Hitting the ground running (sorry) with a mini-Justice League episode, the first big-screen 'solo' outing for The Flash may have underwhelmed at the box office but - damning with faint praise - it is perhaps one of the more interesting and entertaining of the recent DC movies. Here, Barry Allen uses his powers to undo the death of his mother, inadvertently rewriting history wholesale and teaming up with his dorky alt-dimension-ego, Michael Keaton's Batman and a new Supergirl to thwart Zod's invasion (given little time here) and correct the timelines; to say that the film is stuffed with competing elements is self-evident, but Muschietti just about holds it all together. Grant Gustin's excellent TV incarnation of the character may be more genial and mainstream, but - controversies aside - Ezra Miller is always a quirky and watchable character actor, and here he plays not only the emotional and comedic beats well but also the two Barrys (often on screen at the same time). The film sometimes strains a little too hard to be zany, but it delivers the alt-timelines/time travel/multiverse shenanigans effectively. As for the current oft-criticised quality of CGI in superhero movies, it is simply the ambition of some sequences where the CGI can look somewhat unconvincing, but in general The Flash fares much better than, say, Aquaman or Quantumania, as there is a lot of nice design on display. This film may feel inconsistent and a little rambling, but it has many fan-pleasing moments, one terrific use of the f-bomb, and it fulfils its purpose to provide easy blockbuster thrills and entertainment.
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