The Flash, movie for the DC Extended Universe (2023) - Film review by Kadmon

If you'd like to be surprised by the The Flash film, I don't recommend you to watch the trailer beyond 0:20, because after that it starts to gives away the premise of the plot. Even if you don't mind knowing the premise, but you'd like to be suprised by the twists, stop watching at 0:48. After that it basically provides a summary of the film, up to the ending scene, it's only the very end we are not shown.

The Flash, movie for the DC Extended Universe (2023) - Watch the final trailer on YouTube
Watch the final trailer in German - Watch the final trailer in Hindi - Watch the final trailer in Italian - Watch the final trailer in Tamil - Watch the final trailer in Telugu
Watch the second trailer on YouTube
video © Warner Entertainment (AT&T)

The The Flash (2023) is a contemporary fantasy film. The movie was reviewed by Kadmon.

Product: The Flash, movie for the DC Extended Universe (2023)

Original title: The Flash

Series: DC Extended Universe

Other adaptations of the story: many

Previous entries in the series with ties to this story: Batman (1989), Man of Steel (2013), Justice League (2017) / Justice League - Director's Cut (2021) ?

Setting: contemporary fantasy Earth (DC Universe - DC Extended Universe)

Product type: Film, ca. 2,5 hours, Genre: contemporary fantasy, Features: action, adventure, drama, fantasy, science fiction, super-human abilities, time travel, Style: ?

Release: Premiere: 2023.06.12 (Grauman's Chinese Theatre), Release: 2023.06.14

Watched: very recent (2023.09), first time

Rating: Average (2 out of 3 points), if you can switch your brain off and accept the - otherwise stupid - premise, Enjoyment: Weak (2- out of 3 points)

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This is my review of The Flash, a contemporary fantasy movie for the DC Extended Universe from 2023. It's about a man who tries to change his past for the better, but has to deal with unexpected consequences. The The Flash film is watchable, but I only recommend it to fans of the genre.

The Flash, movie for the DC Extended Universe (2023)
image © Warner Entertainment (AT&T)

"Worlds collide in “The Flash” when Barry uses his superpowers to travel back in time in order to change the events of the past."

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Review (spoiler-free) - The Flash, movie (2023)

I knew it for a long time that a Flash movie is in the making. Then the trailers arrived, then suddenly the movie was out there. Due to the lots of negative review, I didn't rush to the theater, I waited for quite a while until I dared to watch The Flash. I've seen the first teaser trailer, but managed to avoid the later ones. I've seen all of the previous DCEU theatrical releases, except for Shazam 2. I've never read a single issue of the Flash comics, so I have no idea about the character, outside of the DCEU movies.

As I've missed the cinematic release, I've watched the DVD version, supposedly it doesn't differ from the original. Also, I watched it in Hungarian, but I trust the Hungarian translation and dubbing.

The The Flash movie is about a man who tries to change his past for the better, but has to deal with unexpected consequences.

The story was watchable, but neither exceptional, nor surprising. The consistency felt a little off sometimes, as they've tried to balance slapstick comedy and serious drama. There's a character arc for the main characters (although the supporting ones don't get their own). I didn't find major logical problems, if you are able to accept the premise.

It's hard to compare this movie to the previous entries in the DCEU, as it's neither on the epic level of Man of Steel, Superman v. Batman, Justice Leage, nor self contained, like Shazam! or Black Adam.

The cinematography might be okay, the action scenes are mostly easy to follow, but the action looks bad, the CGI would need some improvement before a final version.

IF you only watch this movie, the characters are basically empty shells. The old ones have been established in earlier movies, but the new ones don't get any kind of development. The actors are mostly okay though.

The music (by Benjamin Wallfisch) is okay, it doesn't elevate the story, but it doesn't intrude the movie either.

The Flash is a watchable contemporary fantasy, that I think fans of the genre might enjoy.

My experience

I was not entirely satisfied with The Flash (2023), but I consider it okay. I prefer stories with well-thought, logical plots, probably some interesting twists, and The Flash couldn't deliver that.

Rating: Average (2 out of 3 points), if you can switch your brain off and accept the - otherwise stupid - premise. Otherwise, you might feel it's Weak (2-). The Flash looks bad, has a story without logic, and overall, not a well-made film.

Enjoyment: Weak (2- out of 3 points). The Flash is watchable, I managed to sit through it, but it's not for me.

Rewatchability: I'm not sure. I don't think anybody would want to watch this movie twice.

Chance of watching it again: No.

Chance of watching a sequel: I still have hopes, so I'll probably watch it.

The Flash, movie for the DC Extended Universe (2023)
image © Warner Entertainment (AT&T)

Will you enjoy this?

If you like super-hero movies, you might like The Flash film.

If you are a fan of DC comics, you'd probably watch The Flash either way.

If you like supernatural or fantasy movies, you might like The Flash.

If you'd like to get comedic moments in your movies, The Flash might still disappoint you, even though it's stuffed with forced humorous moments.

If you can get through the first half hour of the movie still interested, the rest of the movie will be something similar.

If you don't mind illogical elements in your movies, you can enjoy this.

If you hate subtitles, you don't have to worry.

If you prefer visuals over story, it's a good question whether you'd enjoy this or not. On one hand, there's plenty of visual action in the movie, but on the other hand, it looks unfinished.

If you hate comedy, the Flash movie is probably not for you.

If you hate depiction of violence, you should probably avoid this movie, and superhero action movies overall.

If you dislike Ezra Miller, you won't be able to avoid watching him, so I don't recommend the Flash movie for you.

Do you need to read the original graphic novel to enjoy this?

I don't think any previous knowledge of the story would help. It would take the minimal amount of enjoyment that would come from the surprises of the story. Also, if you'd expect it will be similar to the original, you'd be severely disappointed. This movie doesn't have anything to do with the Flashpoint story beyond the very basics of the premise.

Do you need to see the other films in the series to enjoy this?

In order to enjoy the movie, you'll need to accept a lot of things, established previously in Justice League, so you'll probably need to watch that movie before this.

If you've seen Batman (1989), you'll probably appreciate this movie a lot more. There are also a lot of references to previous movies, made before the DCEU that might be lost on people who haven't seen them.

Watching for plot points

If you are interested in time travel stories, it might be worth watching the The Flash movie for the plot points, but you are probably better off just reading our plot summary.

Should you watch this on your own screen at home, or is it worth going to the cinema?

That's a great question. The current visuals look bad even on the small screen. I presume they look worse if they are magnified in a cinema.

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The Flash, movie for the DC Extended Universe (2023)
image © Warner Entertainment (AT&T)

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Review with spoilers - The Flash, movie (2023)

I didn't particularly liked the The Flash movie.

I still think that Ezra Miller is a good choice for being the Flash, but his portrayal of young Barry was a bit too over to top.

Cover

The cover of the movie is okay, although it immediately spoils the movie.

The trailer

If you prefer spoilers, it's a great trailer for the The Flash film. If you prefer to avoid spoilers, it could ruin the movie for you.

Promise of the first scene

A young guy (Flash), waits at a fast food restaurant for his sandwitch to be prepared. He gets a phone call for an urgent situation involving criminals. He decides to leave the restaurant.

I assume he'll beat the criminals, and save everybody. after that, I have no idea what would happen in the story, had I not seen the trailer, but unfortunately I did.

Execution: In a turn of events - probably created to be comedic - Flash doesn't even meet the criminals, who get handled by Batman, but he needs to do cleanup work, plumbing, and catching falling babies. This might be a good start for a slapstick comedy like Shazam!, but based on the premise of the trailer, it looks like it will be something darker.

Also, the first scene doesn't establish anything related to the overall story.

The Flash, movie for the DC Extended Universe (2023)
image © Warner Entertainment (AT&T)

Plot summary / Synopsis

Barry Allen / The Flash (Ezra Miller) waits at a fast food restaurant for his sandwitch to be prepared. He gets a phone call for an urgent situation in Gotham City, involving criminals. He decides to leave the restaurant, get into uniform, and runs to the scene.

There's a hospital that's about to collapse due to an explosion, and Flash handles the situation, while Batman (Ben Affleck) catches the gangsters, who stole a deadly virus from the hospital. Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) also shows up in the end.

After this, Barry gets back to work in the forensics lab. After work, he meets Iris West (Kiersey Clemons), a journalist, who is writing an article about the trial of Barry's father (Ron Livingston as Henry Allen), who is wrongfully accused with the murder of Barry's mother (Maribel Verdú as Nora Allen).

Barry reminisces about their last day together, and to ventillate the stress, he runs really fast, until he manages to break the time barrier, creates a Chrono-Bowl, and goes back to an earlier time of the day. He discusses his new found ability with Batman, who recommends him not to try to change the past.

Despite his warning, after a conversation with Iris West, Barry still decides to go back in time, and save his mother. While travelling back to the present, a mysterious figure kicks Flash out of the Chrono-Bowl. Barry finds his mother alive, but it turns out that the present date is 2013, and he has an alternate, less serious self, young Barry, in this time. He also realises that this is the exact day when he got his powers, so he hauls young Barry to the institute, to recreate the event. While the experiment is succesful, and young Barry gets speedster powers, Barry loses his own powers.

Suddenly, a Kryptonian spaceship arrives, and General Zod (Michael Shannon) announces that a Kryptonian fugitive is hiding on Earth, and unless he gets the fugitive back, he'll destroy the Earth. Barry decides to gather the Justice League, but finds it out that due to the changes in this alternate universe, only Batman is available.

Barry and young Barry go to meet Batman (Michael Keaton), who initially refuses to help them, but suddenly agrees. They go to the Batcave, and manage to find traces of a Kryptonian captive in Siberia, hoping that it's Superman.

They go to Siberia, and rescue the captive, but it turns out that it's a female Kryptonian (Sasha Calle as Kara Zor-El), who had been in Russian captivity in the past couple of years (decades?). When the female Kryptonian gets her powers back, she obliterates her captors, and collapses.

They return to the Batcave, taking the female Kryptonian with them. When she gets better, she refuses to help, and flies away, leaving them. She flies to meet Zod, watches him for long enough that Zod notices her.

Barry asks Batman to help him recreate the event that gave him speedster powers. The first try is unsuccesful, but during the second try, suddenly the female Kryptonian arrives, and helps them succeed, giving Flash his powers back.

They decide to assault General Zod and his army. During the battle, Zod casually tells them that he intercepted Superman's spacepod, and killed him. Now Zod intends to kill the female Kryptonian, to extract a special formula hidden in her internal structure.

Despite the team's valiant efforts, Zod does just that, and Batman also dies during the battle. Flash and young Barry try to go back to the past couple of minutes to change the results, but their efforts doesn't change anything. They argue for a while, even an older version of young Barry appears. The arguments end up old young Barry trying to kill Flash, but young Barry sacrifices himself to save him, thus destroying old young Barry.

While the multiverse is being destroyed around him, Flash decides to let her mother die to save the multiverse. He goes back to change the past again in a way that his mother wouldn't be saved, and he also does a further change to provide an alibi for his father.

When Barry arrives in the present, the alibi is accepted on the trial, freeing his father. Iris West asks him for a date. When Batman arrives to meet him, he has an unfamiliar face (George Clooney), one of the consequences of those changes in the past.

The setting

The Flash is set on the DC Extended Universe, a contemporary Earth, where magic and aliens exist.

In this setting, time travel to the past can change past events.

Time travel

You can travel back in time, but if you change something, it not only changes the future onward, but it also has ripples in the past of the timeline.

There are also circumstances with inevitable events, that happen one way or another, and there's no way you could change them. For example, if Batman and Supergirl attacks General Zod directly, they both die.

When you kill someone in the past, they also die in the present, but whatever they did inbetween, remains. Or it might just be true to time travelling speedsters, it's not clear.

The Flash, movie for the DC Extended Universe (2023)
image © Warner Entertainment (AT&T)

Plot points of interests

The were a couple of changes to the setting and characters.

New characters

Young Barry: After he gets his speedster powers, he is surrounded by blue energy, instead of the yellow energy of the original Flash.

Old young Barry: An older version of young Barry. He has spent a lot of tries to change the past few minutes without any results, so he has gone mad. It was him, who kicked Flash out of the Chrono-Bowl to ensure his own creation. During the battles with Zod, many pieces of Kryptonian armour were embedded into his body.

Kara Zor-El: She has some abilities like Superman - flying, heat-vision, super durability, super strength. They are probably weaker than the abilities of Superman, as Superman was able to beat up General Zod in Man of Steel, while Kara Zor-El couldn't.

Changes to characters

Batman (played by Ben Affleck):

• Superhuman abilities: He either boosted his abilities through biotechnology, or his suit gave him the extra boost, but during the chase in Gotham City, he clearly has superhuman level abilities, except for holding the hands of people.

The Flash:

• Calorie tracker: Shows how much energy Flash used, and when he needs to eat to replenish the lost calories. It probably has some very sophisticated AI to visually track what Flash puts into his mouth, even when he is using super-speed. Or it might be wired into his bloodstream, and constantly measuring his blood sugar levels.
• Refusing to learn from mistakes: Even though he's clearly seen what can happen if he changes the past, in the end, he still goes on to make further changes.
• Powers:
  • Phasing: He can vibrate his body on a speed that lets him go through walls.
  • Lightning strike: He can create bolts of lightning, that could desintegrate even Kryptionians. That probably means he would be able to kill (or at least hurt) Superman.
  • Artificial creation: When he loses his power, he gathers the required chemicals, and gets struck by lightning to get his powers back. That probably means, that using those chemicals and a lightning, anyone could try to obtain speedster powers.
  • Time travel: He can now travel to any time in the past, not just to observe, but also to intervene.
  • Tornado: He can create an energy tornado that destroys or pushes away things in its path.

Characters killed

Several characters were killed (some - Batman, Supergirl - multiple times) in alternate timelines, but I don't think it would make any consequence on the long run.

Technology

Kryptonian armour: They are resistant to human weapons and even super-powers, but they can be damaged on the long run. Shards and pieces of Kryptonian armour can damage Kryptonian people. Makeshift weapons could be fabricated out of them that can damage and even kill Kryptonians.

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The Flash, movie for the DC Extended Universe (2023)
image © Warner Entertainment (AT&T)

Analysis of the story - The Flash, movie (2023)

Although I can't say I liked the story, there were no major problems that would have made me stop watching The Flash.

The message of the story

I'm not entirely sure. "Try to get over past tragedies"? "There are some things that you can't solve, no matter how hard you try"? They try to emphasise these messages, but in the end, Barry still doesn't seem totake these advice, and acts against them.

The structure of the story

The scenes of the The Flash film are mostly played in sequence, following the same storyline. There are some flashback scenes to past events.

Except for a few short outside viewpoints, Barry Allen is the single viewpoint character.

It has the mostly usual arc of the dramatic structure - a short introduction, lots of action, quick (and illogical) resolution.

Fan-service

The fan-service aspect is visible in The Flash movie. Scenes and elements from previous works:

Flash Comics (1940-, DC Comics)

• The Jay Garrick version of Flash is shown.

Superman and the Mole Men (1951), Adventures of Superman TV Series (1952–1958)

• Superman (George Reeves) is shown.

Batman TV Series (1966–1968)

• Batman (Adam West) is shown.

Superman (1978), Superman II (1980), Superman III (1983), Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)

• Superman (Christopher Reeves) is shown.

Supergirl (1984)

• Supergirl (Helen Slater) is shown.

Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992)

• Batman (Michael Keaton) plays a major role in this movie.
• "I'm Batman."
• "You wanna get nuts? Let's get nuts."
• "How much do you weight?"

Batman & Robin (1997)

• Batman (George Clooney) plays a minor role in the end of the movie.

Superman Lives (1996–1998) - unproduced movie

• Superman (Nicolas Cage) is shown.

Man of Steel (2013)

• General Zod (Michael Shannon) plays a major role in the movie.

Justice League (2017)

• Flash catches the weapon Batman throws at him. It's a Batarang in Justice Leage, a pan in The Flash.

Justice League - Director's Cut (2021)

• Iris refers to meeting Barry, probably meaning their encounter in Justice League.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

• Flash phases through the poster of Raquel Welch (from One Million Years B.C. (1966)) to get out of his home. In The Shawshank Redemption, Andy Dufresne used the same poster to hide a hole he carved in his prison wall.

Things I liked

• They managed to make Flash's run from Central City to Gotham City visually interesting.
• I liked the look and abilities of the Bat-Cycle and the Bat-Wing.
• I liked it that they've put the effort to add haza around Supergirl when she goes hypersonic.

Problematic elements

Lame jokes: Some of the humour was fine, but some others were cringe-worthy.

• "Baby shower"? Did we really need that?
• I also felt the sex joke with the Lasso of Truth tasteless. At least it confirms that he doesn't use his speedster powers for his sexual needs as casually as he does to fill his stomach with food stolen from bystanders.

Unnecessary scenes: There are some scenes that are illogical, undermine the story, superfluous, or create unanswered plot holes.

The baby shower scene: For me, it undermined the seriousness of the whole movie. Also, as there weren't any chance that some of those babies would smash into the ground, the whole scene lost any tension. I suppose this scene was intended for people who find potentially fatal harm coming to babies humorous, but I hope that this is a very minor niche audience.

Wonder Woman: She doesn't add anything to the story, beyond the question of what did she do while Batman was fighting, and why does she show up now?

Supergirl visiting Zod: They meet, and then Zod, who wants to capture her, just lets her go without any consequences. This doesn't make much sense.

Trying to give Barry his power back twice: I get it that it happened this way in the original comics, but the movie is so far removed from the original comics that they could have just ditched this as well. It just pads the running time, and doesn't add anything to the story. Just make it work for the first time.

Speedster powers: The same problems apply to this movie as the ones in Justice League - Director's Cut (2021).

Food consumption: In the first action scene, it looks like the consumption of food is an essential requirement for Flash to be able to use his powers. However, after that scene, it never comes back. He is able to travel time, then fight an army of Kryptonian soldiers without constantly eating crates of bananas.

Stealing: I don't like it, how easily the movie handles that Flash constantly steals from people. It's not something he is ashamed of, the scenes are only there to provide comedy, if you find committing crimes humorous. He could probably get enough money from Batman to afford to pay for the stuff he takes.

Bad effects: The fight scenes looked like something out of a lagging computer game. They were so unreal, it was hard for me to feel engaged with the story.

The old young Flash: He doesn't seem to be a very bright guy. He said he tried to change the past countless times, but it seems like he only tried to change the last couple of minutes, and always tried the same approach. If he went back further, created different circumstances - for example, Supergirl wouldn't go near Zod, and Batman would just use some drone technology to fight the aliens -, they both could have survived. We did see that the dead of Batman in the battle is not an inevitable part of every timeline, because he clearly survived Man of Steel (2013). As using time travel, they have all the time in the world, the old young Flash could have just sat down with Batman, or other clever guys, and came up with plenty of plans to try one after the other.

Also, he could have just gone back into his past and observe what will happen, if he attacks Flash. He should have known not to do it in the vicinity of young Flash.

The best time to attack him would have been probably when he was powerless. After Flash gave powers to young Barry, he could have just killed him, and be a mentor to young Barry.

Characters lacking charisma: I know it depends on personal taste, but I've found that both Iris West and Supergirl lacked anything that would have made them sympathetic or interesting for me. Batman wasn't that great either, but at least he had been established in a movie I've seen. Had I missed that, Batman probably would have felt just as empty.

Too much time spent on fan service: At the end of the movie, they spend a lot of time showing different universes, with scenes from previous movies, and even one that was never made. This could have been a great feature for a Director's Cut, but I don't feel this was an integral part of the story, especially as the movie was already too long for the story it contained.

Shower of pop culture references: I know that it's very trendy to throw late 20th Century references in movies, but here, the most reference happens in the same scene, instead of being spread out, like in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. They quickly referenced the Back to the Future trilogy, Footloose, Top Gun. Later, we also get references to The Terminator, and Star Wars Ep6: The Return of the Jedi. I also doubt that 18 year old kids in 2013 would watch Footloose, or even the other movies for entertainment.

Consequences for reproducable speedster powers: Now that we have seen that you don't need a special timing, space, circumstances, just the right amount of chemicals and a bolt of lightning, those, who have access to knowledge of those chemicals, will be able to give themselves speedster powers. Even if those powers specifically only work on the genetic makeup of Barry Allen, one can create a clone army of Barries, and experiment on them, until some of them become an obedient speedster.

Consequences for being able to change past events: From now on, every time there's some crisis in the DC Movie Universe, Flash could try to prevent it by changing the past, and coming back to check the random changes in the present. If those changes are acceptable, he has solved the problem.

The stakes of the story: If Flash hadn't done anything, he wouldn't have caused any problems, nothing would need to be solved, and in the end, nothing had changed. So, basically, Flash made his own, unneccessary problem. And at the end of the movie, practically nothing have changed for him. This is a reason why I feel this movie is pointless. Back to the Future made a similar story work by dropping Marty accidentally into the past, where he changed the events without any intention, then he had to work hard to make things right.

Unanswered questions

• Does the movie start in an alternate dimension already? The father of Flash looks nothing like he looked in Justice Leage. He was played by Billy Crudup, and now Ron Livingston replaced him.
• Why and how do the gangsters blow up the underground facilities of the hospital? How did they get the amount of explosives required and what was their plan with it?
• Who killed the mother of Flash, and why?
• How does Batman know so much about time travel? It would be okay to have some theories, but he treats his ideas as facts, even though we don't see any evidence for his knowledge.
• Why did Kara Zor-El just leave Zod, and go back to the Batcave? Doesn't she want to stop him? She looks like she opposes what Zod does, yet, she just flees from the scene.
• How did Kara Zor-El find the Batcave? I'd assume it's well hidden. Did she memorise the place of the Wayne Manor before flying away?
• How did Kara Zor-El evade the attention of General Zod? Even if Zod doesn't have sensors that would show him Kryptonian lifesigns, Kara seems to just fly around freely, and even Earth satellites could track her movements.
• When Kara Zor-El meets General Zod for the first time in the movie, how come Zod doesn't attack her, just leaves her to go back to the Batcave? He doesn't even send some flyers after her to follow her to her hideout.
• Can the time travelling speedsters reach into other universes? Or they can only get into new timelines by changing them?

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The Flash, movie for the DC Extended Universe (2023)
image © Warner Entertainment (AT&T)

Possibilities of improvement

• Cut the baby shower scene.
• Cut the outside viewpoints (Alfred, nurse) from the first scene, and the Supergirl visiting Zod scene, to make the whole movie seen from the single viewpoint of the Flash.
  • Cutting that Supergirl scenes also serves to remove an illogical element from the story.
• Cut the shots about food consumption as a requirement, and the use of the calorie tracker in the first action scene. It doesn't come back later, and it's not funny.
• Add dialogue to the scenes when Flash steals something, that he put some extra money in their pockets in exchange. It would make stealing a little bit more bearable, although I'd probably prefer to cut every stealing scene, as they are only there for comic relief, and I don't find stealing especially funny.
• Improve (finish) the CGI.
• Cutting (or at least trimming) the fan service scenes from previous movies.
• Edit the chronology of the story.
  • Show us a timeline where they sit through the attack, and don't stop Zod. He destroys the Earth. Show us the destruction (probably using footage from Justice League). Make our heroes desperate.
  • Seeing this, Batman agrees to help find Superman. They go back in time, find Supergirl, try to beat Zod, but they can't succeed, no matter how many times they try.
  • After countless of tries, Flash comes to the realisation, that the easiest way to save the whole planet is to let her mother die.
• Edit the story in a way that it looks like Supergirl stayed to fight Zod alone.
  • She shows up at the landing zone, and decides that Zod needs to be stopped.
  • Add dialogue about news channels telling that an unknown superhero is fighting against the alien army.
  • Barry decides that he needs his powers back so they can help her properly. Batman manages to get his power back. Cut the scenes when Supergirl shows up to help.
  • They get in the Batwing, but cut the scenes when Supergirl flies around them.
  • Start with some shots of Supergirl fighting, then our heroes enter the fight.

How it could have been better?

It would be cool, if they could have come up with a clever way to end the battle with Zod, instead of the "inevitable event", that's a stupid idea.

Have the first scene establish something that will build up the story. For example, there's an impossible situation for Flash to solve, but a future Flash arrives to help him through that. This could lead for Flash to start looking into time travel, and trying to find ways to move into the past.

Also, we should start the story with Flash mourning her mother, either at her grave or their old home, to give us a glimpse into the regret he has. Make him feel that it's his fault that her mother died. For example, she could have used just one can of tomato for the dinner, but kid Barry started to cry that he needs the extra tomato, making his father give in and go into the shop. Or when the father asks him to call 911, he just runs away in shock, and by the time the neighbours hear the cries of the father, and call 911, by the tine the ambulance arrived, the mother was dead. Barry might think that had they been called immediately, his mother could have been saved. He does this in preparation for the trial of his father, for whose imprisonment he also feels responsible for. If her mother was at least alive, when the ambulance arrived, she could have told them that she was assaulted by an unknown criminal. But, because of Barry running away, she didn't even get a chance for that. And that is what's constantly eating Barry. This would probably give a better explanation for his choice to change the past.

He could have travelled to the past accidentally. While reminiscing about his tragic past, he runs past the time barrier, and considers the Chrono-Globe as a manifestation of his memories, until he reaches a "memory" about his mother in the shop, stops running, and finds himself in the past, giving himself a chance to change the events. This way he has no preparation, no willful intention, and has to react fast before the opportunity passes away. He acts on his instincts to save his mother, and returns to a present that has serious consequences due to this change.

It would be great if there would be any personal interaction between Zod and the Flash. For example, Zod could offer to keep his family safe if he doesn't interfere, offering Flash an alternative to the situation.

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How does it compare to the other works of the creators?

From the works of the screenplay writer (Christina Hodson), I've seen Bumblebee (2018), that was mediocre. This movie was on par with that.

From the story writer (John Francis Daley), I've watched Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), that was good, and the The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013), that was mediocre.

From the story writer (Jonathan Goldstein), I've watched Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), that was good, and the The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013), that was mediocre.

I haven't seen any other works of the story writer (Joby Harold), I've seen Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023), that was bad, and Army of the Dead (2021), that was good.

I haven't seen any other movies from the director (Andy Muschietti), although I've seen glimpses of It (2017) on TV. It was probably more coherent, this movie was a mess.

How does it compare to the original source?

I didn't read the Flashpoint (2011) series yet, I've only read the plot summary.

Similarities:

• Flash loses his power after he gets into the alternate timeline. Although, in the movie, it happens while giving the Flash power to his alternate self.
• When Flash visits Batman, he gets attacked by him, and Batman is an older guy.
• When Flash tries to get his power back, it's only the second time when he succeeds.
• The members of the Justice Leage are either non-existent, or radically different.
• Flash and Batman rescue Superman (Supergirl in the movie) from captivity.
• Superman (Supergirl in the movie) is a ruthless killer, who has been in captivity since childhood.

Differences:

• In the comics, Flash doesn't really remember the original timeline, the readers come to understand what happened during the story. In the movie, we see everything unfold, leaving nothing to mystery.
• In the comics, we see that the changes to this timeline are already catastrophic. The population of Europe is mostly dead due to superhuman attacks.

The movie also takes clues from the sequel story, Flashpoint Beyond (2022). Or, as the movie has been in development at the time, it might be the other way around.

Similarities:

• Kryptonians want to conquer Earth. That was their whole intention by sending Superman here, to prepare their invasion.
• At the end of the story, we see alternate versions of the heroes.

How does it compare to the other films in the series?

I have to admit I didn't like most of the DCEU series. This one was not an exception.

If I compare it to the rest of the Justice League movies, the Flash didn't manage to properly reach the epic scale it tried to have. While now they didn't just want to save the Earth, but multiple universes, yet, I didn't feel anything special, and as usual, the story just ended in a melee with a couple of super-powered participants. So, in this regard, Man of Steel, Wonder Woman, Justice League, even Aquaman might have been a better story.

How does it compare to other adaptations of the same story?

As far as I know, there's a cartoon series, an animated movie, and a live action TV series, all based on the same Flashpont story. I haven't seen either of those, I've just read the plot summaries.

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013)

• The story begins with a group of gangsters trying to commit a robbery, but Flash stops them with the help of the Justice League.
• The world is changed on the second day of the story. In the comics, it started immediately on the first day.
• Just like in the comics, Flash loses his powers.
• Just like in the comics, Flash visits Batman, but he gets attacked by him, and Batman is an older guy.
• Just like in the comics, when Flash tries to get his power back, it's only the second time when he succeeds.
• Just like in the comics, Flash and Batman rescue Superman (Supergirl in the movie) from captivity.

The Flash, Season 3 (2016-2017)

• Aliens attack the Earth. Flash battles them with the help of Supergirl.
• There's a second Flash, but it's not another version of Barry Allen, it's Wally West.
• There's an antagonist speedster (Savitar), who is revealed to be an old and nihilistic version of The Flash. He is heavily armoured, and has blades protruding from his arm. In the series, the blades are part of his armour, in the movie, they are pieces of armour shards, embedded in his arm.
• An antagonist is damaged using a piece of his own armour. It's Savitar in the series, Zod in the movie.

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Behind the scenes

The Flash will close the previous DC Extended Universe series of movies. The new universe, created during the film, will be called DC Universe (that we'll call the DC Movie Universe to differentiate from the DC Comics Universe), and it will reboot the whole series under the helm of James Gunn.

Thoughts about the reviews of others

 

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The Flash, movie for the DC Extended Universe (2023)
image © Warner Entertainment (AT&T)

Uses for the film - The Flash, movie (2023)

Plot

• Set in a contemporary fantasy setting.
• There are people with superhuman powers.
• There are extra-terrestrial aliens with superhuman powers.
• A man tries to change the past for the better, but has to deal with unexpected consequences.

Scenes

• Flash running from Central City to Gotham City could be used to show a speedster getting through a countryside.

Designs

• The time travelling globe looks like a good way to visualise walking through time.
• The vehicles designed for Batman look cool, as usual.

Scenario ideas - Role-playing game scenario ideas

 

Scenario ideas - Wargame scenario ideas

Power-ups (solo game): There's a character. who can become more efficient when using up Power points - he can perform multiple actions, can go faster, gets extra abilities, or gets bonus modifiers. There are problems all around the playing area (selected randomly) that needs to be solved in a limited time. There are also some Power-ups sprinkled around the table randomly. There's a maximum Power the character can achieve, so taking more Power-ups than that won't give any further boost. The player needs to balance solving the problems with spending time to get the Power-ups. The character starts in the middle of one of the edges of the playing area. To sole a problem, the character needs to get in touch with the problem, and spend an action. The player wins if they manage to solve the majority of problems in N turns.

Differing difficulties of problems (harder for the player): Roll a d6 for every problem. 1-3: Difficulty 1, 4-5: Difficulty 2, 6: Difficulty 3. This show how hard it is to solve the problem. The character needs to spend a number of actions based on the Difficulty to solve them. It can be sped up by rolling a test for every remaining action, with a negative modifier based on the remaining Difficulty to solve it. If they fail the test, the action is lost. If they succeed, they managed to solve the problem instantly.

Differing levels of problems: Roll a d6 for every problem. 1-3: Level 1, 4-5: Level 2, 6: Level 3. This shows how serious is the situation. Put a marker face up to show this. The player gets the number of the Level as Victory point. Add up the Levels of every problem in the playing area. The player wins if they solve more than half of that number.

Hidden levels (harder for the player): Put the marker face down, and only reveal it when the player gets close enough - depending on you choice, it can be one movement away, or touching the marker.

Moving problems (harder for the player): At the end of every turn, roll a d6 for every problem. On a 6, they move some random distance in a random direction.

Moving Power-ups (harder for the player): At the end of every turn, roll a d6 for every Power-up. On a 6, they move some random distance in a random direction.

Resisting Power-ups (harder for the player): The Power-Ups have some kind of protection. For example, they are in safe boxes, or they are kept by creatures who don't want to give them up. In order to get the Power-Ups, the player need to overcome this protection. For a darker take on the scenario, the Power-Up can be the blood, life-force, soul, or some vital organ of living beings.

Active opposition (two player game): There's another player, with models deployed freely around the playing area, before the original player chooses an edge to enter the game. The opposing player wins if they manage to stop the character from solving the majority of the problems.

Opposing Power-Ups: The opposing units have the Power-Ups that the character requires. If the character defeats an opposing model, they get their Power-Up.

Powerful prisoner: The rescue team tries to get a powerful prisoner out of a high security prison. The prisoner player sets up the playing area, with the high security prison in the middle third of the playing area. Inside the high security prison, there's a cell, that holds the prisoner. The prisoner player sets up their units anywhere on the playing area. The rescue team player sets up their units on any of the edges of the playing area. They need to get into the high security prison, open the cell, and get the prisoner out of the high security block. The high security prison somehow hinders the abilities of the prisoner, but once they get the prisoner out, the prisoner can use their powerful abilities to defeat the prison guards. The rescue team wins if the prisoner leaves the playing area, with more than half of the rescue team alive. The prison guards win if they kill more than half of the rescue team. They win a major victory if they manage to defeat the rescue team before they could even rescue the prisoner.

Miniatures - 1/50-1/60 (28-32mm scale)

Civilians: Human-sized (S3) modern (advanced) human female / male civilian.

Super heroes: Human-sized (S3) modern (advanced) human female / male civilian, in heroic outfits. I'm almost sure you can find any DC hero in almost any miniature scale out there.

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Similar stories - The Flash, movie (2023)

Short stories like The Flash

Ray Bradbury: A Sound of Thunder (2005): Time travellers accidentally change the past, changing the future.

Novels like The Flash

 

Graphic novels like The Flash

Flashpoint series (2011.05-08, DC Comics): Set on a contemporary fantasy Earth (DC Universe).  A man (The Flash) tries to change the past for the better, but has to deal with unexpected consequences (creating catastrophic changes in the world). There are alternate versions of famous characters. This movie is based on the Flashpoint comics series.

Movies like The Flash

A Sound of Thunder (2005): Time travellers accidentally change the past, and has to deal with the consequences (destroying reality). Based on A Sound of Thunder.

Back to the Future (1985): Set on a contemporary alternate Earth. A time traveller accidentally changes the past, and has to deal with the consequences (removing himself from the timeline).

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013): Set on a contemporary fantasy Earth (DC Animated Movie Universe). A man (The Flash) tries to change the past for the better, but has to deal with unexpected consequences (creating catastrophic changes in the world). There are alternate versions of famous characters.

Spider-Man 3: No Way Home (2021): Set on a contemporary fantasy Earth (Marvel Cinematic Universe). A man (Spider-Man) tries to change the past for the better, but has to deal with unexpected consequences (creating changes in the world). There are alternate versions of famous characters.

TV series & episodes like The Flash

The Flash, Season 3 (2016-2017): Set on a contemporary fantasy Earth (DC Arrow-verse). A man (The Flash) tries to change the past for the better, but has to deal with unexpected consequences (creating changes in the world). There are alternate versions of famous characters.

Computer games like The Flash

 

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Frequently asked questions - The Flash, movie (2023)

Is the The Flash film based on a book or comics?

Yes, The Flash is based on the Flashpoint storyline from the Flash comics from DC.

Is the The Flash film a remake or reboot?

Kind of. The Flash movie is intended to reboot the DCEU, creating a new universe, and it's also an adaptation of the Flashpoint story that has been adapted multiple times.

Is there a post credit scene in The Flash? Does The Flash have end credit scenes? Does The Flash have a post credit scene?

Yes, there's a during credits scene, and also a post credit scene in The Flash. However, neither scene adds anything to the story.

Where can I see The Flash? What is The Flash playing on? What streaming service is The Flash on? Where can I watch The Flash online? Is The Flash available on Netflix? Is The Flash on Amazon?

As of 2023.08.08, The Flash is available on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV,  Google Play, Microsoft Movies, Vudu.

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Resources - The Flash, movie (2023)

Official

Warner Bros: The Flash: Official article.

DC: The Flash: Official article.

Information

IMDB: The Flash (2023): Database article.

WikiPedia: The Flash (film): Database article.

Letterboxd: The Flash 2023: Database article.

Rotten Tomatoes: The Flash 2023: Database article.

TVTropes: Film / The Flash (2023): Database article.

Creation

: Concept art article / video.¤

Reviews with no spoilers - The Flash film (2023)

: Review article / video about the The Flash film with no spoilers.¤

Reviews with spoilers - The Flash film (2023)

The Critical Drinker: The Flash - A Hot Mess: Review video of the The Flash movie, with spoilers. Includes a plot summary.¤

Analysis - The Flash movie (2023)

Filmento: The Flash — How to Frustrate the Audience | Anatomy of a Failure: Analysis video, explaining some problem with The Flash.¤

Ryan George: The Flash Pitch Meeting: Humorous analysis video, explaining some problem with The Flash.¤

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Buying the product - The Flash, movie (2023)

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Have you seen the The Flash film for the DC Extended Universe? How do you like the movie? Would you recommend it to others? Do you know reviews or resources you'd like to add? What further thoughts do you have about it? Tell your opinion in the comments!