Has there been any production in recent memory with more off-set issues than The Flash? OK, maybe The Idol, but the DC Comics’ superhero flick has been besieged by drama, most of it centred around the lead star, Ezra Miller.
Burglary, assaults, drunken outbursts and a lot more besides, the full timeline of troubling events surrounding Miller – who is currently “committed to their recovery – and their behaviour can be read in full here. But, by and large, the studio stuck by the actor. DC Comics CEOs James Gunn even promised: “I will say here that Flash is probably one of the greatest superhero movies ever made.”
So, now the film has had its first screenings, what are people actually making of it? Here’s what the first reviews are saying:
Variety
“The thing is, none of it makes a lot of sense. In The Flash, the multiverse of possibilities that opens up by toying with the past becomes an excuse to throw everything but the Batcave sink at the audience. Despite the vividness of its star, the movie steamrolls Ezra Miller’s personality as it goes along…For a while, Ezra Miller brings it. But they deserved better, and so do we.” (Owen Gleiberman)
Rolling Stone
“This beleagured cinematic universe has finally hit upon a winning film, and one that will be forever tainted…But it is a reminder that you can make a superhero movie that seeks to unite all worlds but can’t quite reckon with the one outside the theater. And it’s proof that you can always run as fast as your superhuman intellectual property can manage, but there are things that you simply aren’t able to hide.” (David Fear)
Deadline
“The hype is real. DC’s The Flash might not be the greatest comic book movie ever made, but it comes damn close. Easily the best in the genre since Spider-Man: No Way Home, this fresh, invigorating and hugely entertaining summer treat is as good as it gets when it comes to cinematic takes on superheroes.” (Peter Hammond)
The Guardian
“Despite some diverting touches, Miller’s smirking, gurning, mugging doppelganger performance is a trial and in any case gets lost in the inevitable third-act CGI battle apocalypse, which is weightlessly free of jeopardy and, like the rest of the film, does not exactly go by in a flash…The intellect in this intellectual property is draining away.” (Peter Bradshaw)
The Independent
“The film arriving here is an odd one – muddled and uncertain of its own identity, coloured by outside circumstance, but oddly poignant at times. It’s stuck somewhere in between cynical fan service and a more sincere yearning to create art out of corporate strategising.” (Clarisse Loughrey)
Evening Standard
“30 year-old Miller, in a double role, has never been more versatile, iconic or touching, and that their chemistry with Michael Keaton, making a much-hyped return as one of the multiverse’s Batmans, is cause for cartwheels…this is one of the best superhero movies of the 21st century so far. Just sit back and enjoy the flashes of greatness.” (Charlotte O’Sullivan).
The Flash hits cinema screens on 14 June.
