Ezra Miller reprises their Justice League role as Barry Allen/The Flash in their standalone superhero outing.
After many, many delays, Ezra Miller’s standalone superhero movie, The Flash, has finally arrived.
The latest DC movie, directed by Andy Muschietti, is led by Barry Allen/The Flash (Miller), who uses his powers of super speed to travel back in time and save his parents.
However, as we know from time-travel lore, making a change in the past can alter the present. So while Barry was able to save his family from a tragedy, he returns to discover that the world has changed and many of his superhero pals don’t exist.
This becomes a particular problem when General Zod (Michael Shannon) decides to wage war on Earth – the usual!
Given all the delays and the controversy surrounding Miller, your expectations for this movie might be quite low.
However, it is actually pretty good and certainly the best entry in the DC Universe in a while.
It has an excellent sense of humour and the zingy one-liners often illicit a laugh, while there is a solid story with genuine emotional stakes.
Unfortunately, the visuals are hit and miss and this really lets it down. Considering this movie has been in post-production for almost two years, it’s baffling that some of the CGI moments look so poor.
In particular, Barry’s super-speed movements are visually weak – it didn’t even look like he was connecting with the ground – and Supergirl, played by Sasha Calle, often looks like a fake video-game character when she flies.
Because of this, the final battle is messy both visually and narratively and a bit disappointing.
Casting the issues surrounding Miller to one side, they are perfectly cast as the nerdy and awkward Barry; they are hilarious and seem to be having great fun in the role.
There was a risk of Miller being upstaged by Michael Keaton’s return as Batman.
Keaton, who last played the Caped Crusader in the ’90s, will give most viewers a hit of nostalgia being back in the iconic outfit. He has a meatier role than expected and it was a joy to see him back at it.
The Flash is an entertaining and highly enjoyable superhero movie, but it’s a shame about those shoddy visuals.
In cinemas from Friday 16th June.
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