DC Comics’ Scarlett Speedster finally got his own live-action movie this year only to hit a brick wall with unenthusiastic critics and fans and a lack of theater-goers.
The Flash’s timeline alteration to save his mom works, but he ends up stuck in 2013 in a broken universe and now mentoring an 18-year-old version of himself. The bunch of computer-generated actors portraying the legends include Christopher Reeves and Henry Cavill as Superman, Helen Slater as Supergirl and Jason Momoa as Aquaman — all looking like inferior wax figures from Madame Tussauds.
What’s also tragic is that the movie wastes the return of arguably the best movie Batman actor, a well-worn, greying Mr. Keaton. He does a great job of complementing the actors with a wry performance but really has little time to rebuild the emotional weight of his legendary character. A scene in which two Barrys get struck by blue lightning bolts in slow motion truly stands out and is worthy of inspection as glass shatters and neon-colored chemicals spill toward the glowing victims.
Making up for the lack of director Andy Muschietti optional commentary track is a nearly 40-minute-long production diary covering some key moments from the 121-day shoot .