Movie Review: The Flash

Before beginning this review, I must address the elephant in the room. Ezra Miller is a giant piece of human garbage; feel free to Google it and find out for yourself. I will not be commenting on anything Miller does in this movie.

The Flash (Miller) goes back in time to stop his mom from being murdered. In doing so, he creates an alternate timeline.

In the alternate timeline that The Flash creates, Michael Keaton is still Batman, and that fact featured heavily in the marketing. It was one of the few things that excited me about the movie. Keaton slips so easily back into the Bruce Wayne/Batman role and is one of two highlights of this movie. He plays a Batman who lives in a world where Gotham has become one of the safest places to live, and he has lost his sense of purpose. He is a recluse, and The Flash gives him a reason to don the cape and cowl again. Keaton is the actor who originated the role of Batman on the big screen and, for a long time, was the litmus test for a good Batman. He proves here why that was.

The other standout performance is Sasha Calle, who plays Supergirl. In the universe that The Flash created, there is no Superman. Zodd (Michael Shannon) finds the pod that held the baby Kal-El and kills him before he grows up to become the Man of Steel. His cousin Kara Zor-El was supposed to protect the baby, but her pod got knocked off course and landed years later. In this version, she gets captured by the Russians and imprisoned. She has grown to hate humans, and when The Flash and Batman rescue her, she refuses to help. Calle delivers a phenomenal performance with great emotional moments and incredible action. With the DCEU getting a reboot with the appointment of James Gunn as the creative head, I hope there is room for Calle to reprise her role.

Taking the awfulness of its lead out of it, "The Flash" is very enjoyable. It has some fun moments and two great performances; one from a grizzled vet who knocks it out of the part and another from a relative newcomer who nails her first big role. All the baggage aside, this movie ended up being a lot better than I thought it would be.

7/10

Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, some strong language, and partial nudity.

2hrs. 23mins