The Flash (2023) (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

Having seen the sneak peek a few weeks ago, I'm still seeing it this coming Thursday with my friend who couldn't make it to the sneak peek. Can't wait to see the finishing touches to the film.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I’m wondering if the Monday night fan event screenings will be the complete film or that modified version that earlier screenings had.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I saw it on Thursday and nothing seemed modified to me. There is a surprise that WB clearly wants to keep under wraps, but I believe I saw what that is.

 

[Alex...]

 

[JimmyO]

He looks medicated.

 

[Jake Lipson]

If medication helps them, that's a good thing.

 

[jayembee]

He looks medicated.

Which could be the reason for that man-bun.

 

[joshEH]

Director confirms Nice Cage as Superman cameo in the film.

Spoiler

Who was supposed to play Aquaman in Entourage? That should be a cameo here too.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I saw the Monday fan event and although none of my thoughts are really spoilers I’ll put them in the spoiler tag out of respect for those who would prefer to know nothing in advance of today’s opening. But no specific details are revealed and I wouldn’t really consider it a spoiler.

Spoiler

General impressions:
The movie was… fine. Compared to some of the other recent DC movies it did attempt to be a little more humorous, but it ultimately follows the familiar pattern of turning into a giant CGI battle in its third act.

You would think this movie would have played very well among a sold out crowd paying an IMAX premium charge to see it at 10pm four days ahead of the opening, but it got a much more muted reaction than I expected.

The things the crowd reacted best to by far were things that the filmmakers brought in from other movies rather than things that were original to this. The nostalgia of seeing things like Michael Keaton returning as Batman played well and eclipsed reactions to the film’s original content. All of the film’s best moments felt unearned.

The film doesn’t feel organic. It feels like some exec at Warner saw Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse and Spider-Man: No Way Home and said, “what do we have that’s like that?”

For all of the talk about secret spoilers that the studio was trying to hide, the film’s trailers give away the most significant material.

The film doesn’t provide enough character development to earn its emotional beats.

An opening sequence involving the Flash rescuing a plethora of babies falling out the window from a maternity ward was ill-conceived, poorly staged and executed, and neither humorous nor thrilling. The filmmakers clearly intended it to be a mix of funny and exciting but it backfired with the crowd - instead of cheers and laughs, it pulled the audience out of the film and it took a while to get them back.

I don’t think we have to worry about how a potential sequel would handle Ezra Miller’s casting. If this group of dedicated fans going out of their way to see a premium priced Monday late night showing were this unenthusiastic about the film, i don’t see a general audience liking it any more. I don’t think this film will be a big enough success relative to its production budget to earn a follow-up.

And then these are actual spoilers here, so be warned, don’t click til you’ve seen the film:

Spoiler

The cameos all got better reactions than anything else in the film, but they were ultimately inconsequential rather than contributing to the film in a meaningful way.

Neither Affleck nor Keaton’s Batmen felt consistent with prior appearances by those actors in other films. The screenwriters failed to capture the voices of those characters, and while it was wonderful seeing Keaton and Affleck, they were underutilized.

A CGI-enhanced stock footage cameo with Christopher Reeve’s Superman was creepy and useless. He just kinda hovers there and the filmmakers want you to applaud because you love Christopher Reeve, but the moment is both inert and unearned.

It was fun seeing Nicolas Cage but they really did nothing with it - his cameo requires you having knowledge of Kevin Smith’s story about what a Cage Superman movie was to be about for the joke to even land.

They probably should have committed to either having fewer cameos or more. It was a little weird for a character to mention all universes everywhere were collapsing and then showing only the Christopher Reeve and George Reeves versions of the Superman characters. I feel like they should have either pulled in everyone - Kirk Alyn, Dean Cain, Brandon Routh, Henry Cavill, etc. - or no one at all. Same for their Batman stock footage cameos.

I’ve never felt older than when George Clooney appeared and the college-age kid next to me leaned over to ask, “Who is that?”

 

[Richard Kaufman]

Saw this today. No heavy analysis needed for this bit of cinema. It was great. Ezra Miller nailed it. The script gave him ample opportunity to do interesting things with his character(s) and he took full advantage of that. Michael Keaton's return as Batman is more than great. I just read a review saying he was underutilized, which seemed like nonsense to me. He's a secondary player here, but gets a lot of screen time and a wide character arc. The director and screenwriter did more for Ben Affleck's Batman in 15 minutes than Zack Snyder did in several films. The other brief cameos are all well placed and excellent, but there is a quick cluster of them near the end (those who've seen the film will know what I mean) that doesn't work and deflates the more meaningful cameos. I wouldn't even call the "cluster" cameos--they're badly CGI'd glimpses, like a strange checklist ticking off boxes. Three cheers for this film.

 

[Wayne_j]

I really liked this, probably my favorite DCEU film since the first Wonder Woman.

The most Meta quote: "I advise you to find a mental health professional. The Justice League is not well equipped for this. Trust me."

Cameos I did not know about:

Spoiler

Gal Gadot Wonderwoman, George Clooney Batman, Temuera Morrison, Jason Mamoa Aquaman.

 

[jayembee]

I should be going to see this in IMAX tomorrow.

On edit: I nabbed a ticket for 3:00pm at my local Apple Cinema.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

It was much better than I expected. It really worked for me. Ezra Miller was outstanding. To me, this is the best (live action) comic book film since Spider-Man: No Way Home.

I can't wait to see it again.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Im Actually surprised at that “low” RT score. I was expecting much higher due to the advance buzz and trailers.

If you read the negative reviews, many of them are reviewing Ezra Miller's off-screen troubles rather than reviewing the film itself.

 

[Wayne_j]

I forgot to mention that I saw this in IMAX and I suggest seeing it in IMAX or in other suitably large constant width screen auditoriums as the movie is 1.9:1 everywhere.

Ezra was fantastic, but I still think they shouldn't play the part anymore until they are stable for the next 5-10 years. I don't think Ezra should be in any movie until he works out his issues and can show that they are better.

 

[Malcolm R]

Thursday preview estimates at $9 million, similar to previews for Venom, Dr. Strange, and Aquaman. Opening weekend predictions around $70-80 million, though last week they were in the $60 millions, so it'll be an interesting weekend. Monday is also a holiday for some (Juneteenth), so that could boost the 4-day a bit on the back end.

 

[Tino]

Actually now $9.7 million.

‘The Flash’ Strikes $9.7M Thursday Night – Friday AM

UPDATED FRIDAY AM: The Warner Bros DC movie is settling at $9.7M for Thursday night after showtimes that began at 3 p.m. That’s better than expected and $300K shy of what Sony’s Venom d…

deadline.com

 

[Tino]

Just got out from an IMAX screening.

I thought it was a ton of fun and entertaining from beginning to end.

The entire film rests upon the performance(s) of Ezra Miller and he is terrific.

The CGI was iffy tho. Especially certain faces that looked more cartoonish than real. Unless that was deliberate.

All in all a great time at the movies.

 

[jayembee]

Just about to leave for the theater now. Fingers crossed.

 

[Joe Wong]

I thought it was pretty good in and of itself, but maybe the high early praise ("greatest superhero movie ever", etc.) raised my expectations so much that the film wasn't able to meet them. I had tempered those expectations following the reviews over the past week (and RT score around 70%) prior to watching it last night.

The result is a fairly standard, or routine, superhero film for most of its running length.

Spoiler

Barry causes rift in time / universe -> Barry gathers allies -> Team fights threat of Zod

Only towards the end do some more of the time/multiverse intricacies come into play:

1. Barry #2 going back in time so often he becomes Barry #1's obstacle
2. Barry #1 realizing you can't change important events.
3. Barry #1 raising the tomatoes on the shelves (a nice touch)

Miller, Keaton and Calle are all very good. Would have liked to learn more about Kara, actually.

Special effects are quite "weak" in many scenes, but apparently that was the intention (beware of spoilers in the article):

As ‘The Flash’ Visual Effects Baffle Viewers, the Film’s Director Says the VFX Are ‘Intended’ to ‘Look a Little Weird to You’

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains minor spoilers from “The Flash,” now playing in theaters nationwide. Reviews for Warner Bros.’ long-in-the-works “The Flash” mo…

variety.com

So a decent effort, but a fairly standard superhero film in the end. Not the gamechanger it could have been, especially now that the DCEU is wrapping up.