The Flash review: Ezra Miller stars in the best DCU movie in years

Can The Flash outrun its baggage?

The Flash speeds into theatres this week carrying a lot of excess baggage. The film’s star, Ezra Miller, has mostly been out of the public eye for months following a number of serious allegations, and the film itself exists in a sort of limbo space, representing the end of this current run of DC films before James Gunn reshapes the future of the DCU. Even with those circumstances in mind, The Flash is a blast, and easily the best DCU film in years.

Directed by Andy Muschietti (It), The Flash stars Ezra Miller as the meek Barry Allen as well as the superhero known as The Flash, a member of the Justice League alongside Superman, Batman, et all. As his name implies, The Flash’s power is that he can move incredibly quickly by accessing the Speed Force. Like most superheroes, there is also a tragedy at the heart of his story; when he was a child, his mother was murdered and his father was wrongly imprisoned for her death.

Realizing he can go back in time and try to prevent his mother’s death, Barry manages to change the timeline and save his mother before accidentally getting stuck back in 2013 with a teenage version of himself. When the double Barry’s witness a TV broadcast from the supervillain Zod (Michael Shannon) threatening to wipe out the earth, they enlist the help of that timeline’s retired Batman (Michael Keaton). The trio then tries to track down Superman, but instead, ends up freeing his cousin Kara Zor-El / Supergirl (Sasha Calle) from a government lockup, setting the stage for an epic battle for the Earth as well as the fabric of the multiverse itself.

We’ve been inundated with multiverse storytelling recently, from the Oscar-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once to the recent Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse. Superhero films, in particular, use the device to rope in characters/actors who would never traditionally be in the same film, and for the most part, the device works well in The Flash. It’s a blast to see Michael Keaton don the Batman costume after 30 years, and his commanding presence elevates the film significantly.

Back…to the Future

Ezra Miller plays double duty here as the beleaguered older Barry Allen trying to fix the past and his younger obnoxious self from a different timeline. That’s a concept that was brilliantly explored so well in the Back to the Future films, which this film outright nods to numerous times (including a reoccurring joke for true Back to the Future heads about Eric Stoltz leading the franchise in the alternate timeline).

That said, Ezra Miller is no Michael J. Fox. While they undoubtedly have a frenetic energy that works well with the film’s comedic moments, the Barry Allen character is meant to be grating, which can make for a tough sit for a 155-minute (!) movie. Thankfully, we have Michael Keaton stealing every scene he’s in and Sasha Calle’s commanding as Supergirl, who will hopefully get more to do in future DC projects.

An Antidote to the Synderverse

While many of the story beats will be familiar to audiences at this point (changing the past is bad!), The Flash is light and breezy enough that it doesn’t necessarily need to be wholly original. The script by Christina Hodson (Bumblebee) offers a nice balance of Blockbuster superhero moments with quirky comedy elements, which can be a tricky tone to manage.

Part of the appeal of The Flash is that it’s so much lighter on its feet than many of the portentous and joyless DCU films we’ve seen in recent years. Apart from one inexcusable choice that almost sours the whole film (we’re keeping this spoiler-free for now, but just look at Twitter if you’re curious), The Flash delivers a welcome bolt of fun (and fan service) to the DCU.

The Flash is in theatres now.