The Flash as a character has been around in various forms since the 40s (DC has had three separate main Flashes, plus an entire family of spin-offs and sidekicks), so they've had plenty of time to come up with new twists on his super-speed. Time and dimensional travel is one; being able to vibrate his molecules so he can move between solid objects is another. Throw in some lightning bolts and you'd have a pretty effective fighting machine if Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) wasn't so much of a dork.
Treated as a joke by his co-workers at CSI Central City and used as something of a last resort by the Justice League - with Alfred (Jeremy Irons) handling the disaster relief scheduling - Allen's mostly a goof who's funny largely by accident. But he's deadly serious when it comes to trying to free his father (Ron Livingstone), currently in prison for murdering his wife / Allen's mother (Maribel Verdu) in a crime that seems to have been a case of the police arresting the first person they saw and saying "yeah, he'll do".
When Allen accidentally discovers the ability to run so fast he can travel back in time (via a visually interesting temporal amphitheater where past events circle around him like 3D frames of film - the closer in time they are, the nearer they get to him) he's tormented enough by the possibilities to have a brief chat with Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck), who advises him that the past has made him who he is today. Unfortunately, the past has made Allen into someone who wants to mess with the past, and so back to save his mother he goes.
It's no surprise that time travel only makes things more complicated, and not just because now there are two Allens - "our" version and a teenage one who never lost his parents and might not gain his powers unless Allen gets him in the right place at the right time. Then General Zod (Michael Shannon) shows up just like he did in that Superman movie, only there doesn't seem to be a Superman handy and when the Allens go ask for Batman's help it turns out this Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton) isn't the one our Allen was expecting.
Like all multiverse movies, the whole point is that there's a lot to take in. Having two Barry Allens works well for Miller, as he gets to play up the comedy side with the younger version while the older one is slightly more tortured (and annoyed at his younger self). The traditional superhero angst here is largely kept simmering in the background but it's well used when it comes to the fore, making for one of the more solidly satisfying DCU movies to date.
The always-reliable Keaton is basically the third lead once he shows up. His version of Bruce Wayne gets enough of a character arc (and a very cool batcave) to make his appearance feel worthwhile and not just a nostalgia cash-grab trap for Tim Burton fans. Sadly Zod and Supergirl (Sasha Calle) are basically glorified cameos. Everyone else? Pretty much action figures.
The story moves fast (sorry) and the action scenes are thrilling, but the big surprise here is how funny it often is. Some scenes - most notably a big early rescue based on a "baby shower" pun - go for a more over-the-top and cartoony take than we've seen in the DC movies (aside from new boss James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, so the DCU's new direction possibly starts here). The DC films have often distinguished themselves from the Marvel pack by actually putting in some thought as to cool things you could do with superpowers, and there are a number of decent gags (and a few dramatic moments) based on Allen's connection to the Speed Force.
The recent Spider-verse film might have stolen some of the multiversal thunder, but The Flash is more about the ideas and possibilities of an interactive multiverse. Here it's Barry Allen's actions and choices that create the parallel worlds as a reflection of his drive to change his own circumstances - they're not just a setting that enables him to meet a bunch of different versions of himself.
He meets a bunch of different versions of the more popular character Batman instead.
- Anthony Morris
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