The Flash (2023)

The Flash

This is the Flash running back in time to prevent Ezra Miller's legal history.

Genre:	Superhero Action
Directed By:	Andy Muschietti
Produced By:	Barbara Muschietti Michael Disco
Written By/Screenplay:	Christina Hodson
Based On:	Characters by DC Comics
Starring:	Ezra Miller Sasha Calle Michael Shannon Ron Livingston Maribel Verdú Kiersey Clemons Antje Traue Michael Keaton
Cinematography:	Henry Braham
Distributed By:	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date:	June 16, 2023
Runtime:	144 minutes
Country:	United States
Language:	English
Budget:	$200–220 million
Box Office:	$268.5 million
Franchise:	DC Extended Universe

The Flash is a 2023 American superhero film based on the same-named DC Comics character. It is the 13th installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), produced by DC Studios, Double Dream, and The Disco Factory, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Andy Muschietti directed the picture based on a screenplay by Christina Hodson, a narrative by Joby Harold, and a writing collaboration between John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein.

Plot

Barry Allen runs back in time to prevent his mother's death, but it brings massive consequences that could destroy his world.

Why It Went Out in a Flush

For starters, long before this movie even premiered, there was severe controversy surrounding leading actor Ezra Miller and their legal history. This includes strangling a woman in Iceland, grooming a then twelve-year-old girl Tokata Iron Eyes, and robbery of alcohol. More information can be found here.
Extremely inconsistent tone. One minute, it's serious in that it revolves around Barry dealing with his mother's death, and then it becomes goofy with Barry having to eat snacks to keep his calories up.
Atrocious CGI comparable to that of an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 game. This is obvious in the third act and the scene of the Flash taking out the baby in the microwave, which looks more like a PS3/XBOX 360/PC cutscene or some movie from the 2000s, or worse, the 1990s, which became a meme.
The third act is just non-stop action with little room to breathe. Also like in most bad movies, the final battle takes place on an open plain with no plants or dunes in sight.
Tons of fan service in the film, such as in the CGI sequence where we see the late Christopher Reeve's Superman, Helen Slater's Supergirl, the late George Reeves' Superman, the late Adam West's Batman, and even a Superman played by Nicolas Cage. (It should be worth noting that this version of Superman was from a canceled movie from the 1990s by the name of Superman Lives, but even that still doesn't excuse how problematic this is) To add insult to injury, they even used dead actors, which can be seen as extremely disrespectful since they didn’t consent to being in the film, nor were they even able to.
- To continue with the topic of consent, even Christopher Reeve's family stated they had no involvement in that cameo of his version of Superman.^[1]
Andrés Muschietti did a terrible job when he directed the film. considering how he directed much better movies, such as the It duology. There are messy camera choices and random zooms that suggests Andrés didn’t know what he was doing half of the time.
The screenplay is very messy, with a very unconvincing setup and no logic whatsoever.
Even if they did give 2013 Barry an arc, his character does not get enough focus, as it's instead directed towards present-day Barry.
Executive meddling: Before Warner Bros' merger with Discovery, originally the film was meant to end with Ben Affleck's and Henry Cavill's roles as Batman and Superman erased while keeping Michael Keaton's role intact along with Supergirl, also setting up Batgirl before that movie with her in the starring role was canceled. It was then decided to keep Cavill in along with an ending with Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. But after James Gunn and Peter Safran took over as leads of the DCU, the ending was yet again reworked.

Redeeming Qualities

It's great to see Michael Keaton back as Batman after over 30 years (although Keaton would later reprise his role as Beetlejuice in the upcoming film Beetlejuice Beetlejuice), despite his talent being wasted. Likewise, the performances are also good as well.
It does have some unintentionally funny moments at times, mainly the baby in the microwave and Flash's face, both in the same scene.
The chemistry between the two Barrys is okay, and it can be quite enjoyable at times.
The characters are still likable.
Despite being poorly executed, the storyline of Barry having to prevent his mother's death is a great idea. There's even a touching moment where Barry realizes that he cannot change the past and says goodbye to his mother.
The characters' costumes look very nice.
Despite it flaws, some DC fans might enjoy the movie.

Reception

The film has received much mixed to negative feedback, making it the most controversial movie of 2023 yet, which led to the film flopping hard at the box office. WatchMojo put it the "Top 10 Movies That BOMBED In 2023 So Far"^[2], with The Flash being the number 1 movie on the list. It currently has 63% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 6.8/10 on IMDb.

Harry Thomas Pictures give the movie 5/5 stars, saying he said the best DC movie ever.