What’s It About
The Flash travels through time to prevent the murder of his mother, but unwittingly causes changes that result in the creation of a multiverse.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
The latest addition to the DCU franchise takes a few notes from successful films like Aquaman and Wonder Woman. Unfortunately, The Flash also picked up a few ideas from Wonder Woman 1984. All this while trying to incorporate those horribly slow, boring, and unnecessary Batman and Superman entries. Other downfalls include Henry Cavill as Superman and many Ezra Miller (The Flash/Barry Allen) personal problems. Despite everything that could go wrong, The Flash is a well-made DC superhero movie that uses every trope at its disposal. There were happy parts, sad parts, confusing parts, and the old fan-favorite – cameo appearances. The story was based loosely on the 2011 Flash comic Flashpoint. But since this is a live-action adaptation, the story is slightly different therefore, all expectations can be thrown out the window. Similarities are there to get the story moving like his father is in jail because he was found guilty of his wife’s (Barry’s mom) murder. After that, the writers took extreme liberties in what should happen next. That said, the first half was really entertaining and really unnecessary to the overall Flashpoint story. It was basically a bunch of scenes displaying just how fast The Flash is but from his point of view. Once you get past all the visual spectacles of superhero work, it’s time to return to the real story – trying to prove Henry Allen’s (Barry’s father) innocence. Things don’t work out, and Barry is so upset that as The Flash, he runs so fast that he goes back in time. I’m not sure how running forward causes you to go back in time but whatever. Barry, realizing he can go back in time, decides to return to the time before his mother was killed. That’s not a spoiler it’s what happens in every version of Flashpoint. The rest of the film is your typical Hollywood fluff. Barry meets his mother, dad, and younger self. Batman is different, Superman is nowhere to be found, and Zod is trying to take over. If you saw Batman v Superman, the stuff with Zod may feel a bit familiar. But this is The Flash, and nothing is what it appears to be. That both hurts and helps this movie. It helps because the focus is on the main story and the heartfelt moments with Barry and his mom, and the decisions he has to make. The downfall of The Flash mainly affects those looking for a true animated to live-action transition. There are so many changes that using Flashpoint in the title would have been disrespectful. Ultimately, The Flash is one of the better DC films, and with a franchise reboot coming up soon, Warner needed to end this phase on a (semi) high note.
OUR RATING – A FINAL DECISION 7
MEDIA
- Genre – Comic Book
- Street date
- Digital – August 25th, 2023.
- DVD/Blu-Ray/4K – August 29th, 2023
- Video – 1080p
- Screen size – 1.90:1
- Sound – English Dolby Atmos, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Audio, English Descriptive Audio
- Subtitles – English SDH, English, French, Spanish
Extras
- Making The Flash When Worlds Collide (HD, 37 Mins.) – This is a wonderful behind-the-scenes documentary with cast and crew interviews, on-set footage, and more that discuss how they all made the film during the pandemic and more.
- Flashpoint Introducing the DC Multiverse (HD, 7 Mins.) – A rundown of the multiverse and how it all ties together.
- Let’s Get Nuts Batman Returns Again (HD, 9 Mins.) – Michael Keaton as Batman is the focus and really, this should have been an hour long.
- The Bat Chase (HD, 7 Mins.) – A breakdown of that opening Batmobile chase sequence which is quite cool.
- Saving Supergirl (HD, 7 Mins.) – Another in-depth look at a particular scene, particularly the one where Supergirl breaks out of prison.
- Battling Zod (HD, 6 Mins.) – The big Zod battle is explored behind the scenes.
- Fighting Dark Flash (HD, 8 Mins.) – The cast and crew talk about that narrative that brings the movie to a close.
- The Saga of the Scarlet Speedster (HD, 39 Mins.) – A bigger exploration of The Flash in comic books, TV shows, and movies.
- Deleted Scenes (HD, 15 Mins.) – There are 10 deleted scenes in total, none of which make for a compelling addition to the final cut. (Tell that to Snyder.)
- Escape The Midnight Circus (HD, 97 Mins.) – The original scripted podcast series is presented here. Also a trailer and a short behind-the-scenes look at how the podcast was made.