With each new superhero film release, the debate goes back and forth as to whether “superhero fatigue” is setting in or not. Moviegoers have been bombarded with project after project of big-budget CGI comic book adaptations in the name of building a cinematic universe. Marvel is the main victim of superhero fatigue, but Warner Bros’ DC Universe has also suffered great losses for their recent films. Earlier this year, the sequel Shazam: Fury of the Gods made far less money than initially projected, and now Andy Muschetti’s THE FLASH is experiencing similar disappointment. This is not to say that THE FLASH is a disappointing film — in fact, the movie itself provides an entertaining take on The Flash’s story that gives fans of the comics plenty of fun moments to feast on. Unfortunately this is where the film limits itself, and, when it comes to quality, fans are now trained to expect much more than passable entertainment from a major release.
After the recent release of the masterful Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, THE FLASH suddenly had a lot to live up to. Both films contain plots involving the multiverse, a concept that Across the Spider-Verse worked wonders with, delivering a story that touches on the very core of how society views superhero stories. THE FLASH, meanwhile, settles for a softer tale with plenty of jokes and fan service, and while Muschetti (director of It, Mama) adeptly explores themes of grief and loss, the film still ends up coming across as just another major studio release. On its own, THE FLASH is one of the better DC Universe releases, but it doesn’t rise above the fray of superhero movies released per year that are of similar quality.
Muschetti’s film is an adaptation of The Flashpoint Paradox comic, in which Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) realizes that if he runs faster than the speed of light he can travel in time. So he does what any damaged superhero would do: save his mother (Maribel Verdú) from being murdered during his childhood and his father (Ron Livingston) from being framed for the crime. Obviously things don’t go as planned — he opens an adjacent universe to the one he lives in which there are no superheroes, so when General Zod (Michael Shannon) attempts to destroy the planet, Barry is the only one to stop him. Well, not the only one, but I won’t spoil the surprises for anyone that has yet to see the over-revealing trailers.
The movie begins with an extended action sequence of Barry attempting to save a large amount of babies in a hospital from death when the building collapses, which for me was an underwhelming start. The CGI babies are distractingly odd-looking and the scene has no real bearing on the plot from that point forward. However, once Barry learns he can time travel and attempts to jump back to his childhood, the pacing ramps up and turns into a fun, action-packed sci-fi story. Miller’s performance as the younger version of himself is a tad bit grating, but other than that Muschetti crafts a high-stakes adventure through time that has Barry dealing with complicated moral dilemmas involving choosing between the fate of his parents and the fate of the universe as a whole.
It is impossible to talk about THE FLASH without discussing the substantial amount of fan service scattered throughout the film. The amount of surprise appearances in THE FLASH are absurd — at times it almost feels as if this movie purely exists to present a bunch of A-list cameos. While they can sometimes distract from the narrative and not all of them are explicitly necessary, I would be lying if I said I didn’t crack a smile during most of the appearances. However, the film as a whole suffers from focusing on the fan service moments, and it makes me wonder if THE FLASH will hold up as well in ten years. Fan service is yet another aspect that Across the Spider-Verse knocks out of the park, but is only decent in THE FLASH.
This complaint hits at the core of why people are flocking to see Across the Spider-Verse, but choosing to miss out on THE FLASH — why go to see a lesser version of an incredible movie you just viewed? THE FLASH isn’t losing money because it is even close to terrible or because of any controversy behind it, it’s losing money because it’s a perfectly adequate version of a formula that viewers have seen a million times before. Muschetti does a good job directing, but as usual with DC Universe films, his style of direction is not seen anywhere near as much as the presence of Warner Bros., who always seem to make each entry look and feel the same. If studios want to continue making an absurd amount of money with big-budget superhero films, there is a great amount of change that needs to occur. More emphasis needs to be put on making original and interesting stories like Across the Spider-Verse that stand tall on their own, instead of competent stories like THE FLASH that aim to be another money-making entry in a grand cinematic universe.
B-
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