The Flash

 The Flash maybe the fastest man in the DC universe, but it took forever to get his big movie going. Numerous writers and directors shuffled through the project before Christina Hodson and Andy Muschetti stepped up to bat. It could have been for naught if WB cancelled the film as damage control over star Ezra Miller's highly erratic behavior. I once said that I wanted to see a Flash movie and I got my wish. All in all, it's fine. Let's see why.

Barry Allen (Miller) is The Flash, the self-proclaimed janitor (and not proud of it) of the Justice League. He helps Batman (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman save Gotham from terrorists. He soon discovers he can speed back and forth in time. He uses that new skill to stop his mom, Nora's (Maribel Verdu), murder and his dad, Henry's (Ron Livingston), wrongful conviction for it. That's when everything goes wrong.

He finds himself in another timeline with barely any superheroes. He frantically rushes to put his slacker alternate (Miller, again) through the same lightning strike that empowered him. But that leaves Normal Barry without his superpowers. General Zod (Michael Shannon) shows up to wreck the planet. So, Normal Barry and Other Barry try to get Batman's (now Michael Keaton) help. They team up to spring Superman from a Siberian prison, but instead find Supergirl (Sasha Calle). They have a Justice League. Now what?

Everybody got that?

Let's discuss the elephant in the room: Miller. Normal Barry is a fine protagonist; his frustrations are understandable and his relationship with reporter Iris West (Kiersey Clemons) is charming. It gets psychological when Other Barry enters the scene. One can't help but think about Miller's antics when they see Other Barry go manic. Naturally, Normal Barry tries to reign him in, which leads to a strong argument between them. What makes it work is that Other Barry isn't wrong with his protestations. It's hard to see the seams when the Barrys are together. It's also hard to believe that Miller, and not someone else, plays a third variant, the Dark Flash. The effects there are that good.

What about the other effects? Barry's hyper speed effects are mostly fine. But his saving a whole maternity ward from a collapsing hospital wing is filled with glaringly obvious CGI babies. It doesn't help that the scene is overlong, one of several that push the film to a needless 144 minutes. Barry finding himself in "the Chrono Bowl" is adequately surreal. His climactic battle with Dark Flash is filled with multiverses of CGI-recreated stars. The highlight of that otherwise technically and ethically questionable climax is a nod to the unproduced Superman Lives. Both Batmen, Wonder Woman and Supergirl have the best associated effects.

Now for the co-stars. Shannon's Zod is an adequate bad guy. Verdu and Livingston are quite sympathetic as Nora and Henry. Nora and Barry's last scene together is quite moving. You'll feel for Henry when he calls Barry at the start. Calle makes the most of her sadly limited screentime as Supergirl. Her rage is palpable when she learns what Zod did to her universe's Kal-El. Clemons is quite likable as Iris, though she also suffers from a lack of screentime. It's fun to see Keaton's Batman do his thing in and out of costume. His spaghetti metaphors for the multiverse are weirdly amusing. The film saves a few more cameos as punchlines.

The Flash's tone zips as fast as its hero. It's sometimes thrilling, sometimes goofy, sometimes farcical and sometimes moving; its climax is depressing. The finale is a bit exhausting despite the moving last scene with Nora and Barry. It could have lost twenty minutes and not miss much plot. But a few parts worked really well here. I wouldn't blame you if you chose to sit this one out to protest its star's misconduct. Still, you can imagine supporting anyone else credited (including Barry's creators, Carmine Infantino and Robert Kanigher) if you see it. It would sure make a weird double-feature with Across the Spider-Verse, especially with their views of adhering to canon.