Movie Review: The Flash (2023)

The Flash (2023) directed by Andy Muschietti

The Flash (Ezra Miller) is frustrated by being low man on the Justice League totem pole. When a team of criminals steal a lethal virus from a hospital, Batman (Ben Affleck) chases them while Flash rescues people at the hospital as it is collapsing. He does a great job but it is not the main job. He discovers he can run fast enough to go back in time. Realizing he can save his mother from being killed and his father from being framed for it, he changes one seemingly insignificant detail that prevents the random killing of his mom. His return trip does not come all the way back to the present--he is pushed out by a mysterious figure and winds up when he's eighteen. He goes to check on his parents, who are happily alive and together and as he eats lunch, he sees eighteen-year old Barry Allen (his secret identity, also played by Ezra Miller) coming home. He interrupts his other self and winds up explaining some of what's happened. Older Barry goes to Younger Barry's apartment that he's sharing with college students and quickly discovers how flippant his younger self is, especially without the tragedy of losing his parents as an eight- or ten-year old. He makes an even more disturbing discovery. There are no other meta-humans like Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, or Cyborg around. Batman is a childhood memory for the college kids. He's been retired since Gotham is one of the safest cities in the country. The weird situation becomes a problem when General Zod (Michael Shannon) shows up demanding the Kryptonian or he will destroy the world. In fact, Zod wants to convert the world so Kryptonians can live on it, meaning the death of all of humanity. In Older Barry's memories (and in Man of Steel), Zod is beaten by Superman (Henry Cavill) who is absent in this new timeline. The two Barrys head off to Wayne Manor in search of help.

Time travel creating a multiverse is an interesting if already familiar idea (this movie even calls out Back to the Future). When they get to Wayne Manor, Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton--a surprise switch that was revealed in the previews, commercials, movie posters, etc.) does a good job explaining the "rules" of this DC multiverse. Both Barrys are obsessed with making things better though their actions only cause more complications and problems. Bruce explains that he wouldn't change his past because he wouldn't know who he would be, the implication being it is a bad choice to change the past. Younger Barry never gets it and Older Barry doesn't quite accept it, even by the end of the film.

The film has two big problems. Barry's character is not very heroic at the beginning and does not grow enough by the end. He starts off a bit whiny and is perfectly happy to use his powers to steal beers from his neighbor or snatch clothes off of people on the street without any sense of right or wrong. When he runs into his younger, more spoiled self, he sees how annoying and unfunny his younger self is but is only barely aware of his own brattiness. Miller is not a strong enough actor to work the material into a more sympathetic and likable character, which could be done by the right performer. So the main character is unsatisfying.

The other big problem is the excessive use of CGI. Naturally, the time travel bits are visually amazing and provide the chance for lots of cameos and creativity. Unfortunately, most of the fights and big battles look like they were only done in CGI, sometimes cheaply, making the film less believable and more like a cartoon. Barry's immature sense of humor underscores the cartoony quality and makes him less fun to root for.

Not recommended--there are some good creative ideas here (and a fine performance by Keaton) but the execution is unsatisfactory.