action spectacle
“The Flash”: Time travel epic with Batman in retirement age
Ezra Miller (l) as Barry Allen and Sasha Calle as Kara Zor-El/Supergirl in a scene from the film “The Flash”. photo
© -/Warner Bros. Picture/dpa
In the time travel epic “The Flash” the extremely fast title hero gets support from Batman. However, it is older than expected. Michael Keaton makes a terrific comeback as a bat.
The cinema year 1989 was a special one for film and comic fans. Back then, Tim Burton’s “Batman” starring Michael Keaton ushered in the era of superhero cinema. As “Superman” Christopher Reeve had shown ten years earlier that comics are suitable for blockbuster films, but the dark cinema hit “Batman” took the genre to a new level and was a pioneer for cinema hits like “Iron Man”, “Avengers” or “Wonder Woman”. Now Keaton returns to the big screen in his signature role. In “The Flash” he has to help the young hero (played by Ezra Miller) as an aging Batman to save the world.
However, Andy Muschietti’s multi-layered comic and time-travel epic first features Ben Affleck in the bat costume that Ezra Miller wore in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League. Barry Allen aka Flash is known to be able to move at the speed of light and is regularly summoned by Bruce Wayne’s butler Alfred (Jeremy Irons) when Wayne needs support as Batman (Affleck). “The Flash” starts with a gripping action scene that makes the hearts of Batman fans beat faster.
Reality is turned upside down
But when Barry isn’t saving Gotham City or the world, he suffers because his father is in prison for allegedly murdering Barry’s mother. Barry is convinced of his innocence, but cannot prove it. One day, when he realizes that he can travel back in time thanks to his speed, he decides to save his mother and thus his father.
In doing so, he turns reality on its head, lands in the wrong time and meets his younger, immature self (Miller in a dual role). On top of that, Krypton’s super villain Zod (Michael Shannon) now wants to destroy the earth. In the new reality, Barry searches in vain for his Justice League comrades-in-arms. All he finds is an aged Batman (Keaton) and Superman’s cousin Kara Zor-El (Sasha Calle). And once something has been changed on the timeline, it cannot simply be undone.
“The Flash” takes the theories of time travel and the multiverse, most recently brought to the screen in entertaining and clever ways in “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and the Oscar-winning “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” to a new level , because the fictional laws of time travel are overridden. Unlike in the film classic “Back to the Future”, Barry’s interventions not only have an impact on the future, but also on the entire past, so that practically everything gets out of joint – and from a cinematic point of view everything is possible. Because of this, Superman never arrived on Earth and Batman is much older than Flash.
Lots of what-if moments
The film skilfully pokes fun at the subject, for example when Barry is shocked to discover that Eric Stoltz is starring in “Back to the Future” while Michael J. Fox is starring in “Footloose”. (Stoltz was actually initially cast as Marty McFly before Fox took over.) But that’s not all. “The Flash” surprises with numerous brilliant what-if moments from the long history of DC comics and films, which are not revealed here. Just this much: Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton aren’t the only well-known DC faces in the entertaining film.
“The Flash” hits theaters more than five years later than originally planned. The reason for the delay was several changes in the director’s chair, the corona pandemic and the anger about Ezra Miller (30). Miller made many negative headlines with violent outbursts and other scandals. A new cast of the film was no longer possible, stamping out the 200-million-dollar spectacle was also not an option. What future Miller – excellent in the unusual double role – has in Hollywood is currently open.
Michael Keaton with grandiose action scenes
Still as cool as Batman in 1989, 71-year-old Keaton steals the show in The Flash. His comeback was marketed by Warner Bros. in advance to generate hype. The cult Batman not only delivers wonderfully nostalgic moments, but also grandiose action scenes.
While Keaton represents the past, DC debutante Sasha Calle commends future adventures. Whether the planned “Supergirl” movie will come with her is anyone’s guess. Under the direction of filmmaker James Gunn (“Guardians Of The Galaxy”), the DC Extended Universe, whose full potential has so far hardly been used, is about to be restarted. As the creative mind at DC Studios, Gunn is tasked with building a consistent cinematic universe modeled after the competitor’s Marvel Cinematic Universe.
That DC Films will take the risk of working with Miller again is at least questionable. According to industry media, Henry Cavill’s time as Superman or Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman has definitely come to an end. On the other hand: By linking different realities and timelines into a multiverse, “The Flash” opens up endless possibilities for Gunn and Co. for the future.
Despite some forgivable lengths, Andy Muschietti’s original time travel adventure is one of the best DC films to date. Inspired by the comic series “Flashpoint”, the funny and sometimes even profound and very emotional comic epic shows what is possible with this material on the screen. Hopefully, “The Flash” is a harbinger of an exciting DC future.