By Seth Lukas Hynes
The Flash
Starring Ezra Miller, Michael Keaton and Sasha Calle
Rated M
4/5
The Flash is a thrilling, moving superhero film and a satisfying end to the current DC Comics film era.
Super-fast superhero Barry Allen (Ezra Miller), aka The Flash, travels back in time to save his mother’s life, but must join forces with an earlier version of himself, Batman (Michael Keaton) and Supergirl (Sasha Calle) to save this new timeline from an alien threat.
Miller delivers an engaging double act as both versions of the Flash, with the older Barry acting as a mentor to his immature, impulsive younger self. Keaton makes a triumphant return as Batman, and Sasha Calle is elegant and commanding as Supergirl.
The broader conflict is a reshuffled invasion from 2013’s Man of Steel, but the main antagonist of The Flash is inevitability.
The action sequences are exciting, easy to follow, sprinkled with humour and showcase each hero’s unique traits.
The two Barries’ interplay is full of odd-couple comedy, but they each come to deal with responsibility and grief in different ways, and Barry’s relationship with his mother forms the film’s heartbreaking core.
Effects and consequences are where The Flash falters. Barry’s trips through time are rendered through distractingly bad, mannequin-looking CGI, and the climax features uncomfortable (and pointless) fan-service realised through deepfaked dead actors.
The narrative deftly develops the theme of accepting what you cannot change, but a twist in the ending, while sweet and decently foreshadowed, breaks the film’s own sober perspective (although inconsistencies are common in time travel stories).
The Flash has affecting drama and thrilling action but also bizarrely bad effects and clunky fan service, and is playing in most Victorian cinemas.
