I know everyone expected The Flash to be one of the greatest superhero movies in history — not least of all because every executive and crew member hyped it up to be — but it seems that Ezra Miller’s Scarlet Speedster is going down as yet another lackluster outing surviving only by the grace of its cameo-filled, fan-servicey nature.
That’s not to say the reviews indicate a terrible film. Far from it, in fact. But when you spend months building up the anticipation and continually assuring everyone that it’s going to be worth the wait, the jarring contrast of mixed reviews isn’t going to do the movie any favors.
As of this writing, The Flash is 72% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes based on 58 critics and boasts a not-so-decent 60/100 on Metacritic based on 26 aggregated reviews.
The Hollywood Reporter gave the movie an overall positive review, writing, “This long-gestating stand-alone showcase for the Fastest Man Alive is enjoyable entertainment, even if it spends more time spinning its wheels than reinventing them.”
Total Film confirmed our worst fears about The Flash by noting that the CGI is an “eyesore,” though director Andrés Muschietti might go about it rather confidently from start to finish.
Entertainment Weekly was more critical in its assessment, and wrote, “Rather than the beginning of a cool, new idea, The Flash now feels like it should be the last word on movie multiverses.”
Collider noted that “cameos and fan service are fine to have, but the story has to be there to back them up, and it’s not quite there with The Flash.”
And if you thought that was embarrassing for the movie, wait until you hear what TheWrap has to say on Muschietti’s event blockbuster: “It’s hard to imagine a film with less strength of conviction than The Flash, a time travel movie about why it’s bad to retcon the past, but which exists entirely to convince the audience that retconning the past, present and (potentially) the future of the DC superhero franchise is a super cool thing to do.”
Coming on the heels of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which was universally acclaimed, The Flash might not seem like a huge miss as far as the geekdom is concerned. That being said, this movie was the SnyderVerse’s last chance at redemption, and if it fails in theaters much as it has with critics, then this will truly serve as the final nail in the coffin of a cinematic venture that, in hindsight, shouldn’t have lasted as long as it did.