The Flash zooms into theaters on June 16.
By Zachary Greenberg
In yet another attempt by the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) to copy the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), its newest installment, The Flash, is their answer to Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). No Way Home opened the superhero Pandora’s Box, known as the “multiverse,” which essentially allows for legacy characters such as Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s versions of Spiderman, and Patrick Stewart’s version of Professor X, into the current MCU without having to conflict with the original movies, since those were just different timelines. This enabled No Way Home to be so successful because it capitalized on the nostalgia of those bygone Spider-Man franchises, while also delivering a brilliant and heartfelt film, without the cameos feeling forced (I’m looking at you, That ’90s Show).
The Flash seemed to be doing the exact same thing by bringing back Michael Keaton’s Batman from Batman (1989) and General Zod, who died in Man of Steel (2013), into a multiverse-type film. This is not the first time that the DCEU has copied the MCU in an effort to play “catch-up” with the franchise, which has generated billions more dollars and dozens more films. Marvel’s The Avengers (2012) came out as the sixth installment in the franchise and was a huge success. DC released their answer to that, Justice League (2017), as the fifth installment, and it was a massive failure. Financially, it failed to break even. Critically, it received scathing reviews from both critics and audience members alike. Internally, DC basically waved the white flag when they released an alternate version, Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021), as a way to reconcile the shortcomings of the original film.
Since Justice League, the DCEU has been in shambles with a lot of solo films coming out that all feel disconnected, with the heroes barely interacting with one another, begging the question how much the “universe” even exists anymore. A new Batman film came out last year with Robert Pattinson, making us wonder if Ben Affleck, who starred as Batman in Justice League, was even going to show up ever again as the Caped Crusader.
All this is to say that the DCEU clearly was doing one last-ditch effort to salvage their franchise and copy Marvel with The Flash and it seemed destined to fail once again as it had in the past.
Well here’s the thing… it didn’t! Like, not at all. In fact, it totally ruled!
I saw The Flash with my dad at an early screening courtesy of 1iota. We waited over an hour in line outside the mall to ensure we would get in, but thankfully we did, and even got good seats. It was great going with my dad, who grew up with Michael Keaton’s Batman, and once again he was able to relive seeing his childhood hero on the big screen in a new story, much like how I felt seeing Tobey Maguire back as Spiderman in No Way Home.
This movie had everything I could have wanted in a superhero film. At times, it had me dying with laughter at their clever jokes or hilarious references. At other points, I was screaming with joy with every new character’s appearance and triumphant moment. During the tense parts, the conflicts felt real and had me on the edge of my seat, unsure if the heroes would prevail. Towards the end of the film, I was even tearing up during the emotional final scenes.
What often defines a great superhero movie from a bad one is how well the audience members like the hero, how compelling the villain is, and if there are great action scenes. From the very beginning, Ezra Miller shines as the Flash, a nerdy young adult who is in way over his head but has to use his dangerous powers for good. Ezra is a phenomenal actor and delivered his lines well, and I was rooting for him the whole time. I won’t spoil who the main villain is, but seeing Michael Shannon back as General Zod was a lot of fun too. I loved him in Man of Steel, and he was probably an even darker and more formidable foe in this film. The action was top-tier, with amazing fights, a lot of explosions, and suspenseful sequences from the start of the film through the end.
Its runtime was 2 hours and 35 minutes, but it felt much quicker due to the great pacing and the plot moving along at a reasonable pace alongside constant action throughout. My only big complaint was that the alternate Flash was a bit of a “Barry Sue” and was conveniently able to learn how to use his powers too fast, but I’ll live with it.
Overall, I can’t recommend this film enough. It wasn’t perfect and doesn’t rank in my top tier of all-time superhero movies like Avengers: Infinity War (2018) or The Dark Knight (2008), but it certainly was just a tier below.
I give The Flash an A.
TV and City 