With “The Flash,” the DCEU Finally Gets the Hero It Needs (It’s Michael Keaton)

When it was announced that James Gunn (writer and director of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Guardians of the Galaxy movies, among others) would be taking over the creative vision and leadership of DC Studios, included in his plans was a reboot of the entire DC Extended Universe. That meant the end was near for Zack Snyder’s version of the DCEU, a series of films marked by their overly serious and cold tone, and increasingly dark and gloomy images, not to mention an over-reliance on CGI. I’m talking, of course, about films like Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Aquaman, Suicide Squad, and Justice League.

(Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy and last year’s The Batman are not considered part of the DCEU.)

The films do have their fans — including those who, for years, pushed for the release of Snyder’s extended cut of Justice League. But they’re not good, and I, for one, am looking forward to seeing what Gunn will do with the franchise.

Yes, there’s still an Aquaman sequel in the works. (Groan.) But before Snyder’s DCEU up and vanishes like a fart in the wind, director Andy Muschietti (It) and screenwriter Christina Hodson (Bumblebee) have stepped in to make sure it goes out with a little fight still left in it. Their The Flash is a super-fun and engaging movie that, while not without its faults, might actually be the best movie in the entire series.

(Note: I’m gonna try to write the rest of this review without spoilers. But if you’re sensitive about such things, now would be a good time to hit pause until after you’ve seen the movie.)

Uh Oh, Spaghetti-O

If you’ve seen the film’s trailers, then you already know that The Flash is essentially an adaptation of the legendary comic-book story “Flashpoint,” in which Barry Allen (Ezra Miller), a.k.a. The Flash, runs fast enough to go back in time to prevent the death of his mother and the incarceration of his father, who was falsely accused of her murder. (If you watched The Flash TV series on The CW, then you saw their version of it at the start of season three.)

In doing so here, Barry messes with the time-space continuum, creating an entirely new timeline where Superman never arrived on Earth and Batman is a much older recluse (played, yes, by Michael Keaton, who first wore the cowl in the Tim Burton–directed Batman movies). And that’s a problem, because in this timeline, General Zod (Michael Shannon) still invades Earth, just like he did in Man of Steel.

Barry also crosses paths with his younger, college-freshman self (also played by Miller), which complicates things further. It means Barry and younger-Barry need to team up to find Batman and “the Kryptonian,” and save Earth from Zod … and then Barry needs to figure out a way to get the timeline back to the way it was.

Got it? Good.

It doesn’t take long for The Flash to establish that it’s going to be unlike any other movie in the DCEU.

In the cold open, Barry is late for work and hungry. While he waits for a slow-moving sandwich maker to finish making his order, Batman (Ben Affleck) calls Barry into action to help save patients and nurses inside a crumbling hospital in Gotham. So, he changes into his costume and dashes over from Central City so he can serve once again, begrudgingly, in his role as “the janitor of the Justice League.” 

The sequence is light in both look and tone, exciting, and legitimately funny as Barry first responds to a group of fans who spot him and start cheering him on, and then moves so fast that he can have a snack and manipulate a bunch of falling babies so they land safely and none of them get hurt. 

That tone continues throughout the film. And, in fact, some of the best parts of The Flash are the ones where it plays more like a Back to the Future–style comedy than an action film, and we learn how this new timeline is different from the one Barry knows. Hijinx ensue, there’s a superpower switcharoo, and there are even some amusing references to other popular movies — including one that probably wouldn’t have been so iconic if Michael J. Fox had played the lead role instead of the actor who did. 

But don’t get it twisted: It’s Keaton’s appearance in The Flash that is the movie’s true highlight. Thankfully, this is treated like more than a gimmick, and Keaton takes it as seriously as he needs to, reciting classic lines and throwing punches like he’s been doing it for 30 years. Keaton is also the one charged with explaining why Bruce became a recluse, and how each timeline is like a strand of spaghetti. Suffice it to say, it works.

Not to sound like a total fanboy, but … Few things are going to make me as happy this year as watching Keaton play Bruce Wayne/Batman again did, and hearing Danny Elfman’s theme on the soundtrack. I suspect that’ll be the reaction of nearly every moviegoer of a certain age who grew up with Burton’s Batman films. 

In keeping with the multiverse concept, there are a lot of surprises in this film — and I won’t intentionally spoil any of them. All I’ll say is that, in Spider-Man: No Way Home, once the novelty was over, the filmmakers didn’t quite know what to do next. Here, most of the multiversal elements are quick thrills that serve their purpose and don’t overstay their welcome. This is fan service done right.

Lost in the Flash

That said, it’s all a bit much. Miller is excellent in the dual role, and they give their best performance since The Perks of Being a Wallflower. But one of the drawbacks of the film is that the Flash kinda gets lost in The Flash. 

All the Zod stuff slows the movie down for a good 20 minutes or so, and it’s a distraction — especially because the big battle scene is nothing more than a showcase for some lackluster CGI. Sure, time itself is the real villain of this movie. But what would have helped things and made the film more emotionally resonant would have been if, instead of Zod, someone from the Flash canon had been the villain, such as Reverse Flash or Zoom. After all, what does Zod have against Barry Allen? (Nothing. That’s what.)

The Flash is reminiscent in some ways of Captain America: Civil War, but even with all the other Avengers in that MCU film, Cap still remained the focus. That’s not the case here. And I suspect that, given Miller’s off-screen troubles, their absence from the film’s promotional efforts won’t help the perception that this is Keaton’s movie more than it is theirs.

It’s also confusing why the filmmakers chose to introduce Sasha Calle’s Supergirl, only to erase the character at the film’s end when the timeline is reset. Calle has an appealing on-screen presence, and the character has potential, so I’m hopeful Gunn and co. will find a way to work her into the new DC cinematic universe.

I’d love for Gunn to find more for Kiersey Clemons’ Iris West to do in another film, too. She’s absolutely wasted here. Again. (Same thing happened in the Snyder cut of Justice League.)

But in spite of its faults, The Flash still manages to entertain from start to finish (an end-credits scene is unnecessary and doesn’t add anything). It’s relative, of course, but with its light tone and clever screenplay, not to mention its strong performances, this instantly becomes the DCEU’s high point. A shame it’ll probably all be wiped out in a new timeline before long.

Hopefully, this is one spaghetti strand Gunn will choose to keep chewing on.

I’m giving The Flash a B.