Review of THE FLASH: Fast, Funny, Fantastic

June 13, 2023

Since he was a young boy, Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) had difficulty moving on from the murder of his mother Nora (Maribel Verdu) and wrongful incarceration of his father Henry (Ron Livingston). When he discovered that, as the Flash, running faster than the speed of light enabled him to travel back in time, he devised a plan to prevent his mother's death. On his way back, he was prematurely thrown out of the vortex and met himself as a teenager. 

Everyone who has seen a time travel film before would already know that changing even one little detail in the past would result in potentially dangerous effects in the future. This one followed basically this same familiar storyline, but in Barry's case, his one simple action in the past actually resulted in consequences so catastrophic such that the fate of the whole planet lay on the line. However, he did not have his super friends to help him anymore. 

We had already seen Ezra Miller as The Flash in the "Justice League" films, where he was funny and charming as the star-struck speedster. However, since 2020-22, a seemingly disturbed Miller was in the news for being involved in various incidents of assault, abuse and burglary.  Fortunately, Miller's real-life mental health issues did not affect his performance in this film. He remained very likable and charismatic in the lead role.

As he had to play dual characters of contrasting demeanor, this was a real acting showcase for lead actor Miller. Even if he can still tend to be childish, present-day Barry was more restrained and mature when compared to the rowdy and animated teenage Barry. Both of them were simultaneously onscreen most of the time, and Miller made their hilarious banter very entertaining to watch. He also nailed the dramatic, tear-jerking parts of the story.

Of course, there was representation in casting. Barry's mother Nora was played by Spanish actress Maribel Verdu, star of "Y Tu Mama Tambien" (2001) and "Pan's Labyrinth" (2006).  Barry's love interest Iris was played by African-American actress Kiersey Clemons. Latina actress Sasha Calle played Kara, the Kryptonian who faced the apocalyptic threat of General Zod (Michael Shannon) revisited from "Man of Steel" (2013) in this altered timeline. 

As expected, director Andrew Muschietti provided DCEU nostalgic fan service galore. From the very start, there were already exciting cameo appearances from other DC superheroes. As this had traveling back in time and changing the time-space continuum, we would actually be seeing multiple versions of these guest heroes, you'll be surprised and thrilled when you see them. The two Batmen (Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton) almost steal the show.  8/10