MOVIE REVIEW: The Flash (2023)
(NOTE: SPOILERS AHEAD. Also, I’m trying not to mis-gender Ezra Miller; if I have done so in any of the following text, please point it out in highlights and I will follow-up with corrections — thanks!)
The task of the actor is to pretend to be something they are not — to play a role. Method acting (experience what your character would by partaking in such activities) makes their pretend more believable. Ezra Miller is one such actor, who either had us all believing they were something they weren’t or tricked us all into doing something we shouldn’t.
First widely seen in the 2008 TV series “Californication” [TV-Showtime], the up-and-coming actor stood a chance to make history as an openly non-binary superstar. Their acting ability (by fan-specific media and popular fan accounts) was amazing, landing them roles in the several Warner Brothers projects in both of the production company’s franchises: the Fantastic Beasts franchise and the DCEU (DC Expanded Universe) as Barry Allen aka “the Flash”. So much WB content had Ezra Miller in it, it would be hard to fix if something happened. But it’s not like anything bad would happen —
Many bad things DID happen one right after the other; all you need to do is a web search for Ezra Miller. Weirdly enough, I learned a LOT of people did not know the buzz on Ezra Miller. I can only imagine WB banked on that when their plans to expand the Justice League’s film roster rested on this non-binary actor and the studio’s take on Marvel Studios’ “multiverse” saga. WB knew Miller was a bad bet, but they stuck with the film project and tanked non-film projects others (Batgirl, most notably) because of the belief of spending so much money on The Flash film project already. But they could still distract from Ezra Miller THE PERSON, right? With the hopes of an ignorant populace in their hearts, theaters ended up with The Flash — a live-action superhero movie adaption of the “Flashpoint” comic book storyline that is barely about its title character in almost every way.
As an adaptation of the DC Comics’ “Flashpoint” comic book storyline — our hero travels back in time to stop his mother’s murder and changes the timeline for the worse, experiencing the DC Multiverse — this one comes with a twist. While Barry Allen (Ezra Miller, “Cakey! the Cake from Outer Space” [web series], We Need to Talk About Kevin) is a brow-beaten and awkward forensic scientist in public life, but he is the Justice League speedster “the Flash” in more exciting settings…and still awkward. Through his flashbacking about the death of his mother (Spanish actress Maribel Verdú, Pan’s Labyrinth, Y tu mamá también), for whom his father (Ron Livingston, Office Space) is in jail for her murder, Barry believes his father is innocent. It’s very hard to prove, even with video evidence. Then Barry has an idea, thanks to help from his college crush Iris West (Kiersey Clemons, Flatliners [2017], Antebellum): what if he could go back in time and change the events of the day so his mom never dies?
Through comic-booky shenanigans, Barry learns he can travel back in time by running really fast using the “Speed Force”. Consulting Bruce Wayne/Batman (Ben Affleck, Gigli, Reindeer Games), our hero is told that if he changes one thing in the past, he could change everything in the future —possibly even destroy the timeline as it exists.
(NOTE: At this point Bruce knows more about Barry’s time traveling abilities than he lets on; see the Choice Cuts section).
Barry doesn’t care and instead takes the trip to his timeline’s past and saves his mom. Then he gets shunted to an alternate past by a mysterious figure where he encounters Supergirl (Sasha Calle, “The Young and the Restless” [TV-CBS]), an older Batman from the 1989 movie (Michael Keaton, Multiplicity, Spider Man: Homecoming), the invading Kryptonian host from Man of Steel led by General Zod (Michael Shannon, 99 Homes, The Shape of Water), and Barry’s own worst enemy: HIMSELF. That last bit was the second best part of the movie, because now we’ll talk about the BEST.
I had never heard of Sasha Calle in my life, and now I identify her with a DCEU project I want to see done right: Supergirl.
My image of Supergirl was always the blonde cheerleader with the pleated skirt, made popular from the original 50’s comics up to her noble sacrifice in 1986’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths”. The live action adaptations from the 1984 movie with Helen Slater, Lauren Vandervoort in “Smallville” (TV-the CW), and the first four seasons of the 2015–2021 TV show starring Melissa Benoist kept nearly the same vibe, with Benoist getting pants in the last two seasons. There’s other Kryptonians that fit the bill, most notably the version called “Superwoman” — the gender-bent Superman counterpart from Earth-11. The Flash movie’s costume designer copied the Earth-11 costume mostly, then went the extra step and made the character a smoking-hot Colombian woman with cropped hair and S-curl sidelocks (which call back to Superman’s S-curl over his forehead). That detail kept me interested, but she wasn’t out of surprises yet.
Supergirl was a dark and cold soul, so different from the peppy cheerleader or the Darkseid-corrupted assassin. Her every word seemed to be the edge of a coming storm. She had no connection to humanity or Earth, especially after spending several years in a Siberian black site as a scientific curiosity…and this made her a dangerous unknown quantity. When Zod comes calling, she would rather join her fellow Kryptonians — but soon learns her mistake as she learns not only does Zod want her for her connection to the Codex from the Kryptonian birthing matrix, but her charge — baby Kal-El — was dissected by Zod to see if the child had the Codex within. Cold as hell, he said that to Supergirl’s face like she wasn’t gonna do anything. AND THEN ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE.
When I think about Kryptonians fighting, I think Superman flying and landing haymakers. Not this girl: she fights less like a Kryptonian and more like a Dragonball Z Saiyan. She may not have ki-blasts and Kamehameha waves, but she more than makes up for it by BEATING ZOD’S ASS WITH A PIECE OF A DOWNED AIRCRAFT. He does get the drop on her eventually and kills her for the Codex (c’mon now: he’s a trained soldier with years of experience, she’s a pissed-off au pair), but in those moments we saw Sasha Calle’s acting —her rage, her coldness, her sadness and weakness, and even when it looked like she and Barry might be starting up a budding relationship — I knew we had something special. Here’s hoping the Supergirl movie in the works (written by 22 Jump Street scribe Oren Uziel) comes to fruition and they write an appropriately comic-booky reason why she’s not dead!
CHOICE CUTS (spoilers ahoy):
- This movie’s marketing hinged heavily on Michael Keaton’s return as the Batman from 1989, so much you’d think it was a Batman movie. Even in the ads, you’d see the Batman log, THEN the Superman logo, and THEN you’d see the Flash’s logo for the film.
- A lot of the explained or displayed tech — Flash’s costume ring, the Bat-Wing — were great to see.
- From our vantage point, time travel for Barry Allen is not a new thing: we know he’s capable of it. He’s already run back in time to warn Batfleck about Darkseid’s invasion of Earth led by an evil Superman in the far future AND to save the Justice League from dying in the final battle against Steppenwolf and Darkseid. Did The Flash establish Barry’s access to time travel in alternate universes, which was already established in 2021’s Zack Snyder’s Justice League and *shudder* 2016's Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice?
- Considering Barry’s mom is obviously Latina, does that make Barry a Latino superhero? Guess they didn’t have to make Blue Beetle after all!
- Sasha Calle’s portrayal of Supergirl continues to stick with me, as she’s well built and is really cute in the face.
- When Barry-2 says “Our kids are gonna want to see this” when he gets caught by Barry-Prime taking a cellphone pic of Supergirl on flyby next to the Batwing, I assumed Barry -2 was planning on hollering at Supergirl. Turns out my assumption was right about Barry-2’s intentions, but the movie’s editors cut out this scene making his mindset stand out in a much clearer way. It makes Barry-2 come off as a creeper in the post-#MeToo world, but it is there and Barry-2’s actions later (caring for people he only met a few hours ago) makes so much sense because of it.
- Since all this happened over a can of tomatoes, I am reminded of the Elseworlds story, Justice League of America: The Nail, where the Kents do not discover Kal-El because they caught a flat tire from a nail in the road. Because of Superman’s general absence, horrible things happen in the DC Universe.
- Barry’s adventures through the DC Multiverse to save his mom makes me think of the WB dilemma. To save millions by cutting projects, WB lost BILLIONS by betting on the wrong horse. How has this company not gone out of business? Easy: tax write-offs on losses. Indeed, Barry has to write off his mom as a LOSS to save the Multiverse (and his dad).
- “Ezra Miller is his own worst enemy”? Well done, DCEU; I know you didn’t do it on purpose and it was in a multi-versal context, but still.
- Flash movie you say? Grant Gustin should have been the only answer; stop with the foolishness.
- The Justice League: the Flashpoint Paradox animated film did it better; go watch that cartoon instead.
- CAMEOS: Wonder Woman as played by Gal Gadot. She’s in it for 5 minutes, tops.
- Nearly all the cinematic representatives of DC characters were present throughout: most Batmen (Michael Keaton, Ben Affleck, George Clooney) showed up; Val Kilmer, Christian Bale and Robert Pattinson were absent. Members of the cinematic Superman family (Christopher Reeve, George Reeves, Helen Slater) were present through CGI recreation, as was the Nicholas Cage variant from the ill-fated “Superman Lives” concept. Henry Cavill was absent, but we already knew that was on the table. Oddly enough, the only Flash-related character shown was Jay Garrick (a previous incarnation of the Flash).
- “Cosmic Treadmill” will always be a goofier (but better) name than the generic-sounding “Chronosphere”. It will never be as bad as “Chrono-Bowl”.
- Drunk Aquaman makes me sad.
- DID YOU KNOW: Ezra Miller studied with Shaolin monks to learn how to move while running at super speed as the Flash. It’s why he runs with such…fluid motions.
- I honestly believe Ezra Miller had a sexual encounter with someone in the higher echelons at WB and threatened to reveal that particular individual to the public unless compensation was delivered. It’s the only reason I can come up with why we’ve had to deal with this behavior for so long.
