McCoy on Movies: The Flash

THE REVIEW: Warner Bros., the parent company of DC Comics, has had one heck of a time getting there superhero universe off the ground. For every one good movie or TV show they make – Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn & The Birds of Prey, Peacemaker, for example – they seem to make another – Black Adam, Batman vs. Superman, the original cut of Justice League that eradicates any momentum they have. Throw in the fact six actors have played Batman since 1989 (Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale, Affleck and Robert Pattison) and they’ve all existed in their own worlds (until now) and the lack of a comprehensive plan has made a mess of things. In turn, it’s allowed the competition – Marvel, for those who aren’t good at reading between the lines – to repeatedly do this to them with every release.

What THE FLASH does well, however, is what many of its DC predecessors have not: (1) Develop its lead character (who admittedly at times almost does feel like he is playing second fiddle in their own movie); (2) Tell a story that is compelling due to its depth with visuals that mostly enhance versus detract away from it and (3) Find its emotional center without forcing or shoehorning it in as an afterthought. In turn, the supporting characters actually help enhance the overall quality as opposed to taking away from it and being better than the lead (see Brosnan, Pierce in the aforementioned Black Adam).

Love or hate Ezra Miller for its somewhat polarizing performance in Justice League and/or all his away from a movie set antics, about 25/30 minutes or so into the film, everything just seems to click. He is able to make all of the character’s antics transition and make you forget about him and instead focus on the character, his motivations, flaws and strengths. While fans can (and likely will) continue to debate whether or not he should be recast in future films, this performance is one Miller can truly call their own (Note: Miller uses the they/them/theirs pronouns). Warner Bros. has done a very clever campaign by minimizing Miller in the trailers leading up to the film, but it’s likely that once people see it, most of the harsh fan boy population will just be happy with the finished result enough to cool down.

Is the film perfect? No. Keaton owns all of his moments as the film at times feels more like “The Flash and the Justice League” and is a definite way to set up future DC Multiverse films since the previous ones have, well, failed to do so. Likewise, some of the CGI sequences are very noticeable for their enhancements; if you had a problem with the last two to three Marvel live action releases, be prepared to be taken out of scenes with some of the motions here. That notwithstanding, director Andy Muschietti does bring a visual style that is (1) effective and (2) much needed to make the film work as a whole. Likewise, he and his team are able to provide just the right amount of humor true to what Miller’s take on the character does without being too corny too often and he is able to center the story to keep it from feeling like a series of random events.

Where the DC Cinematic Universe goes from here remains to be seen; if THE FLASH is any indication, however, it seems to finally be finding its footing to go alongside aforementioned The Peacemaker HBO series in moving away from cartoon-ish pulp to grittier fare. They still need to find some villains other than Lex Luthor, Joker, Penguin and General Zod to beef up and raise the stakes, but again, THE FLASH shows things are improving. And in a world where Wonder Woman 1984 exists, that is a very good thing indeed.

The final verdict? Despite a star that has been as problematic as the entire DC Comics cinematic universe has been to date, THE FLASH is the most complete Warner Bros. comic book-based adventure in quite some time. Hopefully, it is a quick step in the right direction … And not a flash in the superhero pan.