'The Flash' Review: An abysmal tale of two blabbering 'Barry Allens'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: What’s worse than having one neurotic Barry Allen rambling on your screen for two straight hours? Having two of those Barry Allens who just do not know when to stop. DC’s attempt to rekindle and reignite its cinematic universe with ‘The Flash’ is an underwhelming flick that builds up on the promise in its first hour but falls from the mountain it barely manages to climb in the next 60 minutes. Ezra Miller is up for the task to take up the role of the fastest man alive in James Gunn’s DC universe but in ‘The Flash’, he is a victim of a shoddy script and poor CGI techniques. As a performer, Miller does all he can to savor the opportunity of playing a superhero but witnessing another meta-human embracing comedy to ease the mood of a gritty film is not a formula that works for ‘The Flash’.
Miller’s breakout role came in ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ alongside Logan Lerman and Emma Watson. He was touted as the actor to look out for and DC bought the ticket as soon as possible. He was cast to play ‘The Flash’ but his notorious deeds in public made him infamous and DC had to work on damage control. ‘The Flash’ was supposed to be Miller’s biggest claim to fame but the script which allows for two Barry Allens to exist in a universe also annoys the fans twice because of Miller’s incessant verbal diarrhea in the film. He talks fast, mumbles, bathes in naivety, and defies the advice of Ben Aflleck’s Batman. It became hard for the fans to keep up with him.
Who is more annoying -- the elder or younger Barry?
Barry runs faster than the speed of light and breaks the space-time continuum to travel to the past. His goal is to save his mother and he manages to do just that. Just a small hiccup — he meets his younger, spoilt, bratty 18-year-old self who would just not listen to him. During their initial interactions, the older Barry explains to the younger Barry about the world he’s from and the threat that General Zod possesses in this world. But the younger Barry is too drunk on his newfound powers and doesn’t heed any attention to the wisdom of the older Barry. The two often quarrel leading the younger Barry to utter, “Why do you have to be so mean?”
The banter between the older and the younger Barry is to add a layer of comedy to a complex multiverse film but the lack of synchronicity between the older and younger Barry is exposed. They do not make for a trendy duo who are the leaders of a cop comedy or a buddy comedy film. Even during the climax, the two are at odds with each other and the arguments continue.
Whether it was poor direction or the will of Ezra Miller to keep the dialogues between two Barry Allens as a homage to the genre of mumbo-jumbo, we will never know. But in a flick filled with superhero characters, it’s the villain, General Zod, that leaves a greater performance than the protagonist.
Even Michale Shannon preferred ‘Man of Steel’
Veteran actor Michael Shannon has been basking in the glory of the series ‘Tammy and Faye’. The actor was delighted to return as General Zod in ‘The Flash’ as well but in an interview with Collider, the 48-year-old Hollywood actor admitted that even though he was happy to reprise the role of Superman’s villain, the experience as an actor wasn’t great. “I’m not gonna lie, it wasn’t quite satisfying for me, as an actor. These multiverse movies are like somebody playing with action figures. It’s like, ‘Here’s this person. Here’s that person. And they’re fighting!’ It’s not quite the in-depth character study situation that I honestly felt ‘Man of Steel’ was. Whether people think that’s crazy or not, I don’t even care. I really felt like ‘Man of Steel’ was actually a pretty sophisticated story. I feel like ‘The Flash’ is too, but it’s not Zod’s story. I’m basically there to present a challenge.”
‘The Flash’ opens in theatres in the US on June 16, 2023.