MPAA Rating: PG-13/Genre: Superhero/Stars: Ezra Miller, Sasha Calle, Michael Shannon, Ron Livingston, Maribel Verdú, Kiersey Clemons, Antje Traue, Michael Keaton, Ben Affleck, Jeremy Irons, Temuera Morrison, Gal Gadot, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Rudy Mancuso, Luke Brandon Field, Ian Loh/Runtime: 144 minutes

I think it is safe to start this review off by asking you a question dear reader. That being the following: what would you consider to be the most traumatic memory of your life? With that in mind, I will now present you with a follow-up question of “if you had the chance to go back in time to that moment and fix it for the better would you do so even though it might cause changes to happen that might not be as good?”. Indeed, in case you hadn’t put two and five together dear reader, this is a time travel debate that has long weighed on us as a species. It also happens to be incidentally the focal point of one of the more recent yet quite iconic comic book arcs of the past couple of decades from DC Comics known as Flashpoint. An arc that, without going into spoilers, sees Barry Allen (The Flash) wake up and find himself in a universe where Batman is Bruce’s dad Thomas rather than Bruce, Superman isn’t all that super, and Aquaman is at war with Wonder Woman among other details. Well apparently, someone on the film side of DC read this and said “well this is good and all, but how can we incorporate it into the DCU as it’s finale now that James Gunn is revamping everything?” As a result this brings us to the slice of cinema I am reviewing for you today, 2023’s The Flash, and honestly I must confess to you that am a wee bit surprised dear reader. Not because it’s terrible nor because it’s perfect. In fact, it’s neither of those things. Rather, it’s the fact that it actually manages to be fairly good all things considered. To be sure, there are still more than a few speed bumps to be mindful of here especially in regards to the work done by the visual effects department which most assuredly leaves more than a fair bit to be desired here. At the same time though, the humor (for the most part) works, the action beats (when you can tell what’s going on) are fairly riveting, the Easter Eggs are definitely there although some work more than others for reasons best left unsaid, and the performances (with particular regard to the ones given by Ezra Miller and Michael Keaton) are actually pretty dang good. Thus no The Flash is by no means the best of the best when it comes to superhero cinema nor is it an instantly legendary curtain call for a franchise that was already that albeit for the wrong reasons. Rather, it’s no more and less than a fun little slice of superhero cinema albeit one that also has the bonus of bringing back one of the most iconic portrayers of a superhero ever for another chance to, as he put it once upon a time, get nuts.

The plot is as follows: Getting underway in the aftermath of the DCU’s take on the Justice League (preferably Snyder’s cut, but I digress) and operating as an extremely loose adaptation of the iconic Flashpoint saga from the comics, The Flash gets its speedy narrative underway by getting us reacquainted with our hero, a young man by the name of Barry Allen. A guy who by day works for the Central City Police Force as a gifted forensic investigator and by night (or also during the day; doesn’t really matter) as a superhero known as the Flash. A hero whose primary superpower, in case you hadn’t guessed it yet, is the ability to move at extremely fast speeds. Yet despite being a hero that is mostly delegated to the tasks that his fellow Justice League members are usually too preoccupied to engage in, we soon see that Barry is about to discover a new power of his that could potentially change that. That power being the ability to travel so fast he can actually go back in time. Now normally this might be seen as a positive to a hero’s line of work, but for Barry this power has a bit more gravity and significance to it. This is because, ever since he was a boy, Barry’s life has been the recipient of a gloomy shadow overhead. A shadow that takes the form of his mother being tragically murdered when he was a boy and his father being imprisoned for the crime. Yet, despite the friendly warnings of Justice League team leader/mentor Bruce Wayne to not fool around with this power however much he may want to, we see that Barry decides to give it a whirl anyway. As a result, we see that he soon is able to prevent his mom from meeting her untimely end. Unfortunately, as good as that is for Barry as an individual, we soon see that this decision also has some very grave unintended consequences to the timeline as a whole. Consequences that soon result in Barry getting stuck in a version of 2013 where not only is Zod back, but there are no superheroes around to keep him from destroying the Earth. Thus can Barry with the aid of an alternate self, a new Kryptonian hero by the name of Kara, and a very familiar-looking yet also very much retired Batman stop Zod and restore order to the timeline or is this one situation that even some fancy footwork won’t be able to fix? That I will leave for you to discover yourself dear reader….

Now right off the bat, it is worth noting that the work done behind the camera on this slice of superhero cinema is very much the dictionary definition of a mixed bag. For starters, I guess you should know that despite the narrative for this film going to that iconic land of fun and chaos aplenty that is Multiverse World (or just the multiverse for short) this film’s pair of scribes actually manage to not only put very much accepted degrees of thoughtfulness, genuinely funny comedy plus heartfelt pathos in place, but also make it so that the concept of distinct realities and/or timelines actually ties into the narrative in a way that is more organic to the story being told and less annoying/absurd at best and just downright ridiculous at worst. Key among their contributions is the fact that this film puts genuine consequences in play at pivotal moments where other movies would just be quick to reverse and write them off due to the power of time manipulation. However even though the narrative at play here in this slice of cinema is one that is fairly riveting in its own right, there is one arena in terms of the behind the camera work that significantly brings this movie down a notch or 10. An arena incidentally which takes the shape of the visual effects department. The reason I say that dear reader is because I don’t know if the visual effects team was asleep at the wheel, if they just didn’t care, or a different reason altogether, but the fact remains to be seen that the visual effects in this movie are (to put it politely) terrible. I mean not only is the CGI on display, especially during a crucial bit in the third act of the film, something you might see out of a cartoon (or nightmare depending on perspective), but it’s also incredibly hard to make out what is going on at times due to the color wheel for this movie seemingly mostly consisting of darker tinged-grays and blues respectively. On top of that, it also doesn’t help that the excruciatingly-awful look this slice of cinema is cursed with also manages to affect some of the action beats in this film in such a way that they wind up being a letdown despite the potential I am sure that they possessed on paper including an opening action beat involving, I kid you not, numerous babies raining out of a Gotham hospital. From there though, we see that the creativity pendulum manages to swing upward yet again courtesy of not only the work done by Andy Muschietti at the helm, but also the fantastic work done by the costume department led by Alexandra Byrne respectively. Indeed in regards to the former, we see that, much in the same vein as what James Wan managed to pull off with the first Aquaman (jury’s still out on the 2nd), Muschietti’s directing style manages to operate as a more or less delightful reinforcement for the tempo as well as the pathos of the narrative at the heart of this film. As for the latter, I just have to say that the costumes here for the various superheroes all look incredible with particular regard (naturally) to the one worn by Michael Keaton when he finally suits up again. Indeed if you hadn’t told me that wasn’t the original suit from 1989 with a new paint job I don’t know if I would’ve believed otherwise. Suffice it to say then that the work done behind the camera might be mixed, but the good does outweigh to an extent the bad.

Of course, this brings us to the work done by the cast of players in front of the camera and I guess I should just take the time first and foremost to let you know that, for all the legal troubles they have faced as of late, Ezra Miller actually manages to be quite good in this movie in their reprisal of the role of Barry Allen. Indeed perhaps the big element that Miller really succeeds at capturing in their portrayal of this iconic character is the fact that Barry Allen, speediness aside, is a fairly ordinary individual all things considered. I mean this is a guy who, unlike his Justice League teammates, does not have either a barrage of tools to assist him or always have the right answer (or an answer at all come to think. Rather, he just has to do the best he can with what he has whilst still being prone to very human flaws such as not being able to get to work on time despite being the one guy you’d think would be capable of just that. Along with that, the other arena Miller is quite successful at is in regard to showcasing that at first Barry’s desire to go back in time is rooted in good intentions, but then as the movie goes along letting us see Barry’s growth as a person as he learns the hard way that sometimes the best laid plans of mice and men don’t go the way you’d expect. Suffice it to say that it is a really good performance and Miller should be proud of the work that they have accomplished here. Alongside Miller, we also get a pretty good turn here from Sasha Calle in the role of Supergirl. No she might not be the Supergirl that comic fans remember, but Calle does a really good job at bringing to life her own spin on this heroine whilst also remembering to stay true to the character as well with regard to such components as her heart, determination, and drive to do what’s right respectively. With all of that said though, the MVP of the film without a doubt has to be Michael Keaton reprising his take on Bruce Wayne/Batman. I mean Keaton for me was the very first Batman I was introduced to as a kid so there was of course an extremely heartfelt bit of gleeful nostalgia for me seeing him in this, but even past that there’s no denying that right from the moment he shows up in this Keaton gives us a performance that is such a wonderful mix of adorably grumpy, clever, and lively that it feels like he never left the role and the other two before Bale took over were simply nothing more than a fever dream and a half. Indeed I don’t know what his future in the role looks like past this, but DC I am begging you to please give him the chance to be in a Batman Beyond movie. Trust me: a lot of comic book fans out there will thank you. Suffice it to say that when you also factor in a smattering of pretty good co-starring performances from such talents as an obviously sleepwalking yet still fierce Michael Shannon, Kiersey Clemons, Ron Livingston (who is so good as Barry’s dad that I don’t understand why he wasn’t playing the role from the get-go), Maribel Verdú who is downright heartbreaking in the best ways as Barry’s mom Nora, and Ben Affleck who in his 10-15 minutes of screentime (or so it felt) gives audiences a sample of what he could really bring to the role of Batman as well as a smattering of surprises that are best left for you to discover for yourself I think it is safe to say that the work done by the majority of the cast isn’t bad by any means, but Miller and Keaton do wind up getting the majority of the really good material to work with here.

All in all and at the end of the day I would just like to say to those people who think this is the greatest superhero movie of all time that whilst I will always appreciate their opinion I would also like to know in what timeline that happens to be the case so I can go there and check that version out. Jokes aside, there is no denying that, for as problematic as the DCU franchise has been overall, the 2023 take on the Flash is a flawed yet ultimately pretty good all things considered entry in the superhero genre of movie magic. Yes the visual effects department was clearly asleep behind the wheel and boy does it show believe me! At the same time though, the helmsmanship is fairly well-done, the costumes are fantastic, the musical accompaniment is on-point (especially when it throws in some of Danny Elfman’s iconic 1989 Batman score at points), the script is fairly cohesive, the winks and nods to the past are mostly handled well, and the performances (for the most part) are actually quite solid (with particular regard to Ezra Miller as well as the returning Michael Keaton who is an absolute blast with every single minute of screentime that he is given respectively). Suffice it to say then that it’s not a game-changer by any means, but if nothing else The Flash “2023” is a swift-footed and fairly fun time to be had that at long last brings the intriguing experiment of the DC Cinematic Universe or whatever the heck it was called to a (in the eyes of this critic at least) long awaited close. Now about that new DC Universe that James Gunn and co. are supposed to be developing….. On a scale of 1-5 I give The Flash “2023” a solid 3.5 out of 5.