RATING- 3/10
The Flash is another lazy attempt at banking on the ongoing multiverse trend in Hollywood superhero movies and out of the lot, it is certainly the least impressive one due to more factors than one. According to various sources, people were overhyping the film as the best superhero movie and whatnot earlier this year but all these claims prove to be false as this is easily one of the laziest blockbusters made in recent times. Despite all the negative aspects, it surely is more tolerable than Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and Shazam: Fury of the Gods but that is credited only to the nostalgia bait this film provides. But all the glitters are not gold as its rival studio already churned out two amazing nostalgia rides full of heart in the last two years featuring the same character and this surely pales in comparison in an awful attempt to ape those film's sucesses.
The film relies on silly, slapstick comedy to entertain audiences and the overdose of that is felt in the first hour itself and it just doesn't stop till the movie ends. Even the serious moments are hampered by lame jokes by the 2012 version of the titular character. The story is predictable and generic and doesn't offer a lot of surprises except cameos if you've seen the trailers. The dialogues are as cringe as cringe gets with a bad attempt at making the characters funny for most of the film which gets exhausting as a viewer after a while. The screenplay runs at breakneck speed which is detrimental to actually getting the audinces invested in the story. Events keep happening without a single break to actually consume them properly. Films like John Wick and Mission Impossible which are sold on their star power, action and stunts also have these necessary breaks and that's what make them narratively intriguing as well. The film tries hard at making the audience sympathise with a tragedy which shook the protagonist in his youth but the film doesn't get enough time to that and when it does during the epilogue, it is too late and the emotional moment feels like its come out straight from an overdramatic Bollywood movie instead. A central character who was to be introduced in the film gets nothing to do and gets little to no development, another factor that disappointed me in the film.
Coming to the technical front, the film has laughably awful VFX which is a travesty for a 250 million film. It makes the film look unfinished for most of the part and with the superhero genre relying heavily on visual effects, they have to be good to provide an immersive experience. The cinematography is the only technical aspect that is somewhat remarkable but that is only because the film is filmed with expensive IMAX cameras. Film has nothing to write about in the music department and with the multiverse film released 2 weeks ago having a spectacular original album used effectively in the film too, it has been proven that how original music elevates the viewing experience and should be used more often by Hollywood as a tool for storytelling. The performances by the entire cast, except the veteran Micheal Keaton as his rendition of Batman, are also average at best.
The Flash OTT Release Date: When will Ezra Miller's movie stream online?
Overall, The Flash is a failed attempt at creating a good film but a great attempt at earning free dollars in the name of nostalgia, which it offers in abundance but the weak storytellling and technical aspects make this just another corporate blockbuster nothing to write home about. Recommended only if you follow all superhero movies or have too much free time and want to spend it on a slapstick comedy film.
3/10