The Daily Observer London Desk: Reporter- John Furner
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 box office bomb looks to recruit some fresh home entertainment viewers with its release to the ultra-high definition disc format in The Flash (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, rated PG-13, 1.90:1 aspect ratio, 144 minutes, $39.98).
An intriguing story offers an origin of the Flash aka Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) that also focuses on his meddling with the space-time continuum. It and was adapted from a famed sequential art crossover event from 2011 called Flashpoint.
Essentially, the hero can go back in time using the sheer force of speed to stop a family tragedy while accidentally altering the timeline, leading to potentially cataclysmic results. Never mess with the timeline, kiddies.
More specifically, the Flash is a member of the Justice League, buddies with Batman and handles some of the lesser important missions around the world but remains obsessed with clearing his dad for wrongly being convicted of killing his mother.
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.
Both must now find the heroes of that period including Batman (Michael Keaton returns as the Bat) and a missing Superman, replaced by Supergirl (Sasha Calle), to stop General Zod (Michael Shannon reprising his role) from destroying the earth to rebuild Krypton.
Before watching the bloated epic, I was forewarned about issues with the spotty visual effects, now overtly highlighted in the 4K format.
Examples include a baby about 11 minutes in that looks as fake as rubber, and Flash’s moments in the Chronobowl, where his Speed Force powers allow him to view and visit alternate versions of characters in the various timelines.
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.
Also head-shakable are some of the battle scenes, such as Batman fighting a large Kryptonian, an especially underwhelming scene that looks pulled from a decades-old 3D fighting video game.
The serviceable plot will make viewers forget some of the shoddy effects, but then, there is Miller.
Unfortunately, I found it impossible to divorce the accumulating destructive real-life actions of Miller from their heroic movie role. If I had never seen a news report about the actor and their chronic encounters with law enforcement, I might have warmed to their somewhat quirky and giddy portrayal much more.
Instead, “The Flash” could have had a better chance of success with an actor carrying less baggage, which has been argued by others as well as fans.
By far, The WB’s Grant Gustin would have been a better choice to represent the hero in the entire DC Comics cinematic universe, having served as the Flash for nine seasons on the well-received television show.
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.
Equally tragic is the complete waste of Mr. Shannon, one of the best actors working today. He is regulated to a cash grab status, getting beaten on by Supergirl, beating up Supergirl and stuck in a visual effects’ exo-suit, always wearing that translucent helmet and with very little dialogue.
Ultimately viewers are left with a decent superhero movie, despite my gripes, packed with nostalgia, some big-budgeted battles and certainly worthy of a rental if just for DC Comics‘ movie fans to see Mr. Keaton back in the batsuit.
4K in action: Whatever might be missing from the plot gets made up for in the stellar 2160p transfer from a 4K digital intermediate presented no less in the IMAX aspect ratio that fills the screen with the Flash’s electrifying and colorful hijinks.
By far, the running effects shine in every scene as high dynamic range enhancements allow for the tendrils of electricity generated as Barry runs to overwhelm with rich, dynamic colors and pointed detail.
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.
An even more overwhelming hue saturation can be found in the Chronobowl as swirling bursts of neon blues, reds, pinks, purples and oranges saturate the screen as timeline orbs collide and surround the Barrys as they argue over how to solve their time crisis.
The reference quality crispness of the 4K presentation can also be seen in the impeccably designed superhero costumes including the textures of the Flash’s red patterned, circuited bodysuit with glowing yellow metallic logo, Batman’s leather suit, cape and rubbery cowl, Supergirl’s flowing red cape with metallic red and silver Kryptonian emblem.
Perhaps a moment to most remember is Barry and Supergirl hovering above the Earth in a lightning storm, a scene delivering a mixture of all the imagery enhancements that are great about the movie’s visual experience.
