The Flash

This weekend, the long-awaited superhero film, The Flash, releases in theaters. The Flash follows Barry Allen as he journeys back in time to stop the death of his mother. When he creates a break in time, Barry must team up with another version of himself along with other heroes to save this new reality. This movie has been stuck in development for over 20 years and finally has gotten released. This was my second most anticipated movie of the year and I was beyond excited to see how it was going to play out. It has time travel, the multiverse, Michael Keaton returning as Batman and so much more. I just could not wait to see this film.

Getting right down to it, this film did not disappoint. It pretty much met all the expectations I had and really went all out telling this story. This movie was just so much fun. It had nonstop excitement. The story was extremely simple and very easy to follow. It is clear what the goal is and how the characters are trying to achieve it. There are no subplots or unnecessary side stories that make the movie too convoluted. The movie was a lot closer to the Flashpoint comic story than I was expecting. There were quite a few similar plot beats. If with that, it still manages to do its own thing while also drawing some inspiration from the comic story. The movie is a lot funnier than most of the other DCEU films, always throwing in some one-liner or goofy moment. However, it still does a great job of balancing this with the dramatic moments of the story. The humor fits in naturally and no jokes are really shoehorned in when they don't fit. One of the coolest things about this movie was Michael Keaton's return as Batman. Michael Keaton is one of my favorite Batman actors so it was so much fun to see him return to the role. The movie does a great job of matching the character and tone he had from his original films. It doesn't treat him like a joke or make him randomly quippy. He feels like an accurate portrayal of where his character would be after 40 years. The movie also does a great job of handling the multiverse and all of the cameos that go along with that. The movie delivers several cool cameos that feel natural in the story without feeling overdone. It does a great job of giving the audience some really fun fan service moments. I also think the movie does a great job with Barry's character arc. The movie really shows his growth as a person as he learns what needs to be done to save the universe. I also thought the whole sequence at the end with the two Barrys was really interesting and showcased his growth even more. Finally, I felt that this delivered some very emotional moments. It gives some great interaction between Barry and his mom and really makes the audience feel emotional at the end of the story.

From a story standpoint, I really don't have any issues. The only issue I have with the movie is that the CGI does not look good. The sequence at the beginning with the babies just looks not good. The time travel sequence also doesn't look great as all of the people being passed look more like wax figures than actual people.

In the end, this was a fantastic movie that was a lot of fun to watch. It was definitely worth the wait. If only the CGI would have looked a bit better then this would be a near-perfect movie.

Score: 9/10 Grade: A Recommendation: This is a must-see film.