The Flash Review: 6 Ups & 4 Downs

1. The Third Act Is A Trainwreck

Though the movie's first two acts are a ton of breezy fun, it all goes slamming into a brick wall at the start of reel three, when the Barrys, Supergirl, and Batman (Michael Keaton) find themselves facing off against General Zod (Michael Shannon) and his army.

At this point The Flash devolves into a far more typical DC movie - a sloppy, visually incoherent mess of atrocious VFX, mediocre, weightless action, and actors who are clearly only here for the paycheck (love you, Michael Shannon, but it's true).

The climactic brawl goes on for far too long, the emotional beats it tries to strike with regard to certain characters largely fall flat, and the aforementioned over-the-top fan service leaves a sour taste.

It does this movie no favours at all that it's released just two weeks after Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, whose considerably more inventive and memorable climax makes The Flash's final half-hour feel like nonsensical white noise.

These considerable gripes aside, though, here's why The Flash is still worth watching...