The Flash

The Flash is a junk food movie, but sometimes junk food hits the spot. I think in this case, it kind of did, and I had fun. There are problems here for sure, and maybe it'll all fall apart in my mind the more I think about it. But I had a pretty good time with this, and while it might not have been as filling or satisfying as a proper piece of cínèmá, I feel like as far as unapologetic crowd-pleasers go, this is one of the better ones.

It has fun with a time travel plot, and also dives right into all that multiverse stuff that's all the rage at this point. We may be at a breaking point soon with movies that spiral off into different universes/timelines, in the process bringing back actors to roles they haven't occupied for years or even decades, but I know I still get some enjoyment out of this kind of thing. In a couple of years, who knows - there's a good chance fatigue will set in around this latest trend, but unlike a lot of cinematic trends/sub-genres, this one has at least inspired universally loved movies and even Oscar winners (like Into the Spider-Verse and of course Everything Everywhere All At Once).

The Flash is a movie that's desperate for you to like it, and I can see that turning some people off. But others are probably going to like it a lot, and I imagine it'll do well at the box office. As for the future of DC, that's all up in the air, it feels. Anything can happen now, and we'll see whether that's a good thing in time. I'm also interested to see how fans of previous DC movies react to this, given how divided the fanbase is (and how fractured all the different DC universes are, what with the extra worlds of Robert Pattinson's Batman and Joaquin Phoenix's Joker).

But The Flash? It's fun. It's entertaining. It panders sometimes. It looks a bit like a video game at points (also plays out like one at times). Its humour generally lands, but not always. I'll probably never watch it again, but I had a good time watching it just this once.

Ok so for me the Grant Gustin will always be my live action Flash. So Ezra Miller took some getting used to. But by the end of the movie he had grown on me enough that I could appreciate his version of the Flash. I enjoyed the movie ultimately but I think that overall enjoyment was greatly subsidized by getting to see Michael Keaton as Batman again. Overall, I think it's a good movie that was let down a fair bit by the CGI used throughout. It's just a shame that when the subject matter of the movie is the Flash it's going to be very CGI dependant. Ultimately I can imagine that there some talented and passionate CGI artists out there who did their best despite having their wings clipped by management.

I always start any review of a superhero movie by making it clear that these are not my types of movies and my opinion, for any superfans out there, should always be taken with a grain of salt. Now with that in mind, I have to say 'The Flash' is about as much as I can enjoy one of these types of movies. This was a very fun ride I'm happy to admit.

The movie is basically fan-service on overdrive. Anything a mega-fan has always wanted to see is likely going to show up at some stage in this movie. If that's your kind of thing then you are going to be in heaven.

I found the pacing good. The movie is just short of 2 and a half hours but that time goes by pretty quickly. As usual in these types of superhero movies I found the final battle scene the weakest the film had to offer. It got messy and convoluted and it was really the one part of the movie where I lost interest.

Of all the superhero movies I've seen this is probably the one least focused on the villain. He really does feel like an after-thought more than anything. The movie is far more about Barry Allen and his mission. Which makes it surprising to me just how much I enjoyed the film, because the one thing I do often get out of these films is enjoyment from the villain.

I think people are going to have a good time with this one. It doesn't feel like the usual copy and paste template that the MCU has been throwing out for 15 years now and it is certainly a step up from everything non-Batman that DC has been doing recently. I really enjoyed this. 8/10.

I just got out of The Flash

OK. So it does not live up to the positive buzz from the early screenings. It's nowhere near being one of the best comic book movies of all time. It's not even in the conversation for being one of the best DC movies. But I did have a lot of fun with it.

A lot may depend on your feelings of Ezra Miller. Younger Barry Allen was really annoying, but I think that's the point. I had no issues with them in the role.

The stand out for me, was Michael Keaton. When Batman is doing his things and Danny Elfman's iconic score is booming, it's a joy. But make no mistake this is not Batman 3, it's a Flash movie that features Keaton's Batman.

Supergirl was good, I enjoyed her, and if she gets a stand alone, I'd watch it. There were some surprises, that I'm amazed have not leaked.

It feels it's run time at times and some of the CGI is very dodgy, especially during a certain moment. Considering what they were going for, I can't believe they released it like that. The CGI at that moment is my biggest complaint.

They get away with a lot with its rating including nudity and a fair amount of bad language, including the F bomb.

I'm not sure if I'll watch it again, but I had a good time, watching this one time.

Apart from the lame story line and CGI from the 90's, the worst thing about The Flash is the actor Ezra Miller.....he is just dreadful in this movie and every single lame jokes in the film fall flat on it's face and not surprising with comedy genius like 'come on barbie, let's go party' lines. Just when I thought he couldn't get more annoying you get a double dose of Ezra whereby he become virtually unwatchable and he essentially ruins the entire movie himself. Michael Keaton and Super Girl try hard to save this cluster of a movie but unfortunately it's not enough to give this film anything over 5 stars.