The Flash – Film Review

Cast: Ezra Miller, Sasha Calle, Michael Shannon, Ron Livingston, Maribel Verdú, Kiersey Clemons, Antje Traue, Michael Keaton, Ben Affleck

Director: Andy Muschietti

Synopsis: Upon discovering he can use his powers to travel in time, Barry Allen/The Flash attempts to rectify a tragic incident from his past…

Review: Before taking the time to analyse the latest, and one of the last films in the DC Extended Universe as we know it, it would be remiss for anyone to not bring up the subject of the string of off-screen allegations which have followed the film’s star Ezra Miller since the film wrapped production in 2021. Such is the scale and extremely serious nature of said allegations of misconduct, they cannot be ignored and the art can no longer be separated from the artist. Furthermore, given we’ve known for a while that the DCEU as we know will be rebooted under the direction of James Gunn and Peter Saffran, these allegations will have to be addressed by the studios at some point in the future.

Barry Allen has settled into his day job as a forensic investigator while also helping to fight crime as a member of the Justice League. However, his dad is awaiting trial after he was accused of murdering his mother when Barry was a child. When he discovers by travelling at such high speeds he can travel back in time, he attempts to alter the past to prevent his mother’s death, only to realise he has landed in an alternate universe, where he encounters his younger self. Together, the two of them must work out how to fix the damage that has been done to the universe before it is too late.

Multiverse movies have become all the rage in recent years, so despite being centred on an extremely fast character who can travel at super speeds, it is somewhat ironic this has been one of the last films to get in on the action. Though, in all fairness, it has been stuck in development hell for a long time, with multiple directors being attached at one point or another. The dual performances by Miller are solid. It provides some entertaining moments seeing the older Barry get irritated by the antics of his younger self, though they are both overshadowed by the return of Michael Keaton’s portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman. Given his legendary status, and arguably being the best actor to ever don the cape and cowl, it would have been easy for Keaton to show up, film his scenes and collect his pay cheque no fuss no muss. But he commits to it, because he’s BATMAN, and the delivery of certain iconic lines from his Batman films are joyful to watch.

Unfortunately, what is not so joyful to watch, is the film itself. Any film which tries to dabble in time travel/multiverse adventures needs an airtight screenplay to prevent things from spiralling entirely out of control. Christina Hodson’s screenplay, working from a story by John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein and Joby Harold, is heavily influenced by the Flashpoint storyline from the comics. However, perhaps given the screenplay has presumably gone through numerous versions, the final product leaves an awful lot to be desired. It attempts to juggle too many different plot threads with Barry’s remorse over what happened with his parents, time travel, an adventure with an alternate universe Batman, and a climatic superhero showdown in the third act that it becomes severely muddled and unfocused. As if that wasn’t enough, it introduces a new iteration of Kara/Supergirl into the mix, portrayed by Sasha Calle making her feature film debut. Calle does an excellent job with the material she’s given, but she is severely underutilised and the same is true for the return of Michael Shannon as General Zod, whose presence feels nothing more than a glorified cameo to set the stage for the third act.

This does have its moments, particularly around said final act and director Andy Muschietti does a capable job of trying to hold the film together through the chaos of this misadventure. However, as well as the opening action sequence, this third act is marred with some truly inexcusable sub-standard CGI, which should not happen when you have a $200m budget. While there have been some high points in the ten years since Man of Steel first took flight, ultimately, the current DCEU has got to a point where too many of its productions have been beset by too many problems, admittedly sometimes through no fault of their own. Nevertheless, the time is right for Gunn and Saffran to take charge and reboot the universe, but if this is to be the great reset for the DCEU it has been marketed as, a good starting point would be to unequivocally address the allegations surrounding Miller and hold them to account.

An adaptation of arguably the most well-known storyline from the comics should have been a slam dunk and the perfect way to bring this chapter of the DCEU to a close. Yet no amount of time travelling, or the glorious return of Keaton as the Caped Crusader, can save this multiversal misfire from becoming a jumbled mess.

Spider-Man: Homecoming – Film Review

Cast: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr, Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau, Zendaya

Director: Jon Watts

Synopsis: Having played his part during the Avengers’ Civil War, Peter Parker balances school with his superhero duties. When a new threat emerges in the shape of the villainous Vulture, Peter seeks to use this as a chance to prove himself…

Review: As a character and a superhero, Spider-Man has unquestionably enjoyed a lot of popularity ever since his first comic book came out. Indeed, it’s highly likely that many see him as one of their favourite superheros. Therefore it would surely seem to be an easy task to translate the friendly neighbourhood web crawler to the big screen to make a film that Spidey fans across the world can enjoy, but that is a task that has posed its challenges for Hollywood. One trilogy of his big screen adventures had two gems but then squandered it all with a messy third chapter. A reboot then followed, which produced two more pretty lacklustre outings, and consequently poor Spidey got a third reboot, which this time has thankfully got the character back on course.

Of course, this third reboot only came about after Sony and Marvel struck a deal which enabled Spidey to crop up in the MCU. His MCU foray began with a tremendous turn in last year’s Civil War, and now with both Sony and Marvel’s input, the webhead has a new adventure. As Peter battles with the mundane school life, he yearns for something more and despite his tutelage from Tony Stark, Stark does not believe Peter to be ready. All the while, a new threat is emerging in the shape of the Vulture, a man whose plans turn nasty after seeing something slip out of his hands, and of course he clashes with Peter.

Tom Holland remains excellent as both Peter and Spider-Man, carrying on from his sublime turn in Civil War. The previous films really didn’t for the most part capture Peter as a high school kid, and all of the problems that high school kids go through. Though it is kind of ironic for Keaton starring as a bird-esque villain given his Oscar nominated performance a few years ago in Birdman, he is by far one of the most refreshing villains the MCU has seen, given that the MCU has had some well documented problems in terms of nailing down a villain to match the calibre of say Loki. His character is fleshed out and though he’s not taking the title of the best MCU villain, he’s not the sort of disposable bad-guy that past MCU flicks have given us.

After directing 2015’s Cop Car, Jon Watts calls the shots here, and while some of the action scenes that he helms here are certainly very enjoyable to watch at times, there are moments where it does falter a little bit. It’s not exactly weaving any new webs but it does manage to be for the most part a lot of fun to watch. However, you never come close to feeling the anxiety or the tension of the situation in the ways that Raimi’s first two films in particular pulled off so spectacularly. The rest of the cast do a fine job and as you might expect RDJ is there to provide a considerable proportion of the laughs, a role he shares with Peter’s best mate in high school Ned (Jacob Batalon). Concerns that Iron Man’s appearance would be overbearing are thankfully wide of the mark, as he is used sparingly, but when he has screen time, it’s used to great effect.

After the lull that was the Amazing Spider-Man films, to see Spidey back on track will undoubtedly be pleasing to long time fans of the character be back in a really entertaining film that really explores his high school years in ways that perhaps hasn’t been seen before. Yet at the same time, offering nothing really new and or innovative in terms of what has come before it, both in terms of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and indeed, previous Spider-Man movies.

A familiar premise and characters, but with a refreshingly interesting villain and some well filmed action scenes, but at the same time, not breaking any new ground.