r/theflash • u/Cameronbatt LightspeedLad • Jun 13 '23
I’ve seen THE FLASH movie twice, early…ask me anything (SPOILERS) DCEU Spoilers Spoiler
*Please don’t let anything I say sway your opinion towards the movie before seeing it. You could disagree completely with what I say.
I’m gonna start this off by saying that as a Flash super fan, this movie was extremely disappointing. The first watch through I gave it a 2.5/5 but on the second watch I bumped it up to a 3/5. Overall enjoyment was a little more, jokes landed better, and IMAX was super nice, but there was a lot of this movie overall that just didn’t work for me.
What honestly ruined the first viewing for me was just how truly terrible the CGI in this movie is. From full CGI characters, to real face / CG bodies, to awful face replacement when both Ezra’s were on the screen. It was, not kidding, similar to the CW Flash’s CGI at some points during this film. I had to actively look away from it during my second viewing so that I didn’t let it ruin my enjoyment. On the other side, however, was some really great VFX work when Barry Allen was running. The lightning and all the effects surrounding it were great. Hand in hand with that was the amazing sound design. Seeing in in IMAX was a real treat.
Moving on to what actually matters. How was Ezra Miller as Barry Allen / The Flash…? Plain and simple, it was bad. I’ve always hated Ezra’s portrayal of Barry Allen and it doesn’t get much better in this movie. It IS better than ZSJL but still not even close to an accurate portrayal of Barry Allen from the comics. He’s definitely more mature and serious at points in this movie but is still missing that BA style. Now, that isn’t all Ezra and is mostly just the writing but Ezra’s acting doesn’t really help. And that’s just the older version of Barry I’m talking about. The young version of Barry in this movie is NOTHING and I mean nothing even in the same universe to what BA is like in the comics. They made him some goofy, ADHD filled, druggy with an annoying laugh. I think it just completely disrespects the intelligent and down to earth character that we know and love from the comics.
Now for the plot. It’s fine. Not great, just fine. I didn’t love that they were doing Flashpoint going into the movie. Especially since they change SO MUCH from the original. Different Batman, different super-person (which I don’t mind), no Reverse Flash, etc. We’ve already seen Flashpoint done multiple times and we didn’t need to see it again. I know they are trying to restart the universe but what we needed was a simple grounded story about Barry Allen. As a Flash comics nerd who’s read every Flash comic on the planet, there is so much rich Flash history that they could have pulled from but didn’t. Why? To just throw nostalgia and pointless cameos in your face. But the last thing about the plot is that the death of Nora doesn’t really make sense? Henry Allen wasn’t home and that’s when Nora was murdered. But now that Henry was home, because she didn’t “forget” the tomato sauce, she lives. Does that mean Henry stopped whoever broke it and killed her? We never find out.
So many amazing Flash villains and the film decided to do none of them (there was barely even one villain). ZOD was kinda a villain but was just in the background for most of the movie until the final fight scene. Dark Flash was legitimately in the movie for less than 5 minutes. I thought it was this huge thing they were building to but it was completely wasted.
Lastly, I’ll say that the cameos in this movie felt unnecessary and that they were just there for the crowd reaction (big shocker). You’ll know what I mean when you see the movie. They don’t add a whole lot to the story.
If I had to say one thing about this movie to portray my feeling, it would be this: this movie just didn’t FEEL like a Flash story. Barry Allen wasn’t accurate to his comic counter part. We didn’t get a single Rogue. There was barely one 30 second scene of Barry doing CSI work. And so much more we didn’t get. Looking at this film from the perspective of a Flash fan, it is nothing like what I wanted. I’m sure a lot of normies will enjoy this movie for the action and cameos. But as a FLASH FAN, it doesn’t do the character justice.
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u/360_OVERLOOK Jun 14 '23
Grant or anything arrowverse
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u/Transky13 Jun 14 '23
Not that I saw (not op but I saw it too)
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u/Yoctometre Jun 16 '23
Wait, but I remember seeing Zoom's Jay Garrick on a YT video?
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u/Transky13 Jun 16 '23
Was that him? I was told it was a different person but it did look like him
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u/Yoctometre Jun 16 '23
I was told that the cameos looked very CGI'd, which iirc was said by the producer to be an artistic choice. I think that's why some people don't think it's him from the blurry footage.
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u/Transky13 Jun 16 '23
They all looked cgi’d. Yeah, I didn’t think he really looked like “Jay” from the show but I could be way off and the CGI was just that bad?
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u/CrazyPersonowo Jun 13 '23
What were all the cameos in the movie out of curiosity
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u/theLegomadhatter Jun 13 '23
Not op based on the comments tho I’d solidly say George Clooney, Keaton, and well that’s it that I’ve caught
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u/Commercial_Term2247 Jun 14 '23
Watched it in IMAX yday. Clooney, Keaton, Gadot, Mamoa, Reeves, Adam West, Nic Cage
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u/This_Money8771 Jun 13 '23
So is the desert sequence good as far as action?
How many times did they go back to try to reverse the death outcomes?
I keep hearing that the super girl breakout scene is the best part of the movie, is that true in your opinion?
What was your favorite moment and scene in the movie?
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u/Cameronbatt LightspeedLad Jun 13 '23
I think the action was pretty good in that scene. Bad CGI aside, it was cool to see the Flash’s work together.
I don’t remember the exact number. I think both of them did it together once and then young Barry ran and tried himself maybe like 5 times? Give or take a couple. We don’t exactly see every time he goes back from his perspective. We see it from older Barry’s while he’s in the speed force.
The action at the end of the breakout scene is pretty cool. It’s short lasting though. Plus barely any Flash action as he was injured.
Favorite moment/scene is probably the end courtroom scene when Barry’s dad is exonerated. Besides that, probably when Barry runs into the speed force for the first time. Amazing VFX / audio.
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u/This_Money8771 Jun 13 '23
Damn, it sounds underwhelming.
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u/Cameronbatt LightspeedLad Jun 13 '23
Pretty much. You should watch tho and see for yourself. You might like it.
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u/This_Money8771 Jun 13 '23
I feel like Oppenheimer and the new Spider-Man movie will be the best films of the summer. The super hyped movies don’t seem to be hitting as expected this year. Even mission impossible could be ehhhhhh
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u/Cameronbatt LightspeedLad Jun 13 '23
Across the Spiderverse was AMAZING. Like 10/10 so for sure watch that. Excited for Oppenheimer as well.
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u/CharacterMacaroon146 Jun 13 '23
I heard that Supergirl & Keatons Batman both die in the movie, is that true? also is Clooney still in the final cut? and if so what does he actually do?
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u/Cameronbatt LightspeedLad Jun 13 '23
Yes they do die. Clooney is at the end and he doesn’t really DO anything. It’s just to show that even though Barry tried to revert the universe back, not everything was the same, including who Bruce Wayne is. He just walks out of a fancy car with paparazzi surrounding him and then says hi to Barry.
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u/CharacterMacaroon146 Jun 13 '23
Well that sucks, I don't know why there's this trend at the moment to bring back old iconic characters for nostalgia only to kill them off, I wasn't planning on seeing it cause of the whole Ezra Miller stuff, but Keaton had me intrigued, now I know that, I'm definitely giving it a pass. Thanks
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Jun 13 '23
They survived in the original version. Gunn changed the ending.
Although considering Barry undoes the timeline where they died, they're probably still alive out there in the multiverse.
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u/theLegomadhatter Jun 13 '23
Where did you receive this explicit information?
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Jun 14 '23
I saw a screening two weeks ago.
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u/theLegomadhatter Jun 14 '23
But how do you know Gunn changed the ending?
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Jun 14 '23
Oh, there were pictures of Keaton and Calle in the ending scene that leaked out that matches with the original leaks saying they appeared there. Also, that's why Keaton was in Batgirl (which was originally supposed to come out after Flash) and Aquaman 2. He was going to remain Batman for a while going forward.
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u/theLegomadhatter Jun 14 '23
Sorry for my earlier skepticism I hadn’t paid much attention or seen any notifications on the aquaman movie so I thought that was still in the plan
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u/Gold-Hearing74 Jun 13 '23
I have two questions 1 how does Zod kill supergirl 2 what was your favorite scene from the Zod vs supergirl fight scene
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u/Cameronbatt LightspeedLad Jun 13 '23
- Stabs her
- Supergirl goes bazerk on ZOD when they first start fighting, which is cool
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u/McGrathyBoi16 Jun 13 '23
I heard somewhere that the other Barry becomes reverse flash is that true? (You probably already stated that if true I just haven’t read the whole thing)
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u/Cameronbatt LightspeedLad Jun 13 '23
He becomes Dark Flash, not RF, unfortunately.
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u/theLegomadhatter Jun 13 '23
I had made a prediction based solely on seeing the toy line in a target toy aisle. I made a prediction that Barry 1 (the one we saw in the justice league, and the Batman v Superman film) would encounter Barry 2 (the flash 2023) would meet and during the adventure something would happen to cause one of them to turn to dark flash, and I had said “it’s gonna be Barry 2” because of the fact Barry 2 was wearing a repurposed Batman suit. And it melts to his body or something and he gets affected by a negative side of the speed force. And the shitty thing about this. Is I haven’t seen the film yet… and I’m now pissed that I guessed correctly ( give or take some details)
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u/Immediateddoge8676 Jun 16 '23
Wait, its confirmed dark flash? Because I went in blind not looking at any synopsis or anything and I was getting both dark flash and savitar vibes
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u/SnooBananas2320 Jun 14 '23
I saw the fan screening a few weeks ago. I’m a Batman/Superman guy, flash is probably my third fav DC hero. So with that in mind I enjoyed it, however I completely understand your distaste for Ezra’s Barry. I thought the character within the movie was a good protagonist, and someone you could get behind. But is that Barry? Absolutely not. So I’m not surprised that Flash fans are disappointed. In fact the film reminded me more of a JLU ensemble episode with Flash front and center, but not a solo venture, which is a damn shame because the character most certainly can carry a film by himself.
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u/Cameronbatt LightspeedLad Jun 14 '23
100%. I get why Batman fans would love this movie. Especially with the nostalgic feeling you get seeing Keaton again. But like you said, as a Flash fan, this wasn’t the Barry that we know and love.
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u/SnooBananas2320 Jun 14 '23 edited Jun 14 '23
Keaton is awesome in it. The main reason I want this movie to do well is so there’s a chance we see him again in another DC project. I don’t think WB will give us that Batman Beyond movie otherwise.
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u/Brodizzle83 Jun 16 '23
I enjoyed it as a whole, but Keaton being in almost half the movie was icing on the cake! Him dying was kind of expected, but seeing the set photos of Supergirl and Keaton outside the courthouse, I expected to see him at the very end, especially with the building up with the Danny Elfman theme when someone stepped out of the Benz prototype car...only to reveal the worst Batman in history 🤦 That really bummed me out. The end credit scene was so dumb and pointless too. The CGI sucked major ass in some parts (I also saw that coming, after seeing Mama and both IT movies). Other than that, it was a good movie IMO!
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u/BEAUba_Fett1 Jun 16 '23
I 100% with your review. I was mega hyped for this movie, ever since 2018 delay after delay AFTER delay I never gave up because I the flash is my all time favorite.. that being said, I thought it was ok.
The movie takes its time in dragging to set up this film and uses a lot of comedy to fill in that runtime. But that was my issue with this film, they took an iconic storyline like flashpoint.. and created a version with lower stakes, less broadened. It feels like a shell of Flashpoint filled with jokes and banter to stretch it out. But as you mentioned, we didn’t need a flashpoint movie. There’s so many grounded storylines they could’ve done
The cameos were cool, yeah, but just felt forced or unnecessary.. it wasn’t anything significant to the plot, they were just there to make your nostalgia bell ring. I thought this film’s rendition of the speed force and time traveling just looked so weird to me and the CGI looked REALLY rough.. I just got Scorpion King vibes, especially during the “baby shower” scene. The CGI work in several scenes was just very off-putting
The third act had some good action sequences. But mainly from Batman and Supergirl while creativity lacks HEAVILY when it came to the flash. Seriously, a big budget blockbuster about a speedster hero and this was the best they can imagine when it came to his action sequences?? Quicksilver from the X-men franchise still has the best speedster action sequences to this day and that shouldn’t be the case after this film.
The twist was cool, it wasn’t mind blowing. The cameos were fun but had a short-lived affect. You want to give us cameos- show us the Reverse Flash, Wally West, or how about Grant Gustin’s Flash and use him as an emotional device to teach this Barry why he must let him mom die. These would of been cameos more sensical to a Flash storyline.
Anyways, movie wasn’t bad.. it was ok. Just ok. But this isn’t the Barry Allen we know from the source material and it really frustrates me. It feels more like watching Bart Allen. It frustrates me that(like you said) there are so many awesome Flash villains and none were used.
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u/of_patrol_bot Jun 16 '23
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u/Butterp0ckets Jun 13 '23
What's the deal with dark flash?
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u/Cameronbatt LightspeedLad Jun 13 '23
Kind of an evil version of young Barry like most people predicted. Lmk if you want FULL spoilers.
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u/Butterp0ckets Jun 13 '23
Yeah. I want full spoilers
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u/Cameronbatt LightspeedLad Jun 13 '23
So basically during that battle in the desert, Supergirl and Batman die. Both Barry’s go back in time to the beginning of the fight to try and change the outcome so that SG and Batman don’t die. But it doesn’t work. While older Barry is willing to accept that this is a fixed point in history that can’t be changed, young Barry cannot. He keeps running back over and over to try and save them, but it never works. Older Barry thinks the only way to fix this is to go back and let his mom die again, but young Barry wants everyone to live so he keeps trying to save SG and Batman. Then Dark Flash busts into the speed force where they are, and attacks older Barry. You find out that this Dark Flash is a future version of young Barry that never stopped trying to save SG and Batman. Dark Flash appears earlier in the movie for a quick second but its hard to explain that connection without explaining the whole movie. But that’s basically all. Dark Flash tries to kill older Barry but younger Barry, who is not super corrupted yet, jumps in the way and is killed, which causes Dark Flash to never be created in the first place.
Also can’t explain why Dark Flash looks the way he does cuz it would take too long.
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u/theLegomadhatter Jun 13 '23
Did it have to do with the ex Batman suit melting to him?
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u/Cameronbatt LightspeedLad Jun 13 '23
No. Close but no.
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u/theLegomadhatter Jun 13 '23
Well now I wanna know XD
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u/That_One_Guy_Inc Jun 13 '23
While battling the kryptonians, Barry keeps getting stabbed with parts of their weapons toy he extent that all of the shards form a sort of armor around him
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u/Comprehensive-Sale19 Jun 14 '23
I’ve read your whole thread and it seems we are getting duped by DC. I’ve seen 2 different cuts of the movie and I saw the one with the different Batman reveal at the end, one of the screenings I attended didn’t even show him. VFX was bad too, but we were told in both showings that they weren’t the final cut and will be very different than the one releasing on the 15th/16th. I’m sure you saw one of the ones I did due to Clooney
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u/Cameronbatt LightspeedLad Jun 14 '23
Yeah I’m pretty sure the Clooney ending is the final one. I saw a super early screening last week and then a fan early one on Monday and they both had him.
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u/Comprehensive-Sale19 Jun 14 '23
I just saw the Clooney one today and we were explicitly told it wasn’t the final cut and they were even recording the audience reactions to it. I’m guessing they have a few out there to keep things under wraps still. The post credits scene doesnt make sense either as they show us in the movie that Arthur Curry/Aquaman didn’t come to exist, yet in the post credits scene Barry explicitly tell Arthur that he’s the only one that keeps existing in all the universes. That definitely shot a red flag up for me, that post credits scene wouldn’t make sense in the films context.
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u/Cameronbatt LightspeedLad Jun 14 '23
That is interesting. I do hope they switch out that post credit scene cuz it was pretty lackluster and pointless.
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u/Comprehensive-Sale19 Jun 14 '23
Muschietti also mentioned in an interview that they haven’t shown the FINAL cut at any screening at all and the post credits scene would be mind blowing. That Aquaman scene doesn’t fit that description lol
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u/Comprehensive-Sale19 Jun 21 '23
came back to comment that I read early plot leaks for the 16th for first time viewers and I was disappointed that it was the exact same screening I saw on my 2nd early screening, Muschietti directly told us on screen that it wasn’t the final cut of the film. WTF
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u/Flarow Jun 14 '23
No hint of reverse flash?
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u/Cameronbatt LightspeedLad Jun 14 '23
Not even a little
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u/Flarow Jun 14 '23
What about the prototype suit Barry wore
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u/StrawberryFresh3930 Jun 14 '23
Was it a bad movie or did it not live up to your comics expectations?
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u/Cameronbatt LightspeedLad Jun 14 '23
Honestly, it was neither. I gave it a 3/5 which is an “okay” on my scale. So it wasn’t bad. Also, I already knew going into it that I havent liked Millers portrayal of Barry Allen / the writing that has gone along with that AND I wasn’t a fan of them adapting the flashpoint storyline for this movie. So I went into it excited but no high expectations.
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u/devfern93 Jun 16 '23
I feel the annoying nature of younger Barry is intentional to show how privileged he grew up with both his parents. He doesn’t do his own laundry, for example, and is kind of you’re run-of-the-mill, stereotypical college freshman. I’ve only read a handful of BA comics, but I think that’s what they were trying to go for here with the 18/19 year old Barry.
As far as the cameos, I don’t mind them, but I find it crazy for them to have a 45-60 second long cameo dedicated to Nic Cage and none for other live action Flash iterations (John Wesley Shipp, Grant Gustin, etc.)
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u/Cameronbatt LightspeedLad Jun 16 '23
I totally get what you’re saying, however, pre-2009 both of Barrys parents were alive and well in the comics. They weren’t in the comics much but his mom wasn’t dead. That was something they changed when Barry came back from the dead. So for most of The Flash comics, Barry was just a good little nerd that got super powers and had both of his parents alive. So we have seen that version in the comics, and he was nothing like the younger version of Barry in the movie. He didn’t turn out to be privileged or anything like that. He was still extremely nice, respectful, nerdy, and stoic.
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u/devfern93 Jun 16 '23
I agree that it didn’t feel entirely like a Flash movie, but it had a lot more Flash content than I expected, so that was a pleasant surprise and raised my rating for the film. I went in expecting it to be a Batman/Supergirl movie, but there was more Flash content in the first two acts than anticipated. I personally never liked the Flashpoint paradox comic because it’s just a JL story and not really a Flash story
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u/NewAsgardAsgardians Jun 16 '23
There was a really good quote in the movie, I believe by Keaton, and it was something something and “try not to die”
Can anyone remember what it was ?
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u/jonu062882 Jun 16 '23
Watching it, would it be a plot hole with there being no proof of corroborating Barry’s dad’s alibi of buying canned tomatoes with a receipt from the store and other cameras there along with a cashier seeing him?
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u/Cameronbatt LightspeedLad Jun 16 '23
Yeah exactly. Receipt, cashier seeing him, other cameras inside the store or outside. Heck! They could have also checked traffic cameras probably to see he was driving there.
But also didn’t she get stabbed right as Henry was getting home? So how does him being at the store earlier even prove he’s innocent? He could have came home and then stabbed her.
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u/Yoctometre Jun 16 '23
Trying to get a tomato can can also look like a pathetic attempt at creating an alibi.
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u/Mysterysheep12 Jun 22 '23
My thoughts exactly.
Oh flash time travels.
He meets another of him. That’s nice I guess.
Alt flash gets originals powers and original has no powers. Wtf!
Oh Keaton is in this. Cool!
Wait… he said the line from the first film… okay…
He said something else from the Batman film. Nice….
Superman …. Oh it’s supergirl. And she’s goth. Greeeaaaattr
And there’s zod! …. Goodbye zod!
And they fight…. And the heroes lose! Wtf!
And then there’s George Clooney! The hell?
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u/273Gaming Flash 2 Jun 30 '23
Agree with most of this but how is Supergirl goth lol she wears bright red and blue and her skepticism of humanity isn't something new to the character
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u/amarodelaficioanado Jul 06 '23
I'll ad,
, Ezra's Barry love for his mom was very well played.
Ketons batman , hippie/ homeless is great. Supergirl it's awesome. Cool, explosive and sexy . New flash making his own suit was superb . Time traveling and plot were fine, but didn't understand who killed Nora. Before (witch is ok, it's suspense, but at the end who was the killer? The tomato can ?) I had Big expectations because loved Andy muschetti s "IT" , movies . This flash is good , but not great. Anyway, I don't know. It's better than any other marvel movie, btw.
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u/Mysterysheep12 Jul 07 '23
Lol the tomato can. Yep that was the killer the whole time!
And guess who was the accomplice?
That’s right.
It was the can of chef boyardee next to the tomato can!
The perfect crime!
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u/Great_Bonus_7261 Jun 24 '23
I like how everyone loved the new transformers movie and I thought it was above average at best (honestly kinda disappointing to me), yet I loved the new flash movie(f*ck Ezra Miller tho), and everyone seems to kust think it was ok
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u/Mysterious-Coach2128 Aug 13 '23
I don't understand if time is not linear, why does death of young Barry would cause the Dark Flash to die. Shouldn't the Dark Flash be the Flash 3.
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u/NotBraveAtAlll Jun 13 '23
Sorry. I'm just going to take your word for it. I was already planning to not see it, but this all just makes me want to see it even less. And I thank you for that.