Cert – 12, Run-time – 2 hours 25 minutes, Director – Andy Muschietti
In an attempt to change his past Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) finds himself crashing into an alternate universe with no superhumans, trying to save the world of multiple timelines.
The journey to the big screen for The Flash has been a long one. Through various iterations of development hell the flashpoint story has been rumoured to have been worked on to lead to resets into various iterations of new DC universes. And indeed one of the big selling points for the film has been just who pops up in the different timeline which Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen crashes into. DC universes and characters of the past collide in a film which, if its production/s and build-up were anything to go by, could so easily have been a mess.
Luckily, there’s a solid enough piece of work present. Yes, it may be too long – you start to feel the run-time at about the half-way point with various scenes or moments which could be shortened or skipped past – but at least your attention is generally held for the most part as Barry tries to save not just the alternate world he finds himself stuck in but multiple others as a timeline without superhumans finds itself under attack from General Zod (Michael Shannon), searching for Earth’s hidden Kryptonian – Sasha Calle’s Supergirl.
His parents may both be alive in this universe, the film opens with patches of exposition explaining Barry’s mother (Maribel Verdú) was killed when he was a child with his father (Ron Livingston) wrongfully accused of the murder. However, the family reunion is short-lived when an alternate un-powered 2013-Barry (also Miller) turns up. One thing leads to another and soon both are teaming up with Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton) to save the world. There are various criss-crossing moments within the drawn-out narrative, largely simply to explain the next steps and where things are going to go from x-point, but for the most part it’s easy enough to follow, and not think about it too much. Certain patches may feel like they’ve come from an origin film of years gone by, but there’s still enough to like and be amused by within what’s present to help things pass by.
Perhaps not the attempts at humour which frequently never quite land, although manage to avoid a groan or eye-roll, but in general the more relaxed nature in which the film seems to go about itself. There’s an air of seriousness about it but not an intense one to drown out any colour or thrills. The action may be dampened by heavy amounts of dodgy CG making certain events look like they’ve been taken out of a mid-2000s video game cutscene – especially during the lengthy third act – but as the film goes on it generally manages to improve from the early stages where tonal confusion runs rampant. As the titular hero runs up a collapsing hospital saving falling babies the music suggests everything is very serious, but the visuals – including one of the newborns being put inside a microwave to protect it – lean towards a more comedic intention.
There are plenty of bumps throughout The Flash’s lengthy run-time yet it’s held down by its lighter nature. Occasionally this might bring about some of the rougher patches, but Andy Muschietti’s direction manages to keep you engaged in the winding events through the lack of grit and seriousness which the film is told through. There’s uneven terrain, but generally the film runs across it with enough pace to get through it fine.
The run-time may not provide a short run and there are a handful of visual and stylistic bumps along the way, but The Flash’s lighter and generally engaging nature brings you in after taking some time to dust away initial uncertainties
Just A Little Bit Random 