The Flash - Out of Theatre - Frank's Spoiler Free Thoughts

Just left the theatre, come here my spoiler free review and out of theatre thoughts on The Flash. 

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Hey guys. Well, I just got out of seeing the flash, and I wanted to share my thoughts with you, just like I've been doing on the last couple movies. So, first off, I really had a lot of fun with this movie. I thought it was uh delightful. I thought it was had a lot of energy, it was really fun, and I think that this is a great start uh after James Gunn is taken over for the DC. Um, you know, we don't really count Black Adam in there or really Shazam because they were sort of off and running. Um, maybe Shazam, but I think that the flash, this movie, is really sort of James's Gunn's coming out party um into the DC as far as his new role, him and Peter Saffron. And um, I really love this movie. I thought it was great. It was just a lot of fun. The energy was very high. It does have a lot of emotional weight to it for sure. Um, we know the story of Flashpoint, everybody knows the story of Flashpoint. You know, Barry decides to go back into time and save his mother, do something to save his mother so his mother doesn't get killed and his father doesn't go to jail. So that's a big part of this story. So there is a lot of emotional weight to it. And as we've seen from the trailers, it's not just one Barry Allen, there's another Barry Allen, and it's a younger Barry Allen. And I gotta say, man, Ezra Miller landed this for sure. He landed, he stuck the landing on having him play off of himself and having two Barry Allen's and what they diametrically would be like in opposition to each other, in terms of how what their existence would be based on uh Barry's mother living or dying. The berries are very different in personality, and that's what I really loved about this, and how they played off of each other, and how that contributed to the tension, to their chemistry, to sort of every interaction they have throughout the movie. It's great, it's really, really well done, and they're charming together, they feed off of each other, they're almost they almost become best friends. Like that's sort of the vibe that you get where they're sort of like best buddies, and it's really great. And again, I think Miller made each of them unique to each other, especially with the younger one. Like he took the younger one and almost sort of guessed at what Barry's personality would be like if his mother had lived, if he had had a full life with both of his parents, and I think he nailed it. I really did. The the two characters are, like I said, they're very different to each other, but they complement each other in so many different ways. And uh, I just love that part of the movie. I think it's awesome, I think it's brilliant. And hats off to Christina Christina Hodson. Uh, I think if you guys have heard my review of Harley Quinn, um the Harley Gwynn, the Birds of Prey movie, Christina Hodson wrote that one too, and I was not a fan of that movie at all. I thought that the writing really lacked, but the Flash movie, the writing does not lack. The script is probably one of the highlights of this movie is the quality of the writing, the quality of the script, and the quality of the character development. I thought that those were the high points for sure. Now let's talk about some of the action sequences. They were spectacular, man. Like we're talking like straight out of the comic books kind of stuff. We've seen the stuff in the trailers with the Batman on the highway, and that stuff is just uh the tip of the iceberg. There's some really great, amazing scenes, especially with the flash, the opening sequence with the flash or the opening scene or the opening um um um setting, you know, for the movie or the setup for the movie is is excellent. And I really love that part. I'm not gonna get into specifics, but it's funny, it's irreverent, and it's also very flash. Like it's almost they went back into Flash comic books and they looked at, hey, what are some really cool feats that the Flash has done? What are some things that he's done, you know, to sort of showcase his powers? And I think they nailed that part. I really do. I think they definitely nailed it, and it's just a great sequence, it's a lot of fun. I was laughing out loud, so was the people in my theater. We were all laughing out loud at certain points, and it was just it was great. Um, there are some cameos in the beginning of the movie that you're not aware of yet, and they're fantastic and they're played well, and you do get some real context, some real substance out of one of the cameos that I really enjoyed. Well, it may not be substantive to you, but it was definitely substantive to me because I personally like this gag. I know a lot of people don't like this gag, but I like it. And as far as the humor goes in the entire film, I will say that there's some few out-of-place kind of jokes that aren't quite organic to the characters or to the story, but the majority of the jokes are definitely organic to the character and to the story and to the events of the movie. You know, it's just reactionary to what's happening in the film, a reactionary to what's been said, and that's the kind of humor that I really jive on. And there's some really, really funny beats, like I'm not gonna lie. And Ezra Miller, Miller really does have exceptional comedic timing, they are naturals when it comes to comedy, and I really enjoyed their performance as far as the comedy goes. For sure, I just think Miller has a natural knack for comedy. I think they thrive on it, and they are really good at it, and I want to see more of Miller doing comedy, and it's perfect because it lines up with how we knew them as the flash within the context of the Justice League. They were the comedic, you know, the comedic, uh, the comedic relief. Uh Barry Allen was the comedic relief. And I think Miller nails it as far as the comedy goes. I love seeing Ben Affleck again as Batman. I think that's something that probably all of you would have assumed ahead of time. Loved seeing that. I thought that he had a great performance. They gave him some pretty choice lines, something very significant to sort of add to the story and and add to what Barry Allen is dealing with within the story. So I really enjoyed that. And um Keaton was great. Uh Keaton had a great performance. It was fun to see him do the 89 Batman again. I thought that was awesome. But I still hold out on the idea that I would want to see the Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Thomas Wayne, Batman, that part of Flashpoint carried out in this. I know why they went back to Michael Keaton for 89 Batman because this movie really is sort of a love letter to all DC fans, and they do revisit a lot of the DC lore, the DC experiences we've already had, and they do touch on that throughout the entire movie, so be prepared for that for sure. But I really would have enjoyed seeing Jeffrey D. Morgan take on the role of Thomas Wayne and to do Flashpoint that way. That would have been my first choice. But Keaton does really bring something to this movie, and he's a lot of fun, and the action sequences are great. But you're sitting there in the theater scratching your chin and going, well, could he have really done that? Like, that's some pretty acrobatic, you know, hardcore superhero shit. Could Keaton really do that at his age? I'm not trying to be an ageist, I'm just trying to be a realist, and that sort of takes me out of the movie a little bit when I have to think about stuff like that. So I'd rather it'd been somebody, again, with the physicality to play the role. And I was never a big fan of the physical element of Michael Keaton as Batman, even when they first introduced him in '89. That didn't look like Bruce Wayne to me. I know it was Tim Burton's version of Bruce Wayne, and that's fine. But at the end of the day, Michael Keaton, Michael Keaton does not do not look like Bruce Wayne for me. You know, Bruce Wayne is uh sort of the body type of Ben Athlek, Henry Cavill. Um, you know, they're big, uh, they're bulky, and they got square draws, and they they look like Bruce Wayne. And I just don't think Michael Keaton looks like Bruce Wayne. So I've always felt a little detached from the Michael Keaton version of Bruce Wayne. Not that I didn't enjoy his movies, I did enjoy his Batman movies, but there are better versions of Batman to me. So uh Sasha Kelly, uh Supergirl, didn't play that much of a role in this film, uh, like, or as big a role as I thought she would have been playing. And there are some call-outs to Henry Cavill's version of Superman, the Snyderverse version of Superman, Cal L, and uh, I thought that was kind of cool. And this movie definitely does not erase the Snyderverse, it it doesn't dishonor the Snyderverse, it almost sort of tries to stay within the Snyderverse or almost branch off from it, but because of I think casting challenges as the cast has sort of changed, they've sort of had to adjust on the fly, and that's kind of why it doesn't fully pay homage to the Snyderverse because it's a very different, it's a very different world. For instance, there's one character that's referenced that the actor has been long gone from the role for quite a while. So I don't know what to make of that. Um, I know there's a lot of Snyder fans that were up in arms about the fact that, you know, this was going to be the movie that was supposed to erase the Snyderverse, but it definitely doesn't. And the other thing I'll definitely say about this movie is that there is no identity politics, it's not woke, there's no intersectional feminism, any of that kind of crap. There's no preaching, no proselytizing. It is just a fun ride and a good comic book movie. Uh, the final action sequence, uh, you know, I think has come under some criticism because of uh some some uh some wonky CGI, and I will say that there's a lot of wonky CGI in this movie. Andy Machete is already sort of trying to explain it away, but I think the better explanation is that Ezra Miller's erratic availability has made it hard for the creative teams to you know meet deadlines and to obviously get the shots because he is the lead role in the movie, get the shots that they need and to work with them in post-production. And if any rewrites happen or any reshoots happen, again, that delays the schedule. So I think you know, the seed, you know, I think the CGI special effects team was sort of stretched very thin, and they were just having trouble making deadlines, and they had to cut some corners because there's definitely a lot of questionable CGI in the movie. And there are parts in the movie where the CGI, the volume of it, is just so great that I think that they had no other choice but to do it in some sort of stylized way that would alleviate the pressure on the special effects team to complete it. So that's something else to keep an eye out for. Don't let it ruin the movie for you, it didn't ruin the movie for me. And um, yeah, this is just one you gotta go see. I think a lot of D DC fans are really gonna appreciate this movie. Uh, Zod was cool, Michael Shannon was back, and he was awesome, but not a lot to do with him. Um, he sort of just kind of fills in some of the third act, and um obviously Fayor is back, and I can't remember the name of the dude, the the the the big the big guy, the Krypton Kryptonian guy, but he's back and also the Kryptonian ships and all that. Um so the final sequence leaves a little bit to be desired, it's a little short, and it does have a greater meaning behind it as you kind of get into it, but at the same time, uh the the bulk of the best parts of the movie, I think, are just before the third act, but that's me. But then like the final the final conclusion of the film is uh is interesting. Uh they make some interesting creative choices with that. And yeah, I think it's gonna, you know, like this film's definitely gonna make you think. I had me thinking about a lot of things in terms of the relationship between the characters. You know, it's you know, it's it's it's not you know, it's not a simplistic film. There's some complexity to it, there's some dimension, the characters have some depth to them. And yeah, you know, I would recommend this film full stamp of approval from me. You know, go see this movie. I think everybody's gonna have a lot of fun with it. Let's uh let's keep our fingers crossed that it does well at the box office because I do want the DC to sort of recover from their box office woes, and I think it'll be a good indication, you know. We had we had Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3, we had Across the Spider-Verse, which was fantastic. We had well, so was Guardians, and now we have this movie, and I think that this may be an indication as to that comic book media is having some new life breathed into it, and I do think it has a lot to do with getting back to just entertaining the fans and leaving the politics and the social commentary or the heavy-handed social commentary. You know, there's good social commentary, which is in subtext, and I will always be there for something like that. But I'm talking about the heavy-handed, overt stuff that we've had to deal with in the past. And I think, I think a lot of the success that we're seeing has to do with the fact that these filmmakers are starting to realize that they've been alienating audiences and now that they have, you know, now that they have a way or you know, a clear picture of what it's going to take to get them back. And I feel really enthusiastic about that. I don't know about you guys. But anyways, we'll have our spoiler hot review for the flash up as soon as I get the gang together and we get a chance to record it. Thank you so much for listening to my out-of-theater thoughts. And if you have any comments or questions, feel free to hit us up on Twitter at meanwhile underscore pod or Instagram at meanwhile underscore pod. Um, or check out our YouTube channel. You can comment in the in one of the videos. Um, we do want to hear from you guys. It would be awesome if you guys could leave us some voice messages on our speakpipe, speakpipe.com forward slash meanwhile pod. If your question is good enough, we'll definitely edit it into the show and we'll try and answer it on air for you. And uh maybe you'll get famous from that. Maybe we'll see. Anyways, thanks so much for joining us. Uh, we'll talk to you guys soon. To be continued. I'm Frank McGuire. Peace.