‘The Flash’ Makes a Splash with a Literal Dash

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Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – It amazes me to say it but with “The Flash” the DC cinematic universe has managed to actually make a movie that’s fun, for at least a little while. Even previously heralded DC movies like “Wonder Woman” left me cold with their incessant insistence on bludgeoning the audience with digital destruction.

But “The Flash” manages to find a nostalgia tinged sweet spot that does what any good comic book movie is supposed to do, entertain. That’s due in no small part to an amazing performance from Ezra Miller who shows they can be much more than the dour mope they usually portray onscreen.

The Flash
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

The film starts off with a bang with Barry Allen/The Flash (Miller) being called in by Alfred (yes that Alfred, portrayed by Jeremy Irons) to come in and clean up a bat-mess with a hospital maternity ward in danger of collapse. This opening scene strikes just the right tone injecting humor into the set piece, as The Flash races to recharge his energy levels by scarfing down vending machine snacks while saving infants and a hysterical maternity nurse during a baby shower.

The plot involves yet another multiverse adventure where Barry is still grieving the loss of his mother (Maribel Verdú) as a child. His father (Ron Livingston) has been locked up and accused of her murder. Barry figures out he can run fast enough to actually go back in time, so he decides to go back to change history to save his mother. But he gets knocked out of his time travel loop back before the moment he gains his powers where he meets up with his 18-year-old college freshman self.

This creates an alternate timeline where his younger self winds up with the powers of super speed, while the older self has lost all his. But this creates hiccups as well where Krypton baddie General Zod returns to destroy the world. So both Barry Allens track down this timeline’s Batman, who turns out to be the original 1989 big screen Caped Crusader himself … Michael Keaton. Squeezing back into the cape and cowl for the first time in 30 years, Keaton is a welcome presence that brings back all the old feels and keeps the movie rolling through the first half.

Miller is lots of fun playing the dual role playing off the younger dumber self and the older/wiser version, while Keaton gets the best one liners … which recalls his original big screen adventure. There’s also the introduction of Supergirl (Sasha Calle), Superman’s cousin from Krypton. She’s an upgrade over the only previous cinematic incarnation of the character, portrayed by Helen Slater in the 1980s. But this film’s Supergirl is most definitely a minor supporting character.

Ezra Miller in ‘The Flash’
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

Unfortunately the movie gets bogged down by its franchise building requirements in the second half. Like so many other superhero films, it ends with a blur of digital battle noise involving a giant ship aiming to burrow a hole in the earth.

Yet it is the characters that provide hope for the future. Is this the greatest superhero movie ever made? No. It’s not even the greatest movie based on a DC universe comic book character (that belongs to “The Dark Knight”). But for the first time ever it provides a promising starting point for the future.

By SPIKE WALTERS Contributor HollywoodChicago.com spike@hollywoodchicago.com