The Flash (4k UHD + Blu-Ray + Digital HD)
Blu-Ray Reviews | Sep 4th, 2023
Starring: Ezra Miller, Michael Keaton, Sasha Calle, Michael Shannon, Ron Livingston, Maribel Verdú, Kiersey Clemons, Antje Traue
Written By: Christina Hodson, John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, Joby Harold
Directed By: Andy Muschietti
Studio: Warner Bros
Buy On Amazon.com
I didn’t particularly have high expectations for the Flash but I was hoping it would be entertaining at least. I don’t know what it was about this movie, but I was pretty much bored with it throughout. Not even Michael Keaton’s awesome return as Batman could have saved this sloppy CGI-snoozefest.
There’s really not much to say about the story except it’s Barry/The Flash (Ezra Miller) going back in time to prevent his mother’s death and wrongful imprisonment of Barry’s father (Ron Livingston). From doing that, Barry causes a lot of problems with the Universes, Multiverse, Spiderverse, Flashverse, DCEUverse, whatever it’s being called. He gets some help from battling General Zod (Michael Shannon) in another universe from a retired Bruce Wayne / Batman (Michael Keaton) and Kal-El’s cousin, Kara Zor-El (Sasha Calle).
All the personal stuff with Ezra Miller aside, let’s just talk about the movie at hand. I think Ezra is a bit much acting wise, and the fact that there were two Barry Allen’s for most of the movie…it was kind of too much. I liked the opening sequence until there were bad looking CGI babies falling out of windows. Ben Affleck appears in the beginning and I felt like I needed subtitles for him as Batman. Taking acting tips from Tom Hardy or something. Seeing Michael Keaton back as Batman was awesome to see, and he was the best thing about these movies. I kind of wish they just had him in the movie and it was a retired Batman movie.
I’m not sure where to begin with all the faults of the movie. The story was ok, but at the same time – I’m so over the multiverse, time travel and all that from the MCU and Spiderverse. Multiverse storylines remind me of “it was all a dream” lazy writing you see in movies and TV shows. It’s like, what’s the point? The special effects were pretty awful for today’s standards. A lot of the deep fake, AI, CGI whatever, portrayals of humans looked like Scorpion King bad from The Mummy Returns. I was expecting more besides a sloppy story and excessive CGI, with all these cameos just for the sake of cameos. What is this, the Simpsons?
The 4k and Blu-Ray had a lot of great special effects (if you enjoyed the movie that is). The 4k has more extras obviously but there’s 2 alone that’s worth an hour. There’s deleted scenes, scene breakdowns, podcasts and lots more! It’s definitely interesting seeing how the movie was made, in the Making The Flash: Worlds Collide featurette.
The movie is probably entertaining for some but I really only enjoyed the parts with Batman in it. The CGI and special effects were too much, and mediocre at best. I know a lot of people worked hard on these movies but some of the things put in this movie shouldn’t have given the go-ahead on it because it just didn’t look right. Like here’s a CGI Henry Cavill, for the sake of having it. The amount of slow-mo they used for this film, it could have shaved off a good half hour. Not every movie needs to be over 2 hours long.
I’m probably in the minority here but I thought Black Adam was more entertaining but the last bunch of DC movies weren’t that great. I think the last one I actually liked was the first Shazam, or James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. I’m just happy this DCEU is over and hopefully we’ll be getting better DC movies in the future.
Features:
Making The Flash: Worlds Collide
Flashpoint: Introducing the DC Multiverse
Let’s Get Nuts: Batman Returns, Again!
The Bat Chase
Saving Supergirl
Battling Zod
Fighting Dark Flash
The Flash: The Saga of the Scarlet Speedster
Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Krypton
Deleted Scenes
The Flash: Escape the Midnight Circus Trailer
The Flash: Escape the Midnight Circus
The Flash in Session: Escape the Midnight Circus
Video:
Codec: HEVC / H.265
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Aspect ratio: 1.90:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.90:1
Audio:
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbps)
Subtitles:
English SDH, French, Spanish
Bottom Line: Michael Keaton aside, this movie is a CGI mess
Running Time: 144 mins
Rating: PG-13
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating:
