The Flash has issues and Ezra Miller is only one of them
Long-anticipated Flash film was made for superfans and that's a problem
The long-delayed Flash movie arrives at a curious time for Warner Bros. After watching Marvel drink their milkshake, the studio handed Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn and film producer Peter Safran the keys to the kingdom. Gunn has already written a script for a new Superman film. There's talk of a new Batman and Robin, Supergirl, Swamp Thing and (gasp) Booster Gold projects.
But first there's The Flash. A leftover from the Zack Snyder reign of the Justice League era, the super powered speedster played by Ezra Miller is finally fronting his own adventure.
While much of the Snyderverse was overly dark and dour, Miller's performance as the Flash was a welcome spark of levity. The scientist in over his head trying to make the most of his abilities is as close as DC has come to creating a Peter Parker of their own.
But the long-delayed and highly anticipated film, which opens Friday, has issues — beyond the alleged inappropriate behaviour of its star.
Be warned. If you haven't been studying the history of DC comics-inspired content with the devotion of talmudic scholar, the climactic moments of The Flash may leave you befuddled.
Miller re-emerges with potential
Finally in production after going through more directors than Batman costume changes, the studio settled on Andy Muschietti who made waves with his adaptations of the Stephen King It films. In February 2021, cameras began to roll.
Then Ezra Miller started making headlines with a series of accusations and multiple charges laid against them.
The actor, who goes by they and them pronouns, was charged with burglary in Vermont. They pled guilty to misdemeanour unlawful trespass and in 2023 began serving a one year probation. They were also arrested twice in Hawaii, where a harassment charge was dismissed and Miller paid a $500 fine.
As the release date approached, the actor stayed out of the spotlight and was said to be receiving treatment for mental health issues. Earlier this week, Miller re-emerged. At their sole red carpet appearance they pointedly thanked Warner Bros. executives, "For your grace and discernment and care in the context of my life."
What complicates the questions around Miller's actions is that their performance in The Flash is unequivocally what makes the film different than anything DC has ever released.
Miller plays Barry as someone who is not normal but desperate to be. His mind races, he's constantly ravenous for food to fuel his speed powers.
In person, he's awkward and any attempt to compensate, like when the thinly sketched love interest Iris West drops by, creates hilarious moments.
With Flash on speed dial from Wayne Manor, Barry complains about being the Justice League's janitor. With all his abilities he still can't outrun his trauma. The death of his mother hangs over him. When the hero discovers an ability to run back in time, things get messy.
The trouble with time travel
As Barry stumbles across a younger, less haunted version of himself, Miller's abilities multiply. The two Barrys share a lot of screen time and could not be more distinct. Unmarred by trauma, the younger Barry is a happy college student who behaves more like a young Keanu Reeves than a haunted hero.
While the film begins with Ben Affleck as Batman, the new timeline brings the Barrys to a different caped crusader — Michael Keaton returning as a semi-retired version of Batman from the Tim Burton films. Even in his kitchen, using pasta to explain trouble with time travel, Keaton commands the screen. He doesn't need the Batsuit, just that arched eyebrow and a hint of danger.
With the return of Zod, the Man of Steel's former foe, there's another villain to stop, except this reality doesn't have a Superman but rather Kara, Superman's cousin, played by Sasha Calle.
As the Barrys leap into action, there are moments that soar. Keaton is a hoot to watch, Batman grimacing as he leaps into battle, and boy that Batwing can fly. While Calle isn't given much to work with, she rises to the occasion as Supergirl. The two Barrys are a blur as the battlefield fills with red and blue streaks, but as the consequences of altering the timestream multiply, everything that made The Flash distinct recedes into the background.
As a child, I loved reading comic book crossover events. Marvel had Secret Wars. DC has Crisis on Infinite Earths. For 75 cents you could read about the fates of dozens, even hundreds of heroes. Now, as movies rush to give us the same giddy thrills, we're caught in a Crisis of Infinite Content.
Like Spider-Man: No Way Home and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, The Flash has reached the event horizon it seems all superhero stories arrive at, a self-referential realm where movies and moments from past and present intermingle.
When Marvel first began to interconnect its films, I was amazed that the concept of a shared comic book continuity was finally coming to the movies. Now as I struggle to keep up, I wonder if by creating these movie multiverses, these heroic stories have lost the ability to connect to wider audiences.
Made for superfans vs. standalone appeal
I've had the opportunity to see The Flash twice. Once at CinemaCon in Las Vegas in a theatre packed with critics, superfans and theatre owners. The film was so fresh the visual effects were unfinished and what we watched was described as a rough cut.
It didn't matter. The crowd feasted on it. They yelped when Keaton quoted himself from the Tim Burton original saying "Let's get nuts." This was a theatre of fans and we devoured what DC set in front of us.
More recently, I watched The Flash in a much smaller theatre with a crowd made up of a few critics and mainly ticket winners. This was not the kind of audience that would instantly recognize a Batman quote. They were just looking for a night out.
When the big meta-moments arrived, instead of cheers there were just a few quiet whoops of recognition.
Let's do another kind of time travel. Come with me to 1978.
Richard Donner's Superman didn't need to remind the audience of Clark Kent's comic strip roots or add in a cameo from TV Superman George Reeves, all it needed was a 6-4 actor who could be meek and mighty, no CGI required. Superman was a mainstream smash, as was Tim Burton's original '89 Batman. Sure there were nods to the comics, but Burton focused on creating his standalone gothic and gloomy interpretation.
A luxury few directors have today with movies now part of a larger daisy chain of corporate play pieces, each one dutifully connecting to next as we sit watching the end credits trained to wait for clues.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse showed us how these cameos can be delightful but the story succeeded because of the rigorous focus on the characters. Meanwhile The Flash is so focused on opening a world of possibilities, the original story and the potential of Ezra Miller's performance is an afterthought.
The result is a film that reminds us of the movies we grew up with, but will this Flash be remembered so fondly in 20 years to come?
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