In the wake of the recent shake ups at DC and after a litany of charges and allegations against its star, Ezra Miller, The Flash speeds its way into the summer film race at theaters across the nation. And, of course, the biggest question hanging over it is "is it good enough to make people forget about its star's legal troubles?"
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| Ezra Miller plays Barry Allen/The Flash for the fifth time in the DCEU. |
Miller, who has been playing Barry Allen/The Flash since Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) finally gets the character's first starring role in another superhero dip into the multiverse. For those who are not familiar with the term, the multiverse is the concept that there are an infinite number of universes that run parallel and/or intersect the one our hero lives in. It's popular in comic books as a way of sort of recycling characters from the silver and golden ages of comics and putting them in different circumstances and, oftentimes, with different demos. Both Marvel and DC have now employed them in their comic books. The MCU and Sony Animation have already used it several times in their franchises including Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018); Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021); Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022); and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, out only weeks ago.
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| Michael Keaton returns as Batman in The Flash. |
In this version, the butterfly effect comes into play as Barry tries to correct an event from his past and ends up creating a future that presents a no-win situation after he figures out he can run fast enough to travel back in time. This provides a way for the film to use most of the actors who have ever portrayed the DCEU's biggest character, Batman, on film and provides Michael Keaton with the opportunity to return officially to the caped crusader role he played in Tim Burton's Batman (1989) and its sequel Batman Returns (1992). And we get the DCEU's first, and perhaps only, take on Supergirl, Kara Zor-El (Sasha Calle).
Like any film that deals with superheroes and time travel, there are lots of special effects. Perhaps the most common reaction is that they are "dodgy", meaning that perhaps volume isn't as impressive as quality.
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| Sasha Calle as Supergirl in The Flash. |
As cool as it was to see Michael Keaton as Batman again, and it was, I was also impressed with Calle's take on Supergirl. The first Latina to portray the Kryptonian, Calle seems to take the role seriously when it's called for and it holds the unfulfilled promise of what it might grow into in future films. However, with the DCEU taking a Guardians of the Galaxy approach and concentrating on lesser-known characters, it is doubtful there are plans to return to her any time soon.
Batman is not the only DC superhero to make a reappearance, Gal Gadot makes a cameo as Wonder Woman among others, but there is also a villain from the Superman franchise who also comes back; Michael Shannon as General Zod from Man of Steel (2013). Not sure why General Zod was such a Superman staple, but he provides a villain that is one of the most effective in superhero films.
For his part, Miller gets two whacks at the Barry Allen/Flash character, though it's hard to tell them apart as the film goes on. Miller seems to handle the role fairly well and provides just enough comedy, in what might be their superhero swan song. Again, The Flash was the sole remaining project from the last regime and as James Gunn and Peter Safran make their imprint, there is no promise they will return to any of the previous characters or if Miller will be able to remain a free man even if they decide to.
While it's important to try to separate the artist from their art, it is sometimes difficult to watch someone play one role, a hero, while the allegations of their past behavior are still fresh. Is the film so good that you can overlook this? Sadly, the answer is "no". I did enjoy the film, but even though it is far from the worst superhero film, it is also far from one of the best.
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