MovieChat Forums > The Flash (2023) Discussion > A Review

A Review

posted a year ago by LDMcCoy (140)
3 replies | jump to latest

My Weekend Viewing:

In just a few years, the whole multi-verse thing has already been overdone by the superhero genre. After 3 multi-verse Spider-Man movies (one of which is still in theaters now), a "Doctor Strange" sequel, and the phenomenal "Everything Everywhere All at Once" (which kinda is a superhero movie if you think about it), DC's "The Flash" just doesn't feel needed at this point, nor does it feel at all groundbreaking. That's basically the story of the DC universe's life. Always a day late and a dollar short.

A clumsy, exhausting adventure that does nothing to expand this concept, or to improve the quickly waning DC brand, "The Flash" just doesn't live up to the trendy movies it is so shamelessly chasing. While "Spider-Man: No Way Home" brought back characters from previous franchises to create something with real weight and emotion, this movie simply holds stuff up to your face and screams, "Hey, look! This existed!" I really don't know what I'm supposed to come away from "The Flash" with, except that I saw a thing that reminded me of other, better things. And don't get me started on how this movie's marketing made a huge deal out of Michael Keaton returning as Batman just to do absolutely nothing with him in the actual movie.

Visually abrasive, this has to be one of the gaudiest and most unappealing major blockbusters to look at ever. I don't know what's exactly wrong with it, but the Flash running effect just looks... wrong. The "X-Men" movies pulled off a much better, less clunky version of this with Quicksilver, so I don't know why DC couldn't have just utilized the same technique that they did.

If I'm required to say something nice about it, I'll point out that Ezra Miller is really convincing as both a comedic and dramatic performer, and when the story at last focuses on Barry learning to put the past where it belongs, the movie hits its first and only genuine high note. Everything else is cold, insubstantial tripe drowning in a hot mess of tiresome plotting and overblown special effects.

[–] bozo_500 (13224) a year ago

lol its hard to disagree with (some of) your review

[–] FootOfDavros (8388) a year ago

Yeah, I agree that it was pretty good.

Not particularly a fan of The Flash so didn't really go in to this with any real expectations other than hoping Michael Keaton's Batman was done well.

Thankfully it was and although I did find the CGI on the hospital scene to look a bit iffy, it didn't particularly bother me as I just took at as a stylistic choice to show his perspective during his hyper-speed moments. Therefore I was a bit surprised to see the mass criticism being levelled at it at the time.

It's so hard to tell what is and what isn't genuine re film reviews these days though - did it just get panned as a result of Disney / Marvel attempting to keep the competition down? Was it even any involvement at a corporate level at all? I mean, you genuinely get people who support MCU over DC films as if that was a real thing, like a football team or something, with no concept that there can be good (to an extent) and garbage films pumped out on both sides.

I think probably the main reason this film succeeded though was down to it's emotional soul. Ezra Miller - who I didn't really like doing up to 11 goofball stuff in his previous appearances - actually, surprisingly, did a good job in playing the lost "kid" trying to get his mother back.

[–] DoctorThirteen (14426) a year ago

I thought Miller was excellent in this. Really surprised me.