Miller’s performances ultimately reflect the unevenness of The Flash , alternately coming across as gratingly over-the-top and emotionally authentic to their character. As a result, the actors who leave the biggest impressions in The Flash are Calle and Keaton.

Calle isn’t given as much to do in the film as she should have been, but her Supergirl makes for a formidable counter to Shannon’s Zod and both versions of Miller’s Barry. While his role in  The Flash is a fairly straightforward example of stunt casting, Keaton nonetheless turns in a surprisingly nuanced, understated performance as an updated version of his Bruce Wayne, who has only grown more introspective and interior in the years since viewers last saw him. The overexuberance of The Flash ’s plot and its star’s lead performances only make Keaton’s purposefully unshowy turn stand out even more.

Unfortunately, both Keaton and Calle are eventually discarded in The Flash ’s third act when the film makes a handful of decisions that are not only shameless instances of fan service, but also morally and creatively abhorrent. In its intended ending, The Flash  ditches whatever humanity was present in its story in order to deliver a series of ghoulish moments that feel more like the signs of a forthcoming creative apocalypse than they do celebrations of DC’s cinematic history. After so many years of waiting, it’s a shame that The Flash ultimately goes where it does. Whether it was brought down by its own creative team’s decisions or orders from certain studio executives is unclear. What isn’t is just how violently The Flash cuts itself off at the knees. It isn’t so much a victory lap for the DCEU as it is a massive, multiversal face-plant.

The Flash is now playing in theaters. For more Flash content, check out is the Flash movie streaming? , does The Flash have a post-credits scene? , 10 interesting facts about The Flash movie , and the 5 Flash villains you need to know .

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San Diego Comic-Con 2023 was a quieter affair than usual. Because studios refuse to pay their actors and writers what they deserve, the ongoing SAG/AFTRA and WGA strikes continue, halting most ongoing productions and preventing talent from promoting their current or upcoming projects. Still, Comic-Con weathered the storm by pivoting back to its original raison d'etre: comic books. That's not to say a few movies and shows didn't make the cut, although the focus was firmly away from Hollywood and back into print.

Comic-Con was once the pinnacle of pop culture; alas, it has lost some of its luster, especially after the pandemic and amidst an increasingly erratic entertainment industry. The 2023 iteration didn't do much to return it to its once mighty place, but it provided enough interesting announcements to keep it in the conversation, at least until next year. And although only a handful of intriguing announcements came out of Comic-Con 2023, they are exciting enough to keep fans invested in the long-running and revered convention. Watchmen

The Flash actor Ezra Miller has been at the center of many shocking controversies in the past few years. Even though they have spent the last year seeking treatment for their mental health issues, many fans are still pushing for someone else to play the Fastest Man Alive going forward.

Given that James Gunn is going to reboot the DC Universe following The Flash, now seems like the perfect time to seamlessly introduce a new actor as the Scarlet Speedster. If the studio does decide to let Miller go, these five actors should be considered to play the new Flash. George MacKay

The Flash is now out in movie theaters, but much of the interest surrounding the DC film is for the return of Michael Keaton as the Dark Knight. The actor's turn as Batman in Tim Burton's 1989 film has grown to legendary status within pop culture fandom over the past few decades. Now, Keaton's Batman has a chance to tangle with other DC characters outside of his domain in Gotham City for the first time.

At the core of this explosive and thrilling adventure is a thematic concoction of grief, regret, and the consequences of living in the past. Barry Allen has been gifted with a marvelous ability, one that has enabled him to save the world from Steppenwolf alongside the Justice League. But unlike the colorful cut-outs of superheroes that emerged in the middle of the 20th Century, Barry as the Flash is shown to be far more human than a typical champion among humankind. His grief leads him to use his power in an act of self-service as he travels back in time to save his mom from certain death when he was still a young boy -- a choice many of us would never really blame him for. Still, the consequences of an altered timeline and, subsequently, reality are egregious. There's plenty of influence that went into the making of this film from the lore contained within the pages of DC comics. If you can't get enough of The Flash after the credits roll, then we've got some recommended reading in mind for you. Flashpoint (2011)

The Flash Review

14 Jun 2023

It’s taken – in a supreme act of Alanis-ing – so long for The Flash to get his own movie that the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe has changed on several occasions. Now that it has arrived, we should address the elephant in the room: yes, Barry Allen does enter the Speed Force.

There’s another elephant in the room, of course: the off-screen behaviour of the film’s star, Ezra Miller, which has often threatened to overshadow the movie. On the thorny issue of separating art from the artist, your mileage may vary, but purely on a performance level, Miller is excellent here. There was a tendency for the actor in  Justice League , particularly the Joss Whedon version, to mug relentlessly as the film’s appointed comic relief. Here, Miller benefits from the decision to have not one, but two Barry Allens, which allows the role of jester to go to the younger, more carefree Barry, while the Alpha-Barry gets to learn and grow and glare contemptuously at his idiotic younger self. We spend much of the movie with this dynamic duo, and they’re a joy together, as Beta-Barry gets to grips with entering the Speed Force, phasing through walls, and running around in the nud.

There’s been a lot of focus on the return of Michael Keaton as Batman, but director Andy Muschietti — stepping away from horror after  Mama  and both chapters of  It  — makes sure that this is a Flash movie. The breathless first 20 minutes serve as a mini-sequel to  Justice League , bringing Barry and Ben Affleck’s Batman together, before Barry — still hurting from the loss of his murdered mother — hurtles back through time.

Keaton fits right back into the Batsuit again, providing a pleasingly cranky contrast to both Barrys.

Naturally, as Batfleck warns, the cure is worse than the condition, stranding Barry in the past with the dawning realisation that fings ain’t wot they used to be. This includes the morphing of Affleck into Keaton, and much talk of Multiverses (aided by a helpful demonstration involving spaghetti, although they could have just bunged on  Spider-Man: No Way Home  instead). It’s been over 30 years since  Batman Returns , and while there is a tendency to use Keaton to dispense a quick nostalgia hit (Danny Elfman’s  Batman  theme plays seemingly on a loop), he fits right back into the Batsuit again, providing a pleasingly cranky contrast to both Barrys. That can’t really be said, sadly, for the third superhero in the mix, who is introduced far too late to make much impact.

Interestingly, there isn’t really an antagonist. Although Michael Shannon’s General Zod does appear, Muschietti keeps him at arm’s length, recognising that he has all the conflict he could ever need in his guilt-ridden hero. It’s a blockbuster, of course, and by the end there’s CG carnage aplenty, but refreshingly the emphasis remains on Barry, a boy who has been running from the moment his mum was murdered, and who finally starts to realise that it might be time to stop.

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The Flash Movie Reviews: Critics Share Strong Reactions to DC Movie

Following the first showing of The Flash at CinemaCon, critics shared some strong reactions to the DCU's next theatrical entry in their first reviews.

After half a decade’s worth of delays and plenty of controversy behind the scenes , The Flash is finally set to make its theatrical debut this summer.

Test screenings yielded plenty of mixed reactions from early viewers during its development, although as of late many praised it for being one of the best movies that DC has ever made .

Some of the test scores have even been on the same level as Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, which is regarded as some of the best superhero storytelling of the 21st century. Safe to say, expectations are running high ahead of The Flash 's debut.

Critics Praise The Flash Movie (First Reviews)

Warner Bros. delivered the first screening of DC Studios' The Flash at CinemaCon 2023, and critics who watched it shared their initial reactions to the new film.

Fandango's Erik Davis called the movie "tremendous" while praising it as being "among the best superhero films ever made," leaving the movie "in tears:"

"DC’s 'The Flash' is TREMENDOUS! Forget DC, it is without a doubt among the best superhero films ever made. An all-timer. Inventive storytelling, FANTASTIC action sequences, great cast. SO MANY nerdy details. I’m in tears at the end. Everything you want from a superhero film & more"

ComicBook.com's Brandon Davis had high praise for the new DC movie, highlighting how well the "dynamic of two Barry Allen's" was done:

"Damn, 'The Flash' is good! It’s super inventive both visually and in concept. The dynamic of two Barry Allen’s is crazy well done. Emotions hit me intensely hard, solid surprises, and it got me wanting to watch again and really eager to see how they follow it. Well done."

Variety's Scott Mantz sees The Flash as "one of the very best DC movies," specifically highlighting Ezra Miller and Michael Keaton's impressive performances:

"'The Flash' is awesome! One of the very best DC movies, a perfect blend of action, heart & humor! So many WOW & chill-inducing moments that longtime DC fans will love! EZRA MILLER is superb (twice, actually!) & MICHAEL KEATON’s still got it!"

Collider's Steven Weintraub noted that Miller was "soooooo good in this movie," giving props to director Andy Muschietti for making "something special:"

"'The Flash' is fantastic. I know Ezra Miller has made a lot of mistakes but they are soooooo good in this movie. Loved Keaton, the action, humor and emotion. Andy Muschietti has crafted something special. Thumbs way up. WB didn’t show the after the credits scenes."

The Wrap's Umberto Gonzalez ranked The Flash as "the GREATEST DC movie of the last 30 years" outside of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, putting it alongside Christopher Reeves' first Superman movie and Michael Keaton's original Batman film:

"BELIEVE THE HYPE! Christopher Nolan movies aside, 'The Flash' is the GREATEST DC movie of the last 30 years that belongs in the same conversation as 'SUPERMAN' 78 and 'BATMAN' 89. The movie breaks incredible new ground in superhero cinema & honors DC lore of years past."

Screen Rant's Rob Keyes teased that fans will see "some stuff in [ The Flash ] you will not believe," hyping up the way it ties together the old DCEU with the new franchise starting soon:

"Just watched 'The Flash' at CinemaCon. It has some stuff in it you will not believe and it showcases much more of Barry Allen’s powers. It is indeed one of DC’s best and fits nicely as a bridge story between the old and new DCEU franchises. It’s also the funniest DC movie."

SlashFilm's Jenna Busch called The Flash "pretty great" and specifically noted how much she missed Michael Keaton's Batman, which also came with high praise for Sasha Calle as Supergirl:

"'The Flash' is pretty great, and it makes sense to me now why DC didn't shelve this one. Michael Keaton is ... chef's kiss. I didn't realize how much I needed Keaton's Batman in my life again. Some really emotional moments here. Sasha Calle is awesome - I want to see more of her!"

Next Best Pictures' Daniel Howat praised The Flash for being "massively entertaining," highlighting its use of the Multiverse and ranking it quite highly among the best superhero movies ever:

"'The Flash' is massively entertaining! Extraordinarily funny, but still has solid emotional stakes. It’s one of the better multiverse movies out there. Tons of fun surprises. A genuinely superb superhero movie - one of the best in a long time! Very, very satisfying."

The Ankler's Jeff Sneider had mixed feelings about the film, calling the first hour "pretty fantastic" while describing the last hour as "MOSTLY terrible:"

"'THE FLASH:' First hr is pretty fantastic. Strikes the perfect tone. Ezra is great. Heroic. Funny. Emotional. The last hr is MOSTLY terrible. Just an utter mess that’ll leave you asking, “what the HELL is going on?” Fan service & DC villain problem strike again. Mixed bag overall."

Variety's Rebecca Rubin was similarly not as impressed by the time The Flash crossed the halfway mark, saying that she was "completely exhausted" by the time the second hour started:

"'The Flash' is… not one of the greatest superhero movies ever. Parts are funny and fun, but I was completely exhausted by the second hour. It took me at least 5 minutes to recognize Michael Keaton, though, so do with that what you will."

Variety's Katcy Stephan felt the "best superhero movie of all time" title that has been thrown around in relation to The Flash wasn't warranted, saying the movie has "very little to actually say:"

"'The Flash' is an ambitious movie with very little to actually say. Packed with cliches and far longer than it needs to be, it shares themes with some similar titles, but doesn’t execute nearly as well. A far cry from the “best superhero movie of all time.”

Discussing Film's Andrew Salazar gave props to Andy Muschietti for capturing the essence of what many wanted in a Flash movie, but also teased some "bizarre decisions" both in terms of story and technical aspects:

"'The Flash' manages to deliver glorious high thrills. Andy Muschietti captures what many of us have always dreamed for a cinematic Flash story. But there's also plenty of just *bizarre* decisions. Some story related and others technical. Not amazing but still pretty good at times.

Salazar continued by teasing that general audiences will enjoy The Flash along with longtime DC fans:

"This is neither one of the best superhero movies of our time nor a total dumpster fire, which it easily could have been! My prediction: general audiences are totally going to enjoy this. Long time DC fans are going to walk away very happy too. It's tailored for that experience."

Collider's Perri Nemiroff posted an extended review of the film, noting how much she enjoyed "how the narrative challenges Barry to confront who he is" and who he wants to become.

While she didn't see it as perfect, she congratulated Andy Muschietti for "yet another winner" and confirmed that she left wanting to see the movie a second time:

"Caught an unfinished cut of 'The Flash' and dug it quite a bit! Especially how the narrative challenges Barry to confront who he is, who he could have become, and how one’s influenced by the people in (or not in) their life. It’s a successful mix of heartfelt coming-of-age components, stellar action (really loved the style of Flash’s powers & the creativity in those scenes), and a whole bunch of BIG laughs. The comedic timing and delivery are on point. It’s a lot of movie and there were moments when I could somewhat feel it caving under the pressure of the mechanics of the concept and the themes it’s exploring, but for the most part, it moves well, looks good, radiates enthusiasm for the characters and story it’s telling, and left me wanting another viewing. Yet another winner for Andy Muschietti."

CinemaBlend's Sean O'Connell wants to see The Flash again countless times after watching it, praising Miller's standout performances:

"Nostalgic. HILARIOUS. With tons of heart and two outstanding performances by Ezra Miller. I honestly can’t believe 'The Flash' actually exists. It’s magical. It presses every button. I’ll see it 1,000 times."

Fandom's Eric Goldman thought that the movie had creative enough sequences that would allow it to stand out from other superhero movies:

"Yeah, 'The Flash' is legit great! It delivers some notably thrilling, fun and creative moments I felt I hadn’t seen in a million other superhero movies. It had me smiling from the Warner Bros. logo at the top and I even dug stuff inspired by movies I wasn’t into."

io9's Germain Lussier called The Flash a mashup between Back to the Future and Spider-Man: No Way Home , saying that the movie does indeed live up to the hype:

"Yup. 'The Flash' is as good as rumored. It’s Back to the Future meets Spider-Man: No Way Home with all the humor & heart of the former and action and surprises of the latter. If anything, it might be a tad too ambitious but it’s also just incredibly satisfying, heartwarming & fun."

Forbes' Jeff Conway threw praise towards The Flash 's core trio of actors, lauding Ezra Miller as the lead and hyping up Sasha Calle's debut as Supergirl:

"I just watched 'The Flash' and it’s the most vibrant superhero film I have ever seen! The colors are impeccable and the action is such a thrill. Ezra Miller leads with depth! Michael Keaton is superb as Batman again! Sasha Calle captivates with grace as Supergirl! A brilliant film."

Geeks of Color's Dorian Parks called the movie "cinematic fire," while also claiming it to be one of DC's best:

"'The Flash' is cinematic fire! This film is a stunning piece of art that will leave you wanting more. It stands out as one of the best DC movies ever made. The action is fantastic and it has a great balance of comedy and emotional beats."

GameSpot's Chris E. Hayner was "genuinely shocked" that The Flash lived up the hype, saying he has a new favorite superhero after watching the movie:

"I don’t know what to say other than 'The Flash' delivered more than I could have hoped. The acting is beyond great. Keaton delivers everything you want. Supergirl is my new favorite superhero? I’m genuinely shocked this movie meets and surpasses the hype. I never expected that."

Will The Flash Land With Fans?

While Ezra Miller appears to bring a solid performance in their long-awaited first DC solo movie, these reviews largely highlight Michael Keaton's efforts in returning as Batman and Sasha Calle's debut as Supergirl .

Director Andy Muschietti also gets his fair share of praise for his work as the director, which is particularly exciting considering how much exciting information he's shared about his process and production for The Flash .

Now, the only question remains how fans will react to DC's latest efforts.

If Top Gun: Maverick star Tom Cruise is to be believed, viewers are in for one of the best DC movies in quite some time , which comes from somebody who hasn't entered the world of superhero movies as an actor.

And while it's still a mystery how the general public will react, newly released footage of Michael Keaton and Sasha Calle should be encouraging as the DCU looks to get back on track ahead of the move to Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters .

The Flash will arrive in theaters on June 16.

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• DVD & Streaming
• Action/Adventure , Drama , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

• June 16, 2023
• Ezra Miller as Barry Allen; Michael Keaton as Batman; Sasha Calle as Kara Zor-El/Supergirl; Ben Affleck as Batman; Michael Shannon as General Zod; Ron Livingston as Henry Allen; Kiersey Clemons as Iris West; Maribel Verdú as Nora Allen; Jeremy Irons as Alfred

Home Release Date

• July 18, 2023
• Andy Muschietti

Distributor

• Warner Bros.

Movie Review

Pain makes us.

Beautiful days come and go, but we remember the storms. Summers on the bike or at the beach blend together, but we remember the broken promises, the fractured friendships. A thousand peaceful nights at home are dwarfed by one night at the hospital.

Our scars stand out on life’s canvas, painted deep and bold. They can define who we are, who we were and what we become. And while we’d love to erase those scars, we can’t.

But Barry Allen? Maybe he can.

Barry bears his share of scars. When he was just a kid, his mother was murdered in the family kitchen, and his father (who was picking up a can of tomatoes at the supermarket) was blamed for it. For decades, Henry Allen has been behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit. As Iris (Barry’s old college pal) reminds him, he lost his mother and father on the same day.

But here’s the thing. Barry’s also The Flash. He can go fast —I mean, really fast. And as any armchair Einstein enthusiast knows, if you go really, really, really fast, time itself starts getting a little shaky. Why, in theory, Barry might be able to go back a couple of decades and erase the biggest, most important scar in his life.

Bruce Wayne—aka Batman, Barry’s Justice League compatriot—warns against meddling with time. Yeah, Bruce lost his parents too, but that loss made him the superhero he is. And that superhero’s done quite a lot of good in the world.

Plus, when you set off ripples in the past, you never know what sort of tsunami you might trigger. “You could destroy everything,” Bruce says.

But Barry’s wounds still hurt. The scars still feel deep. And the ripple he aims to create is such a teensy one. He’ll just drop one extra can of tomatoes into his mother’s grocery cart. That can of tomatoes will keep Barry’s dad from running to the store—and, hopefully, keep the killer at bay. One tiny can could save the life of Barry’s mother.  

She’ll never even know he was there.

The plan works perfectly—or at least it does until an unfamiliar villain invades Barry’s little time bubble, punches him in the face and sends the plan all akimbo. Before you can say E = mc 2 , Barry meets his mom (alive), dad (not in prison) and most critically, his college-freshman-year self (kind of annoying). And as luck (fate?) would have it, he lands in a timeline on the very day that Barry’s supposed to receive his superpowers.   

But this Barry isn’t in position to get those superpowers. Nor is he exactly superhero material. Nope, if Barry (the “real” Barry) hopes to A) remain the Flash, and B) escape this unfamiliar timeline, he’ll have to get Barry (the younger, giggly one) into a lab and concoct the requisite chemical bath/lightning strike that turned Barry (um, the real one?) into The Flash to begin with.

The Flash might’ve successfully erased one set of scars. But it seems that he’s creating new ones by the second.

Positive Elements

To paraphrase a popular saying, the road to problems is paved with good intentions. Barry’s intentions are really good. He wants to save his mom. He wants to save his dad. And regardless of the problems those intentions create, we gotta pat him on the back for being willing to move heaven, Earth and much of the universe in an effort to help his folks.

But Barry’s concerns go beyond his parents. He’s a superhero, after all, and we see him save plenty of people during The Flash . He rescues several infants (and a dog) from messy deaths. He pulls an aging superhero from drunken ignominy. In a flashback, we see him save a child when he was just learning how to use his superpowers.

When he and a younger Barry (we’ll just call the kid “Younger Barry” from here on out) try to rescue another superhero from a Russian prison, they find an apparently helpless young woman there instead. Barry rescues her, too—much to her surprise. And that act of selflessness helps convince this young woman (who just so happens to be Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl) that humanity’s worth saving.

Younger Barry goes through his own transformation—metamorphing from chump to superhero in just a couple of days. That transformation is far from perfect, of course. But he shows a willingness to sacrifice himself for others and put himself through an incredible amount of suffering to safeguard the ones he loves.

And let’s give props to Barry’s parents, too. Both in the unaltered timeline and in the altered one, they show their love for Barry in many different ways. Henry, even in jail, takes his wrongful imprisonment with a dose of philosophical reserve and even optimism. Perhaps it’s easier (he tells Barry) to be in prison, because that way Henry can imagine his wife’s still alive and doing well.

Spiritual Elements

We don’t see any explicit religious imagery in The Flash , but the film clearly toys with some very big, and potentially spiritual, ideas. The biggest and most obvious of the bunch is the push-pull between free will and fate.

Barry tries mightily to change his past, which he knows will change his future. And change, it seems, is possible. But the movie suggests that there are certain events that can’t be changed—no matter how hard we try. That itself may imply that there’s an unseen hand at work—an irresistible force that manipulates certain events according to its will.

So what happens when you try to resist that irresistible force? We’re meddling with the realm of God. The movie doesn’t so blatantly say it like this. But throughout Barry’s quest, there’s this sense that he’s playing with forces that shouldn’t be played with. That’s heightened in a scene that feels cribbed right from 1931’s Frankenstein (another story about playing God), where characters try to harness lightning to try to “resurrect” something gone dormant.

Sexual Content

Younger Barry spends a surprising amount of screen time running around in the buff. We see his exposed rear for several combined seconds. He’s also seen from the side and the front (though his privates are covered in these scenes by, respectively, a tambourine and a frying pan).

Barry also says, “I know sex exists; I just have never experienced it.” We see several coed college roommates, including a woman (clad only in her underwear) and her boyfriend (who shares a bed with her). Another roommate displays a tattoo on his calf while pantless, and we see his white underwear.

When Kara Zor-El is rescued, she’s wearing a hospital-style gown that ties in the back and seems to loosen a bit during a combat sequence (though nothing critical is seen).

Superhero outfits can feel particularly formfitting in The Flash . When Younger Barry puts the uniform on, he complains about it being tight, particularly in the crotch (using much more crass language). When he makes his own suit, he brags about how comfy it is around the groin. Supergirl’s suit also hugs and extenuates its wearer’s curves. Other outfits reveal some skin. A prison is compared to a scrotum.

Barry has had a longtime crush on Iris. Barry’s mom and dad embrace each other affectionately.

Violent Content

Barry’s whole character arc is dependent on an act of violence—his mother’s murder. We see part of that in flashback: She’s cradled in Henry’s arms with a knife sticking out of her abdomen, obviously bleeding badly. Henry holds the knife handle in his hand and tells Barry to call 911.

Things get significantly more violent from there.

The movie’s primary villain is the Kryptonian named Zod, who was also the big-bad from 2013’s Man of Steel . He’s out to terraform Earth into another Krypton (which, in case you didn’t know, blew up some time before), which will in turn kill all the things currently living there. We see that terraforming process cause significant havoc, with people in cities being sucked to their doom by Kryptonian devices. Barry tells us that in his native timeline, Superman stopped Zod, but only after the death of thousands. In Younger Barry’s timeline, Zod’s on the rampage “again,” with his aim to literally kill billions.

We see several versions of a battle between Zod and the movie’s heroes. People die via blades, skewers, laser blasts and explosions. A character suffers some pretty bad injuries from Kryptonian weapons, then uses those weapons (embedded in his body) against his attackers. Kryptonians are much, much harder to kill, but that doesn’t stop our heroes from trying. Fists and gadgets and energy blasts all make an appearance.

Elsewhere, Batman and the Barrys battle a bevy of Russian soldiers and guards. A Barry gets shot in the leg (we see some blood, and it’s clearly a super-painful injury). Countless other bullets are fired and might’ve found their mark without Batman’s bullet-proof cape and some nifty speed work. Batarangs and other gadgets render several combatants unconscious. Some Russians are hurled into other area codes.

In one of the film’s more realistic and wince-inducing scenes, we see Bruce Wayne stitching up a nasty, bloody gash in his bicep.

Characters are struck by lightning—an act they want to happen, but it’s still incredibly painful and life-threatening. Two characters are nearly knocked unconscious during one such strike, and one loses a tooth. (He uses super glue to glue it back into place.) Another series of strikes leaves a character’s skin charred and smoking.

An elderly man attacks the Barrys, using some impressive skills. Mops and pans and pieces of furniture are utilized during the melee.

Several people (and a dog) plunge from the window of a collapsing building, requiring quick action by a superhero. (All are saved.) A vehicle chase involves several weapons being fired, a few crashing cars and some seriously unsafe driving. A biohazard poses a massive threat to Gotham City. We hear that someone killed a baby.

Crude or Profane Language

One extremely unnecessary f-word (along with one euphemism) and more than 15 s-words. We also hear sporadic uses of “a–,” “d-ck,” “h—” and “crap.” God’s name is misused about a dozen times, and Jesus’ name is abused once.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Superheroes (plural) seem to have issues with alcohol. The most prominent is a grizzled Bruce Wayne/Batman. When the Barrys enter Wayne Manor, they discover a great many empty liquor bottles within. And when they meet the man himself, he seems a bit tipsy (though that doesn’t seem to impair his fighting skills). Another supe, clearly drunk, falls down and almost passes out in the street. That hero is willing to pawn valuable jewelry for another beer.

We see people drink wine and beer (and some of Barry’s roommates seem pretty hung over). We may hear a character make a passing reference to a drug trip.

Other Negative Elements

After The Flash pulls a character abruptly from a hail of bullets, the character vomits heavily and grotesquely. Both Barrys steal surprisingly frequently—including clothes, food, pans and beer.

The Flash may be fast, but his namesake movie took its own sweet time hitting the theaters.

The film was originally set to be released way back in 2018, believe it or not, with Ezra Miller starring as the title character. But personnel changes (including four different directors), script disagreements and Miller’s incredibly disturbing legal troubles—not to mention a little thing called COVID—delayed the film’s creation and release. Many wondered whether it’d ever see the inside of a movie theater at all.

Here’s the good news: The Flash , as a movie , is pretty good.

It’s not great . Wonder Woman still sets the bar for this incarnation of the DC Universe for me. Here, the messages are mixed, the villain in The Flash seems almost an afterthought and some elements feel a little gimmicky. But it’s pretty fun, quite clever and features the return of Michael Keaton as Batman—which, for this Bat-fan, is quite the treat in itself. Miller remains a charismatic presence on screen, and the movie does a dexterous job of moving from lighthearted hilarity to dealing with loss and grief and the pain of letting go.

But it’s also one of DC’s most problematic films, too.

The Flash doesn’t plunge into R-rated territory with abandon, as 2021’s Zack Snyder’s Justice League did. But it flirts with near R-rated content, from its extended nude scene to its use of the f-word. It’s plenty violent as well. And despite the movie’s frequent levity, certain scenes can feel dark, oppressive and even a little hopeless. This film can seem grim —perhaps a shock for some, given that the Flash was such welcome comic relief in the original 2017 Justice League.

As the movie goes on, The Flash’ s superficial levity can rub against its increasingly bleak undercurrent. It can feel, at times , like an outgrowth of another DC character—the Joker, with its painted-on smile and darkness underneath.

The Flash is better than you’d think, and better than perhaps it has a right to be. But that doesn’t mean you should take the family out to see it in a flash.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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Men's Health

The 10 Best Flash Comics In This (Or Any) Universe

Posted: June 15, 2023 | Last updated: June 15, 2023

Ironic as it may seem, The Flash was slow coming to the silver screen. One of the oldest and most consistently popular superheroes in all of comics, The Flash has enjoyed plenty of popularity outside of comic books. A mainstay on the beloved Super Friends and Justice League cartoons, The Flash had a cult hit live-action show in 1990 and a long-running live-action show on the CW network, which just ended its ninth and final season. When Ezra Miller took up the role for 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and 2017’s Justice League , the speedy superhero was set to finally get his own big-budget solo movie.

Five years later, The Flash is finally coming to theaters, slowed but not stopped by director changes, Miller’s legal troubles, and a full universe redirection. It seems to have all worked out for the best, as the time-travel shenanigans of Miller’s Barry Allen allow the DC Universe to reboot, inaugurating a new cinematic universe under the direction of James Gunn and Peter Safran . But first, Barry has to fix a universe without General Zod, returning to the world of 2013’s Man of Steel , this time with the help of both Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton as Batman, as well as Sasha Calle as Supergirl.

Turns out, visiting multiverses and reshaping universes is an everyday activity for The Flash. If you want to catch up on the reality-twisting world of the fastest man alive, check out these great Flash comics.

1) “Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt” (Showcase Comics #4, 1956)

Superheroes were an instant hit with readers of the 1930s and 40s, but by 1950, the fad had died down. Between losing its major readership when American G.I.s returned from World War II and the moral hysteria caused by Dr. Fredric Wertham’s book Seduction of the Innocent , only Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman could count on steady readership. But all of that changed in 1956, when DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz decided to reboot superheroes with new sci-fi based powers, starting with Barry Allen aka The Flash.

Today’s readers might not totally understand how the introduction of Barry Allen revolutionized comics. But for comics fans of the 1950s, “Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt” told a postmodern story before it became mainstream, presenting Barry as a reader of WWII Flash comics who gets the powers of his hero after being struck by lightning. With a straightforward script by Robert Kanigher and fantastic visuals from Carmine Infantino, the first appearance of The Flash jump-started the Silver Age of comics, paving the way for the Justice League and, eventually, Marvel Comics.

2) “The Flash of Two Worlds” (The Flash #123, 1961)

The Flash first burst onto the comic book scene with 1940’s Flash Comics #1, which introduced the world to Jay Garrick, a man who gains super speed after inhaling hard water (comic book science, everybody!). But like the original Green Lantern, Hawkman, and Atom, The Flash disappeared in the 1950s, eventually replaced by new characters bearing the same name. Comic readers at the time figured the World War II heroes were gone forever, until a fateful meeting in The Flash #123. The story by Gardner Fox, penciled again by Carmine Infantino, finds Barry accidentally traveling from his hometown Central City to Jay Garrick’s hometown—in another reality.

Just like “Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt” changed comics by doing away with old heroes like Garrick, “The Flash of Two Worlds” changed the genre by bringing them back. The story revealed that Garrick (and by extension, all of the early heroes, including Golden Age Batman and Superman) lived on Earth-Two, one of many alternate realities in the DC Universe. Thus, “The Flash of Two Worlds” brought multiverses into the mainstream, paving the way for modern hit movies such as Everything Everywhere All at Once and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse .

3) Crisis on Infinite Earths (1984 - 1985)

The Silver Age began with the introduction of Barry Allen and it ended with his death. Fearing that its universe of multiple realities and deep backstories had become too convoluted for the average reader, DC Comics decided to recreate its universe. Crisis on Infinite Earths set all of DC’s heroes against the Anti-Monitor, a reality-destroying creature who gobbled up the various realities. By the end of the story, the DC Universe had forever changed, restored as a world with a single reality and a restarted continuity.

That victory, such as it was, came at the cost of many heroes’ lives, including that of Superman’s cousin Supergirl. But none were as memorable as the brave sacrifice of Barry Allen. As the only one who can move fast enough to destroy the Anti-Monitor’s horrific machine, Barry pushes himself to the limit, eventually dissolving into pure energy, but not before he appears to his friends as a ghostly figure one last time, presented in powerful detail by the late, great penciler George Perez. Crisis writer Marv Wolfman intended the death to be only temporary, believing that Barry would once again rematerialize, but that did not happen for decades, making Barry’s death one of the most potent in all of comics.

4) The Return of Barry Allen (The Flash #74 - 79, 1993)

Barry Allen may have died, but The Flash did not. After Barry’s sacrifice, his nephew/teen sidekick Kid Flash aka Wally West took up the mantle, carrying on The Flash name. After a rocky and unassured start, Wally soon grew into a successful hero, eventually gaining the confidence to become one of the most relatable and compassionate superheroes in all of comics. But that confidence took a hard blow during one of the best stories of the Wally West era, “The Return of Barry Allen.”

Written by Mark Waid and penciled by Greg LaRocque, “The Return of Barry Allen” sees a Christmas celebration interrupted by what appears to be Wally West’s uncle and mentor, alive and in the flesh. Although elated by his predecessor’s reappearance, Wally feels his insecurities come rushing back, especially when Barry makes his disappointment known. We won’t spoil the twist here, suffice it to say that “The Return of Barry Allen” serves as a reminder of what makes The Flash such a great hero, whether its Wally West or Barry Allen in the red tights.

5) Rogue War (The Flash #220 - 225, 2005)

For the first several decades of his existence, The Flash secretly had one of comics’ best collections of bad guys, as varied and terrifying as the villains who fight Batman or Spider-Man. But it wasn’t until writer Geoff Johns took over the book that The Flash’s baddies got their due. Working with artists such as Howard Porter, Johns emphasized the blue-collar nature of Wally’s world, where he and villains such as Captain Cold, the Weather Wizard, and the Trickster maintained mutual respect, even as they represented opposite sides of the law.

With the Rogue War, Johns and Porter explode that status quo. When an ideological divide tears the city’s Rogues apart, Wally has to keep his Linda safe while preventing his enemies from destroy the city he’s sworn to protect. The end of Geoff Johns' run writing Wally (but not The Flash, as we’ll see in a moment), “Rogue” War captures everything great about the hero, from his commitment to his family to his ability to treat his antagonists as human beings who deserve respect, even the murderous evil speedster Zoom.

6) The Flash: Rebirth (2009 - 2010)

While Marv Wolfman always assumed Barry Allen would come back immediately, Wally West became so popular that the powers that be decided to let the old speedster rest. That is until the high-concept crossover Final Crisis , in which Flashes Wally and Jay Garrick encounter Barry living in the Speed Force, the magical energy that gives all speedsters their powers. After that brief cameo, writer Geoff Johns and artist Ethan Van Sciver fleshed out Barry Allen’s proper return to the DC Universe.

Most of Flash: Rebirth explains how Barry survived his apparent sacrifice in Crisis on Infinite Earths and his relationship with the Speed Force. However, the most enduring aspect of the story is the way it rewrites Barry’s history. Throughout the Silver Age, Barry didn’t have much of a backstory, as writers simply assumed that people didn’t need a tragic event to become superheroes. Johns changes that by revealing that Barry was inspired to do good after his father was unjustly prisoned for murdering his mother, a crime actually committed by his arch-nemesis the Reverse Flash. This revision has become the true origin of Barry Allen, repeated not only in the comics that followed but also in the Flash TV show and movie.

7) Flashpoint (2011)

It’s hard to think of a comic book story more infamous than Flashpoint . Originally, Geoff Johns and artist Andy Kubert intended Flashpoint to be a stand-alone Flash story, about the unintended consequences of Barry’s decision to go back in time and rescue his mother. But when DC Editorial decided that it was time for yet another universe-wide reboot, they made The Flash the culprit. As a result, Barry’s trip to the past creates not just problems for himself, but a radically different DC Universe, one in which Thomas Wayne became Batman after the death of his young son Bruce, and in which an emaciated Superman lives hidden in a government lab. Even when Barry finds a way back to the main universe, he finds it completely changed, launching the New 52 continuity.

For many reasons, the New 52 was a flop, and DC’s continuity has been largely reset to its pre- Flashpoint status quo. But the failed expectations placed upon the series by editorial shouldn’t take away from what remains a pretty exciting Flash story. Forced to encounter a world made much worse by his actions, Barry gains a greater awareness of the cost of his actions. In the face of a world better for him, but not for anyone else, Barry sacrifices the life he wants—a sacrifice almost as great as the one he made in Crisis on Infinite Earths . So potent is the Flashpoint story that it has been reused not only in the Flash TV show, but it’s also the major inspiration for The Flash movie.

8) The Button (Batman #21 - 22, The Flash #21 - 22, 2017)

While Flashpoint may have been a very popular Flash story, it did nothing to help Barry’s reputation. In the public consciousness, Barry changed from a hero who makes the ultimate sacrifice to a selfish guy who messed up the universe. That has changed some with the truly terrible series Doomsday Clock , which not only tried to serve as a sequel to seminal superhero deconstruction Watchmen , but also revealed that the true catalyst for the New 52 reboot world was not Barry Allen, but rather Doctor Manhattan.

Mercifully, Barry was spared participation in Doomsday Clock , taking a backseat to Superman fighting Doctor Manhattan and Batman teaming with Rorschach. But Barry did play a role in the four-part lead-in story “The Button,” written by Joshua Williamson and Tom King and drawn by Howard Porter and Jason Fabok. On a plot level, “The Button” deals with Batman and Flash teaming up to investigate a mysterious bloody smiley face button, something familiar to any reader of Watchmen . However, the book also carries a strong emotional core, restoring the dignity to Barry’s reality-shaking decision in Flashpoint and putting the blame for the New 52 where it really belongs: DC editorial.

9) “One Minute War” (The Flash #790 - 796, 2023)

With the pre-New 52 reality restored, the DC Universe has what some may consider a problem: too many Flashes. Not only are Barry and Wally and Jay Garrick running around as The Flash, but there’s a new Kid Flash (Wallace West, to make things more confusing), a Chinese Flash called Avery Ho, Barry’s grandson from the future Impulse, and related speedster Jessie Quick. Rather than thin the herd, current Flash writer Jeremy Adams says “the more, the merrier” and puts them all to work in the storyline, “One Minute War.” When a group of super-speed aliens arrive to cultivate Earth, it’s up to all the world’s Flashes to stop them, resulting in an epic battle that takes only sixty seconds.

With art from Roger Cruz, Wellington Diaz, Luis Guerrero, and Taurin Clarke, “One Minute War” is Flash storytelling at its best. It takes full advantage of not only the central conceit of Flash stories—this guy can run really, really fast—but also of the seemingly crowded roster of heroes. Leaning into the over-the-top fun of super-speedy good guys and bad guys, “One Minute War” proves you can never have too many Flashes.

10) Batman '89

The Flash might be an important hero with more than enough great stories to fill a feature movie, but Warner Bros. isn’t entirely certain that the scarlet speedster will be enough to rush butts into theaters. So it’s taking advantage of the multiverse concept to fill The Flash with surprise cameos, none more important than Michael Keaton, reprising his role as Batman. Keaton was a very unpopular choice to play the Dark Knight back in the late '80s, but time has been kind to his performances in 1989’s Batman and 1992’s Batman Returns , making his Batman an enduring fan favorite.

Although no one got to enjoy Keaton’s first return to action in Batgirl , the movie that was canceled by Warner Brothers shortly before its release last year, comic book readers have been able to keep up with Gotham City as imagined by Tim Burton. Batman screenwriter Sam Hamm and artist Joe Quinones have been continuing the story in the digital series Batman ’89 . Picking up where Batman Returns left off, Batman ’89 gives us all of the characters we didn’t get to see in later Batman movies, including Billy Dee Williams as Two-Face, Geena Davis as Poison Ivy, and even Marlon Wayans as Robin. If The Flash whets your appetite for more of Michael Keaton’s Batman, then. Batman ’89 is sure to satisfy.

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James Gunn Gives Update on The Authority: ‘Always Gonna Be Quality First’

By Brandon Schreur

James Gunn has given a brief update regarding the upcoming The Authority film.

On Threads , Gunn was asked when the forthcoming DCU movie would announce the rest of the cast of The Authority. So far, it has only been announced that María Gabriela de Faría will play Angela Spica/The Engineer in Gunn’s Superman film, which releases in 2025.

“We won’t green light a film until we have a finished script we’re happy with and, in general, we won’t cast a film until the script is finished,” Gunn answered. “This is why some projects are moving faster than anticipated and others more slowly. It’s always gonna be quality first no matter what.”

What do we know about The Authority?

Gunn and Peter Safran revealed that an Authority movie was in the works when they announced the DCU’s first slate of projects, “Chapter 1 – Gods and Monsters”, in January 2023.

“The Authority is a passion project of mine,” Gunn said at the time. “It’s based on the marvelous WildStorm characters we are now bringing into the DCU. [They] will interact with all of our primary DCU characters. The Authority are a group of superheroes who think the world is broken and they want to fix it by any means necessary. I think it’s a very different look at superheroes.”

A release date for The Authority has not yet been set, and the creative team working on the project has not yet been announced.

The DCU kicks off in 2024 with an animated Creature Commandos series. Following that, DC fans will get their first look at The Engineer in Superman, which releases on July 11, 2025. 

Other forthcoming DCU movies include The Brave and the Bold, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, Swamp Thing, and Teen Titans. A number of other television shows — including Peacemaker Season 2, Waller, Lanterns, Paradise Lost, Booster Gold, and an Arkham series — are also in various stages of development.

Brandon Schreur has been writing about comics, movies, television shows, and all things pop culture for roughly five years. He's a lifelong cinephile who spends way, way too much money buying Blu-rays and trade paperbacks. You can find him on twitter at @brandonschreur.

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Flesh Games Review: Jackass-Style Found Footage Movie Takes a Dark Turn

By Neil Bolt

In Flesh Games , a group of wannabe extreme stuntmen reunite to take another shot at stardom, but not everyone is in it for the right reasons.

If you were a certain age when Jackass first became a cultural phenomenon, there’s a small chance you tried making your own comedy stunt show with your friends, especially if you were involved with the skate scene in any capacity, given that it was the genesis of Jackass’ format.

Chances are, you look back on what you made with a hint of nostalgia if you don’t still have the footage, but in my own experience, I can say we completely missed the point and nuance (yes, nuance) of what Johnny Knoxville and company were making. It’s like when people tried to win money on a home video bloopers show; the effort was to make yourself famous rather than doing it because it made you all laugh at how dumb and dangerous it was and the inherent comedic value was greatly diminished. It’s all stunt ideas and little thought about stunt execution.

And that’s the mindset of director David Dawson’s titular failed stunt comedy troupe. Early on in our time with these men from Northern Illinois, we discover they tried before and couldn’t fathom why it failed (though blame definitely gets passed around in off-sketch, on-camera discussions). But years later they’re having another go, and this time, it’ll be different, right?

It’s clear there’s a tragic, pathetic air to these men. A delusion that they’re doing something more than the thing they’re imitating. Off-camera chats help us glean how the main players, Jordan and Mike, feel about each other’s talent in comparison to their own, and this does suggest we’re in for some sort of confrontation down the line.

But to begin with, Flesh Games is an intentionally low-grade Jackass knock-off. Sure, some of the stunts hit the desired levels of crass slapstick and gross-out (the ”Poocasso” bit and a failed attempt to light someone’s arse on fire, for instance), but you can tell when the guys are overselling a stunt or haven’t fully thought through why it would be funny or a spectacle. Jordan is the one most upfront about wanting to be a star in this tape, but once Mike notes Jordan has an ”alcoholic bell curve” that makes him only good at the job with a couple of drinks in him and no more, you see it. Jordan is just a frustrated dreamer and a drunk.

Mike is the one taking charge of creating extreme comedy bits, even if he is applying the ”throw shit at the wall until it sticks” philosophy to it (and thankfully not literally). But Mike’s time on camera is almost never without his excited jabbering and roaring laughter. He’s always ”on”, but as the tape rolls on, Mike’s jovial banter starts to take on a doomy undertone. During a car ride with the cameraman where they have a good laugh about Jordan’s flaky tendencies as Mike fiddles with the camera. Flipping the view to his own face, he stares transfixed for what feels like an eternity. It’s hard to read him in that moment, but it doesn’t feel like anything good is coming from it.

And that aforementioned promise of a confrontation? Well, Flesh Games does explode in violence so often that it’s hard to see how any faceoff between these failures is going to top what they do to each other for ”fun”, but David Dawson finds a way in a disturbing finale that keeps playing to the bit.

Flesh Games’ biggest crime is that it should be longer. Barely scraping past the hour mark, it could have done with an extra 5-10 minutes to really sell the shift in atmosphere in the finale. Instead, it feels a bit quick to get to the turn, and then spends a little too long on the consequences. On there latter point, I do think that is an intentional choice for the story being told. For spoiler reasons I can’t really go into why, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the point was to take things a step too far narratively.

It doesn’t stop Flesh Games from being a fascinating found footage horror. Using the Jackass-era stunt comedy formula for it is such a smart move, and Dawson has nailed the scuzzy homegrown hardcore punk feel of it.

SCORE: 7/10

As ComingSoon’s  review policy  explains, a score of 7 equates to “Good.” A successful piece of entertainment that is worth checking out, but it may not appeal to everyone.

Flesh Games is screening as part of the Unnamed Footage Festival .

Neil became a horror fan from just a nightmare-inducing glimpse of the Ghoulies VHS cover and a book on how to draw ghosts. It escalated from there and now that's almost all he writes and talks about.

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