Now on streaming, I finally got to see it. I'd give it a C. Given that this is now a 4 month old movie, I won't do an in-depth review. I'll just touch on the stuff that truly struck out and concentrate a little on the Supergirl side of things. As it is 4 months old, there will be spoilers.
This was a pretty solid adaptation of the Flashpoint mini-series. From Barry trying to save his mother to his lacking powers and needing to recreate the accident that gave him powers, to a Project Superman take on Supergirl, this was Flashpoint. I didn't particularly like that mini when it came out but if you did, this was sort of faithful.
This was also a sort of love letter, or homage-fest, to comic fans and fans of superhero movies. Michael Keaton recreating his Batman, saying 'let's get nuts', and seeing that Wayne Manor again was fun. Seeing all the cameos at the end was fun (more on that later). But those things were really for people like me. My girlfriend didn't know who the helmeted Flash was or why I was giggling so much about the Thanagarian snare beast. So I don't know if so much time should have been placed on these things which only 1% of the ticket holders would cherish.
But the big thing for me is that this movie seems a bit disjointed in tone.
There is a very heavy undertone about Barry's sadness about his mother. There is a 'how far would you go' theme. Would you destroy the universe to make your own world perfect or do you sacrifice happiness for the greater good? Seeing older Barry (who has seen things and matured) deal with younger, more naive Barry touches on loss and sadness. And yet, stuck inside this, is a bunch of silliness. Barry eating burritos at super-speed, putting babies in microwaves to save them, losing a tooth and super-gluing it.
If you are a script writer or a director, you have to be masterful if you are going to walk the fine line between goofy humor and heavy themes. And this movie can't pull it off. It is the same reason while Thor Love and Thunder failed for me. You can't effectively have Thor dealing with Jane Foster's mortality while a god killer kidnaps kids all while you have silly humor all around. Or you can if you are a master.
Lastly, the special effects at times looked pretty wonky. Seeing babies which look like they were ripped from The Incredibles definitely snapped me out of the movie.
Supergirl is in this and I'll have more below the break. But I thought Sasha Calle did a very good job as this Kara, the captured, tortured, angry Supergirl trying to figure out what the heck is going on. Having to recognize that General Zod is a Kryptonian but not what she wants to be or want to defend.
So, it's a C. My guess is I won't seek this out again. But if it is on TV and I am home, I'll probably put it on to watch.
On to some details.
