Movie Review: The Flash

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

A top notch superhero film. 

I admit that I may have a little bias towards this film because I am a DC fan and The Flash is my favorite superhero, but oh my gosh I loved this movie. Inspired by (though not a direct adaption of) the famous comic storyline, Flashpoint, this is a superhero movie that is simply full of heart. This film truly gets to the heart of The Flash character, and it is a very emotional ride. This movie delves into loss and the ways in which we deal with it. Even if some of us have not lost our parents, it is beyond easy to become very emotionally involved in what our main character is going through and what compels him to do what he does. Because of this no matter how much action, fan service or humor this movie may have, it never loses its emotional core. This heart and this emotion are what drives the entire film. There are moments here that are completely heartbreaking and others that will definitely warm your heart. This is not to say that the other elements in this film are lacking in any way. This movie has a lot of humor throughout. Though there are some comedic moments that fall flat, they are few and far between. Most of the humor here is simply wonderful. There were many moments which made me laugh out loud throughout the movie. What also made the comedy work is that no matter how silly it might get it always was based around the characters. This is what allowed this movie to have a silly sense of humor without ever distracting from the emotional core of the story. What made many people excited about this film is Michael Keaton returning as Batman. He was just as wonderful here as he was in the two Tim Burton Batman films. Looking at him and listening to him still make this feel like the character stepping directly out of the comics and onto the screen. There is no doubt about it this is Batman. The fan service with this character is done just right. There are some delightful moments that reference the Tim Burton films and we hear Danny Elfman's wonderful theme from those movies. Yet these scenes never become too much and this version of Batman is never here simply for those references. Supergirl is also very well handled here and even though her story arc does not get enough screentime, the filmmakers perfectly capture what makes her such a great character. Sasha Calle (in what is amazingly her first feature film) is simply perfectly cast as this character. The action scenes (despite some underwhelming CGI) are very well done and often a lot of fun to watch. They are excellently paced and often well staged. Again these action scenes are fully in service to the story and in fact some of the most emotion moments happen during them. 

Despite a few minor faults, this is exactly what I wanted out of a Flash movie.