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Film reviews

The Flash Review

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A long and anticipated wait is over—Ezra Miller as Barry Allen, also known as “The Flash”! After many halts in production and Miller’s erratic behavior, The Flash is finally here. But from my perspective, this long-awaited experience was mediocre at best.

The Flash provides little backstory, it jumps right to the main story, and its approach to the writing is poor. In fact, I found very few invigorating moments in this film. I continually asked myself just what direction this film is going to take. The DC universe has many superhero alumni. One is Michael Keaton returning in a role as Bruce Wayne as “Batman!” And there are other positives and surprises in the DC universe. The Flash is not one of them. It is fatally flawed.

In his role as Barry Allen and “The Flash!”, Miller of course has a super power that allows him to move from place to place in the blink of an eye. But Barry is a sensitive individual, and he has a dark past that he wishes he could turn around. A family tragedy puts him in a place where his chosen course is to go back in time to change the future and save his mom. The problem is that the world he enters does not have any heroes. Without the assistance of heroes, Barry may not be able to accomplish his self-assigned mission. Despite Ben Affleck also coming back as Bruce Wayne and “Batman”, Barry’s resources and teammates are limited.

As Barry continues to embark on his mission, Bruce Wayne and Batman do play a role in helping The Flash. At times it almost seemed like there is more of Batman than The Flash. I often felt like I wasn’t in the world of The Flash. I was in a different universe of previous superheroes.

It is no doubt a challenge to craft a strong storyline, and The Flash is proof of that. Instead of a strong storyline it has lots of random moments of poorly written adventures. So although I had faith in Ezra Miller’s performance and my excitement was high for this film, this one didn’t come close to meeting my expectations.

One of the glaring flaws of The Flash was the shifting of timelines. It was simply an utter mess. Barry’s time travel grasped my attention visually, but it kept feeling like being thrown into universes of clouds with no solutions. My view is that most of the cinema superhero universe seems to be in the clouds, and much of the blame may be on the studios rushing their projects. The Flash was delayed then rushed, and while the rushing speed of Barry and The Flash brought some thunderbolts of joy, the rest of the movie is a blur.

I’m trying to find something positive to say about The Flash, and it did have some surreal surprises, but most of the film is a mess. Again, I had faith in Miller, and I was hopeful that this would be a great experience. But it kept failing where there could have been brilliance. In fact, I would say that a better title for this film would have been The Flash and His Lame Adventures. Just two out of four stars for The Flash.

Film reviews

Shazam! Fury of the Gods Review

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The word, “Shazam!,” is where the positive superhero factor usually comes into play with a Shazam movie. In Shazam! Fury of the Gods there is a whole lot of “Shazam!” and much superhero nostalgia, but the film is actually somewhat of a trainwreck. The pacing is off, and I found myself wondering whether I could take this sequel seriously. For a continuation of a superhero franchise, this one felt very forgettable. It relies too much on the slapstick of its heroes and enemies, instead of focusing on the central conflict in the film. Director David F. Sandberg directed the first Shazam film in 2019, and he’s back for Shazam! Fury of the Gods, but this one just doesn’t seem to be one that will enthrall its superhero fans.

In Shazam! Fury of the Gods, Billy Batson (played by Asher Angel) is back as the superhero Shazam. As fans of the franchise know, when the word “Shazam!” is used Billy turns into the adult version of himself and he is recognized as the Shazam superhero. The adult and superhero version of Billy is played by Zachary Levi. The team of heroes and misfits are also back, ranging from Superhero Freddy (played by Adam Brody), Superhero Darla (played by Meagan Good), Superhero Pedro (played by D.J. Coltrona), and others. The enemies are Hespera and Kalypso (played by Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu).

In addition to the heroes, there is a god character who helps Billy. That character is also named Shazam and he is played by Djimon Hounsou. Sadly, though, the film does not develop this character enough or take it seriously.

Again, the directing in this film just seems out of focus. The pacing is off and the excess of humor detracts from the superhero importance. There is also not enough backstory about the enemies. The film leaves the audience wondering who is more powerful. Instead of lots of superhero jam it just keeps resorting to the buzzword, “Shazam!,” to keep the enticement going.

The credit I do give Shazam! Fury of the Gods is that it keeps its family-friendly approach. And that will help sell it to its target audience. But unfortunately, it is one of those continuation films that will leave much of the audience not appreciating the franchise. I still do, but this film didn’t help my appreciation. Overall, I just wish it could have stepped up its action, its twists, and given us some hidden gems of what is to continue in the franchise. This sequel was not very detailed, and when there is not much detail to a superhero franchise it doesn’t gives its audience enough information to anticipate what to expect down the road. I will say that I didn’t totally hate Shazam! Fury of the Gods, but I definitely didn’t love it, and it fell way below my expectations. Two stars for Shazam! Fury of the Gods.

Film reviews

Black Adam Review

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Before Black Adam, there was Shazam(2019). The two films are linked together in the DC universe. But Black Adam’s storyline lacks brilliance and it’s opening is rushed. Its strong suit is Dwayne Johnson as the hero and the film is epic with action, but it fell far short of my expectations.

The plot of the film has the hero, Black Adam/Teth Adam (Johnson), coming back after being imprisoned for thousands of years. In the past he had power given to him from Egyptian gods, but he misused the power and was imprisoned. His freedom brings him to the task of unleashing his justice to the present world. His enemy is Ishmael/Sabbac/King Ahk-Ton (played by Marwan Kenzari). The heroes on the good guy’s side are Hawkman/Carter Hall (played by Aldis Hodge), Dr. Fate/Kent Nelson (played by Pierce Brosnan) Atomic Smasher/Al Rothstein (played by Noah Centineo), Cyclone/Maxine Hunkel (played by Quintesa Swindell), Adrianna Tomaz (played by Sarah Shahi), and Amon Tomaz (played by Bodhi Sabongui). They all helped bring Adam back, and they join him in fighting for civilization. But Adam has the strongest powers.

The rushed storyline is where Black Adambecomes unappealing. All the characters enter the action film with little to no explanation. Within minutes the film becomes surrounded with CGI, crazy explosions, and superhero war sequences. These moments are enticing, but confusing. In my view, Black Adam is just out for a blockbuster hit, for the money, but with a poorly written script.

With the many historical references, I found myself confused at times as to whether this is even a superhero movie. History and rituals blended with fiction is inviting in some fragments. But the history and rituals in Black Adam don’t link back to Adam’s history and the DC universe. So there needs to be a stronger foundation. The historical moments are fictional, but there could be much more details and explanations for a more invigorating premise. Black Adam is simply a mess of a setup. The technical aspects are what saves the film from being even more mediocre. Black Adam is cool visually, but not inviting much by its writing. Two and a half stars for Black Adam.