Review: Flash

Film: Flash
Director: Andy Muschietti
Screenplay: Christina Hodson
Cast: Sasha Calle, Michael Shannon, Ron Livingston Maribel Verdú, Kiersey Clemons, Antje Traue and Michael Keaton
Cinematography: Henry Braham
Costume Designer: Alexandra Bryne
Music: Benjamin Wallfisch
Rating: 2.5 stars

Director Andy Muschietti’s ‘Flash’ is a mixed bag, having some moments that can thrill and others that can disappoint.

Overall, the film gives you the impression that its makers, devoid of ideas, have gone back to the dumping yard to rummage through old ideas. The makers seem to have picked a time-tested idea and used it to spin a new tale.

So, what is this old idea and what is the spin that’s been given to it? Well, what else could it be other than time travel?

Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) is under pressure as the day for the verdict in his mother’s killing case nears. The poor bloke is frustrated for he knows that his dad, who has been accused of killing his mother, is innocent as he was in a store buying tomato sauce at the time of the crime.

Sadly, he cannot prove his dad’s innocence because his dad does not show his face in the CC TV at the store. Barry wonders what he can do to save his dad and an idea strikes him.

What if his dad did not have to go to the store in the first place to buy tomato sauce? He would have been with his mom and would have protected her from the killer. The murder would not have happened in the first place!

But why did Barry’s dad have to go the store on that fateful day to buy tomato sauce? It was because his mom had forgotten to buy extra sauce. What if he went back in time, and altered the sequence of events in such a way that his mom had an extra can of tomato sauce? This gets the superhero excited and he gets down to the task of using his superpowers to travel back in time, looking to change the sequence of events to save not just his mother but also his father.

However, what the superhero does not realise then is that changing the past can have serious consequences.

Barry’s trip to the past gets him trapped in a reality in which General Zod has returned, threatening annihilation, and there are very few superheroes he can turn to for help…

Hollywood can seem to think of nothing else other than time travel. And of course, the male super heroes can’t handle their challenges themselves and invariably require assistance from their female counterparts.

Yes, like several other Hollywood films that get made these days, Flash too has all of these. And like in other superhero franchises now, what appears to be a humungous challenge to the male superheroes is child’s play for the female ones.

Actually speaking, what annoys you the most is not the female superheroes being showcased as being more powerful than the male ones. The real cause of annoyance is dumbing down a male superhero character for the sake of glorifying a female superhero character.

The manner in which Barry Allen’s character has been portrayed might appeal to fans of Flash. But to most others, the level of immaturity might make you feel sick.

There’s nothing much to speak about the film, which is quite an exhausting affair.

To cut a long story short, Flash is again old wine in a new flashy bottle.