The Flash (12A)
***
Early on Barry Allen aka The Flash complains that he is the "janitor of the Justice League," which I'd say is fundamentally true.
His character in the previous Justice League movies (DC's poor equivalent of the Avengers) was the annoying kid comic relief, and being the hero whose superpower is running very fast is always a broomsticks and mop detail in any ensemble movie, primarily because since the Christopher Reeve Superman the cinema has failed to find a credible way to visualise that power.
Perversely, the solution here involves a great deal of slow motion. Even so, Ezra Miller’s Allen has probably been the stand-out of the Justice League films so a solo movie was required – but maybe not at the exact time as its star was coming off the rails.
In the last three years Miller has been accused of various crimes including assault, tresspass, and harrassment. Usually this would be enough to finish a career, but because Flash wasn’t a mainstream DC character Warners decided to load up his film, shot in 2021, with lots of cameos and guest stars, most prominently the return of Michael Keaton, the once and future Batman.
The story sees young Allen travelling back in time to try and prevent his mother’s murder. There are quite a few good jokes, some smart ideas, the opening action sequence is more than decent, and it delivers some good surprises including a corker right at the end.
A few years ago I might have had fun with this. The film though has two major problems. Firstly, the script calls for there to be two Millers, just when that was the last thing anyone wanted. The bulk of the running time is occupied by a double act between the going-back-in-time Allen, and his younger, brasher, already-in-the-past alternate self.
Secondly, it means another tiresome dabble in the multiverse. I can’t imagine how the multiverse concept has become tiresome, but it surely has and quicker than seemed superhumanly possible.
The central disappointment is how this realm of infinite possibilities seems content to just offer up all our yesterdays. Wherever it turns, the film heads up paths that have been travelled many, many times before. The clear conclusion to be reached from the multiverse in all its incarnations is that superhero movies are all out of ideas, and there is nothing left for them to do but compulsively revisit the past.
Flash, a ha, another sap in the multiverse.
Directed by Andy Muschiette. Starring Ezra Miller, Michael Keaton, Ben Affleck, Sasha Calle, Maribel Verdu, Ron Livingston and Michael Shannon. 144 mins. In cinemas.
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