THE FLASH: 5 Things About The Movie Which Make Absolutely No Sense - SPOILERS

No matter how you feel about The Flash, there are some glaring issues and more than a handful of creative decisions which, ultimately, make zero sense. Here's our breakdown of the movie's worst moments...

By JoshWilding - Jun 15, 2023 01:06 PM EST

Filed Under: The Flash

The Flash has arrived in theaters and something tells us this will be a movie which fans either love, hate...or love to hate!

No matter how you feel about the latest (and perhaps final) DCEU movie, it's fair to say there's a great deal about the Scarlet Speedster's first big screen solo outing which simply makes no sense. That was largely inevitable in a story about time travel and the Multiverse, but those are far from its only issues.

In this feature, we're taking a deep dive into certain nonsensical moments, attempting to figure out what the heck was going on and ultimately why it didn't work in a movie that, while fun at times, has a lot of issues. Even if you loved this blockbuster, we think you'll agree these creative decisions made zero sense.

Take a look through this spoiler-filled breakdown by clicking on the "Next" button below.

5. Another Batman Returns

The Flash does a pretty good job of explaining that, when you travel back in time, rather than creating a divergent timeline, a new one is formed. That's why the reality Barry Allen finds himself lost in isn't his past, but an alternate path on the wider Multiversal map.

Now, we get that changing things so that his father is exonerated is what creates a world where George Clooney's Bruce Wayne is Batman, but what was the point? Aside from being a splashy cameo meant to cover up the fact Michael Keaton once stepped out of that car, there's absolutely nothing gained from this scene.

If Clooney ends up being the DCU's Batman, we'll happily rescind that statement, but the actor wearing a business suit isn't exactly akin to the Batsuit! The whole thing also proves The Flash learned nothing about the devastation his actions caused when he created a timeline where literally everyone died.

4. Everything About Young Barry Allen

On the one hand, you could assume that The Flash's intention here was to show us how normal Barry would have been had his mother lived. It shouldn't be down to the audience to fill in gaps like that, however, and while we don't need everything spelt out...why the f*** is this younger Barry apparently a simpleton?

In the present day, Barry is an awkward weirdo with no friends and confesses to being a 28-year-old virgin. His past self, on the other hand, has the world's most annoying laugh, the personality of a stoner from an early 2000s comedy, and heck, may even have a genuine brain injury given his behaviour.

This could be a case of bad acting on Ezra Miller's part or the result of a juvenile screenplay from a writer who assumed this would leave everyone splitting their sides. Younger Barry isn't a dumb 18-year-old kid, he's a buffoon, making his eventual transformation - we'll get to that - all the harder to actually buy into.

3. Batman And Supergirl's Deaths

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The Flash coming to the conclusion that he can't save the timeline he's created is actually a pretty solid moment in the movie. After all, it forces him to acknowledge that by changing the past, he's created a reality full of death and destruction (which doesn't stop him from changing the past again a few moments later).

In that respect, Supergirl and Batman's respective deaths make sense...mostly. They basically become MacGuffins, with a Girl of Steel too weak to defeat General Zod and a Dark Knight who we see die twice mostly due to his own stupidity.

Originally, these two would have returned in place of Clooney, leaving them both a permanent part of the DCEU. General audiences won't know that, though, and now get to watch a movie where the two best characters die horribly and never get any sort of satisfying send-off. Batman kind of does, but Supergirl is cheated.

2. Dark Flash

The younger Barry, all of a sudden more serious than stoner, decides to try again and again to stop Batman and Supergirl from dying. Along the way, he starts suffering some pretty nasty injuries, including being impaled by Kryptoniant debris.

When we finally see Dark Flash, it's a much older Barry who has somehow become covered in that armour. It may also be a result of all the time he's spent in the Speed Force, but like his motivations, the villain's appearance is poorly explained and we're left to assume he's somehow become covered by those shards.

Dark Flash reveals he pulled Barry out of the timeline to create a paradox which would mean he could help him save the day...despite knowing it wouldn't work? It's typical time travel nonsense, but to throw this character into the mix for all of two minutes when Reverse-Flash was right there is beyond baffling.

1. The Cringeworthy Cameos

Screen-Shot-2023-05-31-at-2-27-39-PM-copy

The Flash has undergone so many changes in the past year, it's become hard to know what was originally planned for the Speed Force. We're assuming the cameos were a last-minute addition, anyway, as that's the only way to explain the appalling video game graphics used to resurrect Christopher Reeve and company.

The coolest of these cameos shows Nic Cage as Superman battling a giant spider and the intention was obviously to deliver some fan-pleasing moments here. However, the fact they all look so fake ruins that and the idea of worlds colliding ends up feeling like a rip-off of the MCU's incursions.

That's unlikely the case (the imagery is similar to Crisis on Infinite Earths) but it is how many moviegoers will likely perceive it. Regardless, what could have been a celebration of the DC Universe which set up the new DCU feels ghoulish, artificial, and adds little to the story The Flash is attempting to tell.

THE FLASH: Hot Toys Has Canceled Its Upcoming Young Barry Allen Figure (But Not For The Reason You'd Expect)

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79 Comments

1 2

SATW42 - 6/15/2023, 1:02 PM

6. It being made

AmazingFILMporg - 6/15/2023, 2:56 PM

@SATW42 -

7. It stars a PEDOPHILE 🤡

McGee - 6/15/2023, 3:54 PM

You could have warned me that Kevin Spacey is Reverse Flash in this movie. Spoilers!

newhire13 - 6/16/2023, 10:57 AM

@AmazingFILMporg - I keep seeing this but I’m confused, the girl they were hanging out with was over 18, right? Or was there a different girl?

AmazingFILMporg - 6/16/2023, 12:00 PM

@newhire13 -

2 girls. One was 12 and the other was just said underage😳

newhire13 - 6/16/2023, 6:51 PM

@AmazingFILMporg - ohh I only heard about the 18 year old

MyCoolYoung - 6/15/2023, 1:06 PM

I’ll admit the uncertainty of the DC universe has me thinking “what’s the point?” Of me seeing this movie if it’s a connected universe somehow unconnected especially with all the time travel stuff. I can’t wait until both DC and Marvel move on from the multiverse/time travel stuff

TheHumanSpider2 - 6/15/2023, 1:26 PM

@MyCoolYoung - The multiverse was a mistake

AnthonyVonGeek - 6/15/2023, 1:10 PM

Sounds terrible.

jst5 - 6/15/2023, 5:47 PM

@AnthonyVonGeek - It's not...but it's not a good movie either.

Binker - 6/15/2023, 1:14 PM

HEY JOSH! I TOLD YOU, STOP IT WITH THE NEGATIVITY! You're not taken seriously, and if you wanted to, you're not because you're a joke. Learn to be better or [frick] off.

Origame - 6/15/2023, 1:15 PM

Wow. So much incompetence here.

5) being pointless doesn't mean it doesn't make sense. Besides, the point is to show the dceu is done.

4) do I really need to explain that a 28 year old will be pretty different from their high school aged self?

3) well since they're both here due to multiverse shenanigans, then the assumption is they're both back in their own universes.

2) that's not nonsense. It's a causal loop. Basically, he needs Barry to be here or he won't exist. He can't exactly save everyone if he doesn't exist, right?

1) again, this isn't something that doesn't make sense. You clearly understand it. It's just something you found to be cringe.

ImBatman4realz - 6/15/2023, 1:21 PM

@Origame - well said! Josh is insufferable

McMurdo - 6/15/2023, 1:27 PM

@Origame - he gave she hulk 5 out of 5. Just let him yell into the void it's what he's good at.

ImBatman4realz - 6/15/2023, 1:22 PM

LMFAO…. Josh clearly loved this movie 😏

How many more times is he going to scream it at the top of his little lungs. Any guesses?

AllsGood - 6/15/2023, 1:23 PM

The Flash a 3:00 p.m. showing today.

McMurdo - 6/15/2023, 1:24 PM

Here he goes....

santoanderson - 6/15/2023, 1:25 PM

I’m willing to check my brain at the door re: time travel rules and logic. Every time travel fantasy movie’s logic falls apart when you think about it for more than 30 seconds.

I can’t forgive the bending-over-backwards fan service shit. A slim percentage of movie goers actually know about the Nic Cage/Superman thing. Hell, the pair of 20-somethings sitting next to me both asked “Who’s that?” when Clooney showed up, because Batman & Robin came out BEFORE THEY WERE BORN. And don’t get me started on the sloppy, poorly executed CGI sequences. I know it’s easy and popular to dunk on bad CG, when it’s actually fairly good. This was bad. Like whoever approved the final shots deserves to spend the rest of their career working on Asylum straight-to-streaming movies.

TheHumanSpider2 - 6/15/2023, 1:33 PM

@santoanderson - Imagine if in the next Green Lantern movie they pause for 30 seconds to show a shitty CGi Jack Black.
This was basically the same thing.

Odin - 6/15/2023, 1:43 PM

@santoanderson - There are a few time travel movies that stick the landing and actually hold on to their own rules. X-Men: Days of Future Past or Terminators 1-2 come to mind. Avengers Endgame could've been like that, but there were a couple of moments where they tried to have their cake and eat it too.

1 2

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