The Flash Like a project, if you leave it, you will love it, and if you want it, it’s the DC’s crime. The studio wants to remove the ruins built by Zack Snyder over the past decade and give James Gunn the responsibility of building a new cinematic universe. Many projects were wiped out immediately after this bold decision. At that time, The Flash filming has been completed and in post-production. DC and Gunn then agreed to complete the work for release. Not long after that, it was the turn of the male lead Ezra Miller who got into a series of private problems when he was arrested for crimes of hitting people and disturbing public order.
![The Flash: The movie is abandoned, it's love, the king is guilty of DC - Photo 1. The Flash: The movie is abandoned, it's love, the king is guilty of DC - Photo 1.](https://gamek.mediacdn.vn/133514250583805952/2023/6/15/photo-8-16868007538901800806948-1686813125225-1686813125380400179061.jpeg)
Twice the Flash, twice the humor
The Flash is DC’s first blockbuster after James Gunn took over the cinematic universe. Although not directly directing the production, the director The Suicide Squad determined to convince the studio to keep the project, despite the controversy about the private life of the male lead Ezra Miller. The film has many similarities with Gunn’s filmmaking style, humorous, witty, vibrant colors and especially gives viewers many unexpected emotions.
Superhero The Flash takes audiences back in time and turns the entire DC Cinematic Universe upside down in its own movie. Despite being warned by Batman (Ben Affleck), he is still determined to use super speed to return to the past to try to save his mother. Here, our main character encounters another Barry Allen, who has not yet received a special ability from thunder.
![The Flash: The movie is abandoned, it's love, the king is guilty of DC - Photo 2. The Flash: The movie is abandoned, it's love, the king is guilty of DC - Photo 2.](https://gamek.mediacdn.vn/133514250583805952/2023/6/15/photo-7-1686800753049499535654-1686813129027-1686813129099381020945.jpg)
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Successfully saving his family from disaster, The Flash got into trouble when his power was accidentally transferred to this past version of Barry – who was a sassy, naughty student. He cannot use super speed to return to his timeline. At the same time, General Zod and his army landed on Earth to search for Kal-El (Superman). The Flash now realizes that the universe where he came from does not have the protection of the Justice League squad. Powerless, he goes to Batman (Michael Keaton’s version) for help.
Ezra Miller displayed diverse acting skills when embodying two mature and “young” versions of Barry Allen at the same time. The two characters are the ones who create funny scenes throughout – the biggest highlight of the film. In the present, Barry is an introverted boy, always timid after the loss of his mother and father to prison. Meanwhile, the younger version is a boy who grew up in the arms of his parents, somewhat spoiled by being overly pampered. Two opposing personalities meet and create an interesting pair on screen, like the familiar “buddy film” motif used by Hollywood in many comedies – action movies.
The comedy segment is thickened with the reappearance of veteran actor Michael Keaton as Batman. In this universe, Bruce Wayne is not a pompous billionaire and always knows how to solve everything with his superior intelligence and huge fortune. He is an old-fashioned superhero who has quit his job as a messiah and lives like a boring guy in his abandoned castle.
Filled with fan-dimensional details, many emotional moments
One thing The Flash does successfully is entertain fans in the movie. Borrowing an altered timeline story, DC brought audiences back to characters and segments from Zack Snyder’s DCEU era. A series of superheroes from the Justice League team such as Batman (Ben Affleck), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) are present in the film. These cameos are sure to delight the DC comics fan community.
The team also added to the film many different versions of themselves, especially Kara Zor-El – who later became Supergirl. The return of Michael Keaton as Batman is one of the things that can’t be ignored for DC fans. The 71-year-old actor is still extremely graceful and stylish when wearing Batman’s armor. These nostalgic details are like gifts from the producer to the loyal viewers who have supported over the years.
Despite being filled with cameo scenes and fan service, The Flash did a good job of developing the main story of the film. Barry Allen is driven by the desire to go back to the past to save his mother and have a more fulfilling childhood. The guy is willing to risk the life of the whole universe to do that because the current lonely life does not have many things that make him linger.
The story of Barry Allen’s family in the film evokes many emotions for viewers. This is also the key to solving any bottlenecks in the scenario. In The Flash, Barry’s act of changing the position of the ketchup box and empathizing embrace with his mother are the things that help save the universe, not superheroes like Batman or Supergirl.
The core of The Flash script is a touching story about family affection, conveying the message that people should not live in the pain of the past but consider it as a luggage and a lesson to look forward to the future. A theme that can be considered quite suitable for the DC context in the transition period between the two periods of Zack Snyder and James Gunn.
Long lines and unconvincing techniques
Having a lot of cameos brings both benefits and harms to the film as a whole. Too many characters appeared, causing the duration to be extended to 144 minutes and a lot of redundant scenes. Fortunately, The Flash is one of the rare works of the DC Cinematic Universe with a fast-paced film circuit and many entertaining and humorous details. Otherwise, non-fans of the company may fall asleep at this length.
Another minus point of The Flash is the visual effects, which are used in almost 90% of the scenes. In the superhero genre, fast-paced characters like Barry Allen are always a “gold mine” for filmmakers to exploit to create impressive CGI scenes. However, the scenes showing off his strength in the movie somewhat remind the audience of video games from decades ago. They become even more out of place when placed next to live-action scenes captured by modern technology cameras.
The action in the movie is also not special. The coordination between two Flash or Batman, Supergirl does not create a smooth, beautiful feeling. The scenes of chasing and escaping from danger of the superhero group are also very lacking in emotion and climax. The great battle at the end also doesn’t have many visually impressive scenes for viewers to really admire.
Scoring: 3.5/5
The Flash can be seen as a good quality stand-alone movie. However, when placing it in the DC Cinematic Universe, it partly failed to satisfy the audience’s expectations for a groundbreaking project that changed the franchise’s destiny. After the scandals of Barry Allen’s private life, will the actor continue to be accompanied by a superhero with the speed of light? Who will be playing Superman, Batman for a long time in the movie? The future of The Flash and DC is still very uncertain. All of these are still open questions with no answers. Anyway, the viewable The Flash has succeeded in creating an excuse to change the name of superheroes in future DC movies.
Ezra Miller’s film still feels more like a relic from Zack Snyder’s empire than a start to an entirely new cinematic universe. Anyway, it’s a good time for DC fans to sit down and see their favorite superheroes from the past 10 years, before welcoming new faces to the franchise. What is revealed in the film is that Aquaman will continue to be played by Jason Momoa and will have another actor take on the responsibility of putting on the Batman armor, not Ben Affleck or Michael Keaton.
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Photo: DC