The Flash (Spoilers)

I have been super excited to share my thoughts about this movie, but through much willpower I have managed to resist temptation to break my rule of the delaying my review. But we are here now and I want to point out the fact that I know this is not horror and also the fact that I am not a fan of superhero/comic movies (at all), but holy bat balls ... I not only watched The Flash ... but I watched it twice in the theater and have watched it a dozen times at home. So, hold on tight ... we are about to flash forward and zooma zoom zoom to discuss what happens when "Worlds Collide."

I'm already a little crazy, so now "let's get nuts!"

PLEASE STOP HERE IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE AND/OR DO NOT WANT TO READ ANY SPOILERS!!!

 Barry/the Flash (Ezra Miller) is faced with some unfortunate circumstances in his life.  His mom was brutally stabbed in their family home when Barry was a young boy and his dad (Livingston) was wrongfully arrested for the crime. Barry currently works as a forensic chemist for the District Attorney and is diligently working toward finding the evidence to free his dad. After endless efforts, Barry becomes extremely frustrated after one of the last dangling threads of hope he had is ripped at its seam. 

Barry quickly (and quite literally) runs off in frustration only to find himself traveling at light speeds. This allows him to reach a "flashpoint" where he discovers he is able to travel back in time. After a discussion with the Batman (Affleck) and being told that interacting with/encountering individuals from his past, that it is a very bad idea to travel back in time to try to change his mom's fate, Barry decides to do it anyway. This is the part of the movie that resonates so well with me. The love and bond Barry has with his mother is something so heartfelt and genuine. I felt complete empathy for Barry throughout his painful journey toward his attempt to change the fate of his mom and dad by modifying a few of the conditions of that awful day.

Barry fully convinces himself that if he only goes back to put an extra can of tomato sauce in his mom's cart (at the market), then no interaction will happen and all will end well. Seems easy enough. Well, obviously things can't be as streamlined in reality as they seem to be in our mind. Even without encountering someone from his past (which he does) it would still prove to change the trajectory of his life. But we only find out what happens in the former sense, because he runs into a younger version of himself. It is honestly amazing how flawlessly implemented and executed the scenes are with both versions of Barry in the same shot.

The elephant in the room is the CGI and I guess we might as well mention the big hoopla over Miller's personal misfortunes. I have read comments where many people dub the CGI as bad, but personally I think  it was very well done. It was intended to be exaggerated because of the basic principle of the speeds that the Flash travels and Andy chose to give the audience a comic look/feel. I think it accomplished that very well without looking schlocky or hokey. Muschietti has stated in interviews that the CGI was, in fact, intentional. I believe him. It was consistent through and through.

As for Miller's unfortunate personal circumstances, it is all based on allegations #1 and #2 it has zero percent impact on his acting abilities. He is a phenomenally talented actor and he shows his abilities through incredible talent/skill as the Flash. I will put it this way ... there are plenty of actors, directors, writers, etc., out there right now that are doing things that would likely be against our morals or beliefs, but that does not mean it transfers to the big screen. By supporting a movie, genre, or character, you do not automatically support the unknowns. Look how many years it has taken some of the Hollywood scandals related to actors or directors that have since surfaced after the fact that we have praised some of their work. It is ludicrous for humans to act as if they know whole truths and all the facts of someones personal life/problems. I think it is time to get off of our high horse and stop letting society and the media influence our thoughts and tell us how we should feel about something/someone based on societal standards. It is nauseating. Plus, this mentality really hurt this movie at the Box Office. The aftermath of all this has resulted in people later viewing the movie (even though we were hating on it while it was in the cinema) and stating that they were wrong - and that they actually thought the movie was good! Oh, you don't say!

This movie has been accused of ripping its story from the animated movie FLASHPOINT. I have watched Flashpoint and can say with great promise and certainty that The Flash is not a direct rip of Flashpoint. The only plot point they used in the live action movie was choosing to have Barry travel to the past because of his mom's death. Other than that these are entirely different stories and The Flash was certainly the better of the two as far as I am concerned. I loved getting to know Barry in his present state of mind and life circumstances, as well as, getting to know Barry's younger version of himself. I also thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the different versions of all characters throughout the "HOT MESS" that Barry ends up creating.

The end of the movie really takes you on a trip down memory lane, too. I won't spoil anything there, even though I DID warn you that this review would contain spoilers! I will refrain.

Keaton reprising his role as the Batman was everything I had hoped for and more. Not only was his performance stellar, he really appeared to enjoy donning his batsuit and playing with all his "batshit" again after all these years. It was an absolute blast to revisit that era of my Batman-movie-watching-life. While watching this movie, I also realized that as much as I do not like Affleck – (as an actor) in ANY way, shape, or form – that he actually does have the perfect "Batvoice" of all the actors who have ever portrayed the live action version of our favorite dark knight. 

Initially, the whole multiverse was completely off-putting to me and was one of the things that made me reluctant to see this. Other live action movies have used this and I honestly haven't been a fan. But I am happy to report that in this movie, this time, and in this context it worked brilliantly. The story was very heartfelt and definitely prompted a few teary eyed moments. The scenes Barry shares with his mom are some of the most powerful scenes in the movie. When present Barry goes back to the market to try to reverse all the new problems he has created, he shares a scene with his mom that literally felt painful to watch. This is where Ezra's acting chops really shined. The exchange between Barry and his mom felt organic and frankly way too real. The suffering was written all over Barry's face and even though he was a future version of Barry, his mom expressed a familiarity with him and we witnessed a moment of what could really only be described as the love of a mother and her son.

So, obviously I loved this movie. It is my favorite live action comic to date. It was so well made and I always look forward to the opportunity to revisit it. 

Cinematography, direction, acting, score, atmosphere, costume designs and makeup, literally everything about this movie was spotless. I am a fan. BIG TIME!

THE FLASH

receives

TWO RED GLOVED THUMBS UP

from me my friends!