In much of the movie Flash, by Andrés Muschietti, Barry Allen (Ezra Miller in a double role) questions his existence. And he has reason to worry. In the timeline to which he belongs, he is part of a group of superheroes of considerable power with whom he cannot compete. Also, the variant of him in an alternate dimension—younger and discovering his fate—doesn’t understand the responsibility he bears on his shoulders.
So together they embark on a journey of growth. On the journey, they will face an alien invasion, some versions of Batmanmany others of Superman and a furious Kara Zor El (Sasha Calle). All while the time travel that sustains the script modifies its rules at convenience and ends up being as insubstantial as the purpose of the film.
Is Flash an incursion into as yet unexplored terrain of the dc multiverse? Perhaps the official farewell to the few characters in the snyderverse survivors of the purge What if it’s just entertainment that seeks to satisfy the largest possible audience?
Flash
Andrés Muschietti’s The Flash is DC’s first formal exploration of the multiverse. Which leads her to delve not only into the personality of her leading hero, but also into the various ways of narrating the alternate realities on which her script depends. The result is an argument halfway between an origin story and an adventure that delves into different scenarios, both temporary and real. The result is a precarious narrative balance that the director doesn’t always strike, but is solid enough to surprise.
Flash must answer many questions
There is no clear answer as to what it is. Flash, although during its first stretch the film makes the right decisions to narrate the essentials. from the call of Alfred (Jeremy Irons) to Barry to come to Gotham from solving an incident that no other hero can deal with, to exploring his awkward personality.
FlashFreed from the weight of comic relief, he is much more than the weakest part of an extraordinary team. Little by little, his story endows him with a series of small dark layers that are enriching for his character. In particular, when the plot makes it clear that only a very small part of what is being shown has been shown on the screen. Barry can do. Also, of all that the can of it means in reality.
Something that is evident while saving newborns from a hospital wing, showing that his abilities go beyond being really fast. Flash takes the time to accentuate the feeling of inevitable event, much more, after it bruce wayne (Ben Affleck) warn you that time is a mutable substance.
In fact, much of Flash is directly related to that perception. The infinite timelines of reality are as fragile as they are unpredictable. Every change, no matter how small, is irrevocable and leads to strange places. Therefore, the possibility of finding meaning in a major event involves resignation.
In search of rewriting history
But Barry does not want to resign. Especially now that she knows that she can time travel. Also that it is probable that his father Henry (Ron Livingston) never get out of jail. The incident in the character’s childhood once again becomes a central circumstance. But, now, it is not about a handful of scattered information. Flash Explains how Henry left the family home to a nearby supermarket just at the moment when Nora (Maribel Verdú) was murdered. The following was the formulation of a circumstantial accusation without clear evidence that, still, has not been fully resolved.
So, Bruce Wayne, who has become Barry’s mentor, tries to get the case a second review. So he finds a security video in which a man who looks like Henry can be seen wandering the premises just as his wife was murdered. The problem is that he never looks at the camera. So he can’t really be proof, which turns Barry’s anguish into frustration.
One of the feats of the script of Flash is to insist that this flawed hero has understandable motivations. Which allows Ezra Miller to provide extensive development to his unique psychology. The first version of Barry it is full of worries and judgments about what it can do and its motivations. Knowing that he can never match the strength of Supermanthe intelligence of Batman or the power of AquamanWhy not build your own story? It is then that the film finds its best and most inspired section.
Turning between past and future in Flash
Ignoring Bruce Wayne’s warnings, Barry ends up traveling back in time, preventing his mother’s murder, and returning to the future. Only, as expected, he doesn’t find anything familiar. With a more than obvious reference to Robert Zemeckis’s concept of time travel, he arrives at a timeline similar to his own. But in it he is eighteen years old and the accident that gives him his powers has not yet happened. In other words, the butterfly effect —which is mentioned as a justification for what happened— has substantially modified the present of the character.
It is then that Ezra Miller performs his best performance in the film. It is this double Barry —one younger and more comical than the older one and more nervous— who gives the funniest moments to the script. The search for the meaning of what is happening —and how to reverse it— begins with a quick journey through an unknown setting. Now yes, one in which everything Flash can offer is boldly displayed.
From the obvious movie references that suggest a major change, to the most serious event transformations. Flash advances in its first section for a possible world that Barry walk from amazement The first hour and a half of the film is the most entertaining, best constructed, and most elaborate. Also, the more conscious of the weight of the multiverse. Gradually, however, the tone shifts towards something more elaborate and dark. The characters create a new plot tension and transform the film into something tougher.
He is Batman, despite everything
While trying to get his younger self to gain powers, the Barry from the central timeline loses theirs. Which triggers part of the events of the second half of Flash. In addition, the event leads him to look for bruce wayne to get your help. Only to discover that now it is another man. A grumpy, bearded retiree who wants nothing to do with heroism.
Michael Keaton interprets a strange version of Batman, which amazes because of the depth it can reach with few scenes. more like birdman by Alejandro Rodriguez Iñarritú than Tim Burton’s Batman, is a quarrelsome and tough figure. Even so, the director manages to make the entire atmosphere that surrounds him a tribute to the saga of the nineties. What becomes clearer when he approaches his path until he becomes a shadowy figure, who only comes out of the shadows on special occasions.
It’s the appearance of the Batman variant that actually sparks—and explores—the idea of the multiverse. But Flash it wants to be flashy rather than solid, so the concept gets watered down quickly. The film’s flaws are exposed when compared to the brilliant and well-executed approximation of Spider-Man: Crossing the Multiverse. Alternate realities and time lines blur until they become meaningless or formless ramifications and the feature film ends up contradicting its own rules and essence.
Visitors from Krypton
But undoubtedly the most striking element of Flash is the reinvention of the figure of Kara Zor El. Superman’s cousin replaces him in chronological order. His story, moreover, is as hard as it is moving. Also, the best developed within a film that often raises conflicts that it fails to resolve. Bruised, wounded and traumatized, the last daughter of kryptonian it is a gloomy and ambiguous presence. Of course, she is the only one capable of stopping the invasion of Zod (Michael Shannon), who is shown as a crossover figure in dozens of narrative lines.
Perhaps the biggest problem Flash be precisely that. That there is too much going on at once and the plot can’t focus on its main themes and go deeper into them. Christina Hodson’s script weaves back and forth between various pop culture references that underpin a confusing succession of events. In fact, on more than one occasion, the film seems to fragment into unpredictable and illogical situations.
In its final stretch, it becomes evident that the invasion of Zod and the endless series of cameos are just anecdotal occurrences. Even more worrisome is the visual section. When Flash comes to the inevitable central confrontation – bigger and crazier than any other of DC – the digital section shows its weaknesses. The movements of the characters become erratic, not very credible and sometimes so artificial that they affect the performance of the plot. Undoubtedly, also, to its total quality.
Flashan attempt that remains halfway
Flash It is a good film that explores its central figures and gives due development to its protagonists. However, when it wants to be a show that covers all the proposed themes – invasions, time travel, multiverse – it falls to mediocrity.
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As pure entertainment, the feature film more than fulfills its mission. As a transitional item between two stages of the DC franchise, it fails worryingly. This leaves a wide spectrum of problems to be solved for future productions whose task is to rebuild the publisher’s cinematographic universe.