I live on The Internet, which means when popular movies come out, I need to see them as soon as possible in order to avoid spoilers. That’s just life, now. I was going to see it Thursday night, but we had other plans, and Friday wasn’t great, either. So I went to a Saturday matinee.
Before I get into The Flash, I’ll just say Happy Father’s Day to all who celebrate. For myself, I had steak and eggs this morning. Once I’m done writing my review of The Flash, I’m going to get on the exercise bike for 30 minutes to an hour, then I’m going to get caught up on some work stuff I wasn’t able to finish last week. After that… video games? Going to bed early? Who knows. Tomorrow is going to come too soon.
Okay. Let’s talk about The Flash.
I had a good time. I went in with low expectations to begin with, and I left feeling like I got my money’s worth.
From this point forward, I may talk about spoilers, so if you haven’t seen it yet and you want to go in with fresh eyes, bail out now.
Michael Keaton. Holy smokes, Michael Keaton.
I had no idea how much I would enjoy seeing Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman again. I did not know that I wanted to hear that Danny Elfman score play while Batman did cool stuff. Apparently that was something I was hungry for, and I left well fed.
Sasha Calle’s Supergirl was good. Her part was a little bit understated, but Sasha worked with the material she had, and I would definitely watch a whole movie with her as Supergirl.
Ezra Miller. Before I get into their performance, I want to acknowledge that their behavior off screen has been troubling, and I don’t want to focus on the controversy of Ezra Miller themself. I think they fucked up and they need to make amends, if possible. I’m not a fanboy of Ezra Miller. I don’t really know them. Whatever is going on around them is probably complicated, so for purposes of this review, I’m only going to focus on their performance in this movie.
Ezra Miller’s performance was excellent. They brought nuance to both versions of Barry Allen, making them both characters distinct and clear. Ezra Miller’s performance throughout the entire movie was consistent, emotive, and compelling. I loved Michael Keaton in this, and I was impressed with Sasha Calle, but this was Ezra Miller’s movie.
Let’s talk about the special effects. There were two times it stuck out to me as a little bit off. The first was when The Flash went to save the babies falling out of the hospital. They looked a little bit off. The dog also looked a bit off. It was cartoony, but that whole sequence was basically a cartoon, and I was on board with it. For me, it was a good time.
The second time the effects looked off to me was whenever The Flash went into The Chronobowl. We got to see lots of characters, and they looked waxy and computer generated. They were not photorealistic.
I think the producers said that was an intentional artistic choice, and I believe them. When you look at the effects everywhere else in the movie (except the cartoony “save the babies” sequence), the effects are fantastic and photorealistic. Compare the Chronobowl effects to Batman sliding on the freeway while chasing the bank robbers. Ben Affleck’s Batman was a fully rendered special effect, and it looks excellent. When we see Ben Affleck in the Chronobowl, he looks plastic, like an impression of the events that happened in previous movies. I believe it was an artistic choice, and I’m fine with it. It didn’t pull me out.
I liked the explanation of time travel. I’m not sure it’s realistic, but it worked for me as far as explaining the details of the movie, and I was able to groove with it.
I liked getting to see the alternate worlds. I loved getting to see Nic Cage as Superman, fighting a giant spider. I think it’s the only time in the movie I made a sound, and it was unintentional.
The ending bit with George Clooney as Batman made me smile. Of course there would be ramifications to Barry saving his father. It ended the movie on a joke, and I appreciated it, because the movie wasn’t taking itself too seriously, and neither was I.
What else can I say about this movie? I had a good time! I felt some feelings, I had some laughs, and I enjoyed the spectacle. Why wouldn’t I like this movie?
Is it my favorite? Heck no. Am I going to be thinking about it for a long time? Probably not. There are really good movies that I have seen that I don’t think about much, like The Godfather or Citizen Kane. Then there are relatively bad movies that I do find myself thinking about from time to time, like Ashton Kutcher’s Butterfly Effect. So, I might think about The Flash in the future, especially with regards to what it had to say about how time travel works, but I’m not sure that means anything.
Would I recommend friends go out and spend their money to see The Flash?
It depends on the friend. I would not recommend Michael Gallowglas go and see this movie, for example. He doesn’t enjoy movies the same way I do. I would absolutely recommend the movie to Melissa and Chris. It’s a coin flip as to whether Bryanna would enjoy it or not.
I think The Internet is going to continue to be hard on The Flash, mostly because The Internet does not like Eza Miller. I think The Internet is going to criticize The Flash’s special effects and say it is trash because it is not as realistic as they demand, which is Dumb with a capital D.
In summary, and tying this back to my own stuff, The Flash was a light, fun story that didn’t take itself too seriously. It probably won’t leave a lasting impression on the world, and I doubt it’s going to win many awards. These are the same ways I describe The Repossessed Ghost. I think it’s okay for The Flash to exist and just be a fun thing. I feel the same way about The Repossessed Ghost, and I hope other people find light, fun value in it, too.
