DCU: The Flash (2023)

Ronin

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Brian in Mesa

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The Flash

Release date: June 16, 2023
Studio: Warner Bros.
Director: Andy Muschietti
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, some strong language and partial nudity
Screenwriters: Christina Hodson, Joby Harold
Genre: Action | Adventure | Fantasy

Starring: Sasha Calle, Ben Affleck, Ezra Miller, Michael Keaton, Michael Shannon, Ron Livingston, Antje Traue, Helen Slater, Jeremy Irons, Temuera Morrison, Christopher Reeve, Kiersey Clemons, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Maribel Verdú, Adam West, George Reeves

Plot Summary: Barry Allen uses his super speed to change the past, but his attempt to save his family creates a world without super heroes, forcing him to race for his life in order to save the future.

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The first big action setpiece is fun.

Then it’s painfully boring for a solid 45 minutes to an hour.

Then, Keaton finally shows up and the movie is pretty solid from there.

I’d give it a low B-.
 
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Finito

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I really loved this movie I think it’s in the conversation for best comic book movie focusing on one character

A lot of stuff for the nerds I won’t spoil anything.
 
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Covert Rain

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Easily one of the best DC movies. My wife hated all the Justice League movies and most DC movies. She only agreed to take me for a Father’s Day thing. She actually loved this. My kids loved it too.

Fun movie and Keaton just proves why he is the best Batman.
 

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I just watched Shazam Fury of the Gods with the wife and it was a fun family movie. Sad that spoiler might have made their last appearance as spoiler. Also the mid credit scene teased a much larger movie.

I will go see the Flash in the next two days but the Gunn reboot is a disaster right now.
 

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I just watched Shazam Fury of the Gods with the wife and it was a fun family movie. Sad that spoiler might have made their last appearance as spoiler. Also the mid credit scene teased a much larger movie.

I will go see the Flash in the next two days but the Gunn reboot is a disaster right now.
Gunn’s reboot hasn’t even started yet. Shazam and Flash and the yet to be unreleased Aquaman are all still movies from the old regime.

Apparently Blue Beetle is the first character of the Gunn’s new DCU.
 

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Gunn’s reboot hasn’t even started yet. Shazam and Flash and the yet to be unreleased Aquaman are all still movies from the old regime.

Apparently Blue Beetle is the first character of the Gunn’s new DCU.

The reason these decent movies are bombing is the reboot. Gunns already 200 million in the hole with his crap plan.

I said it when Shazam 2 came out that I would just wait for Max and it's decent. The Flash bombing is the same thing

You cant just poo all over a bunch of movies coming out and expect people to watch them. Gunn is top tier hubris
 

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And there will be an equal rebound against this. I won't be watching BB.
 

Cheesebeef

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The reason these decent movies are bombing is the reboot.

The reason these movies are bombing is because they aren’t very good (Wonder Woman 1984/Shazam 2), they’re fringe characters and the movie is terrible (Black Adam), or they’re revolving around characters/actors that people either have zero connection to or flat out hate (Flash).

Gunns already 200 million in the hole with his crap plan.
I said it when Shazam 2 came out that I would just wait for Max and it's decent. The Flash bombing is the same thing
The Flash bombing is because it’s a continuation of a failed regime that most moviegoers never warmed to. And it’s starring an actor who’s a total piece of crap, not to mention never established himself as a character in the world people wanted to see.
You cant just poo all over a bunch of movies coming out and expect people to watch them. Gunn is top tier hubris
I mean… are you just going to ignore that since Wonder Woman in 2017, the DC movies have overall been a steaming pile of crap with box office numbers to match PRE-JAMES GUNN “pooing all over” them?

Justice League… bomb.
Birds Of Prey… bomb.
Suicide Squad 2… bomb.
Wonder Woman 1984… bomb.
Black Adam… bomb.

ALL bombed pre-James Gunn. Maybe all those bombed because they a) were horrible or b) was a sequel… to a movie universally reviled… while bringing back almost an entirely different cast.

Since Wonder Woman, only 2 movies out of 7 in the DCEU have been really successful. Both of which got pretty good reviews and even there, Shazam didn’t break the bank.

rhe reality is that pre or post James Gunn, the DCEU has been a relative disaster, mostly from a quality perspective which is why their box office receipts have been pretty terrible since 2017.
 

Cheesebeef

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And there will be an equal rebound against this. I won't be watching BB.
I don’t think anyone will. The fringe comic book hero just can’t carry a movie anymore unless it’s good.

We’ve reached peak oversaturation point with comic book movies and we’re starting to see that play out at the box office.
 

Brian in Mesa

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The reason these movies are bombing is because they aren’t very good (Wonder Woman 1984/Shazam 2), they’re fringe characters and the movie is terrible (Black Adam), or they’re revolving around characters/actors that people either have zero connection to or flat out hate (Flash).

Gunns already 200 million in the hole with his crap plan.

The Flash bombing is because it’s a continuation of a failed regime that most moviegoers never warmed to. And it’s starring an actor who’s a total piece of crap, not to mention never established himself as a character in the world people wanted to see.

I mean… are you just going to ignore that since Wonder Woman in 2017, the DC movies have overall been a steaming pile of crap with box office numbers to match PRE-JAMES GUNN “pooing all over” them?

Justice League… bomb.
Birds Of Prey… bomb.
Suicide Squad 2… bomb.
Wonder Woman 1984… bomb.
Black Adam… bomb.

ALL bombed pre-James Gunn. Maybe all those bombed because they a) were horrible or b) was a sequel… to a movie universally reviled… while bringing back almost an entirely different cast.

Since Wonder Woman, only 2 movies out of 7 in the DCEU have been really successful. Both of which got pretty good reviews and even there, Shazam didn’t break the bank.

The reality is that pre or post James Gunn, the DCEU has been a relative disaster, mostly from a quality perspective which is why their box office receipts have been pretty terrible since 2017.
Well, technically, The Suicide Squad (aka Suicide Squad 2) was released in 2021 and WAS written and directed by James Gunn.
 

Cheesebeef

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Well, technically, The Suicide Squad (aka Suicide Squad 2) was released in 2021 and WAS written and directed by James Gunn.
Thanks Captain Obvious but the point being discussed was that DC movies are tanking because Gunn took over the entire DCU and said all the other movies still to come in 2023 had nothing to do with what’s to come in the future.
 

Chris_Sanders

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Shazam 2 was a fine movie that bombed because the studio told you it is irrelevant. You were effusive in your Flash praise... irrelevant

There are no stakes in movies about heroes. James Gunn "this movie matters but these don't" is the multiverse issues multiplied.

Franchises that are irrelevant are basically solo movies. Solo movies drive nothing these days.
 
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Covert Rain

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I don’t think anyone will. The fringe comic book hero just can’t carry a movie anymore unless it’s good.

We’ve reached peak oversaturation point with comic book movies and we’re starting to see that play out at the box office.
Yet James Gunn is kicking off his verse with a fringe character….Blue Beetle.

I don’t think it has much to do with fringe characters as much as the abysmal writing and lack of coherent vision that has been the DC mess.
 

Cheesebeef

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Yet James Gunn is kicking off his verse with a fringe character….Blue Beetle.

I don’t think it has much to do with fringe characters as much as the abysmal writing and lack of coherent vision that has been the DC mess.
That’s a definite problem too.
 

Cheesebeef

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Shazam 2 was a fine movie that bombed because the studio told you it is irrelevant. You were effusive in your Flash praise... irrelevant
effusive? Come on, dude. I said the 1st action scene was good then the next HOUR was BAD, "painfully boring" to be exact, until Michael Keaton showed up. When someone says almost HALF THE MOVIE was BAD, that isn't anything even close to being effusive.

I mean... I barely wrote anything about this movie except to say Keaton was good, Flash on his own sucker and ultimately gave it an "effusive" B-.

I did enjoy that you just completely ignored how awful 5 of the last 7 DC movies performed pre-James Gunn taking over, while blowing my opinion way out of proportion though.
There are no stakes in movies about heroes. James Gunn "this movie matters but these don't" is the multiverse issues multiplied.
I definitely don't think Gunn coming out and saying he's creating a new universe helped The Flash in any way shape or form. It definitely hurt it a bit, but there was no way that movie was ever gonna be a smash because a) half of it sucked b) it was centered around a character in movies so far that no one latched on to, in a universe that the general public never warmed to and c) even worse, the title character was played by a human being that is a complete and utter waste of space. All those factors played into this thing bombing more than Gunn's proclamation of restarting the universe.
Franchises that are irrelevant are basically solo movies. Solo movies drive nothing these days.
Not sure I buy this. Black Adam was hyped up as joining the DCEU and reviving Superman... and that movie bombed. The Batman and Joker were "solo movies" hyped up as belonging away from the DCEU and on their own and both were huge hits.

Quality matters. It can and HAS made a difference, evidenced alone in DC so far.
 

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"Everything that could go wrong essentially did go wrong at the box office," Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Box Office Pro told Yahoo Finance Live on Tuesday. "A lot of industry buzz led into higher expectations, especially going into summer, but it ended up that reviews, word of mouth and just general consumer confusion about the DC franchises really worked against the film."
 

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WB should have just dropped DC, taken the short-term loss, and moved on rather than to continue losing money hand over fist. Instead they hired Gunn and want to go all in. I don't see it working in the long term. Will they ever even break even?
 

WaywardFan

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This movie is going to lose over $300M when all is said and done. I'll watch it eventually, mostly for Michael Keaton (though from what I hear even he's wasted in the movie). I've also heard really good things about Sasha Calle's Supergirl so I'm interested in seeing her take. It sounds like she was hopeful to continue her role in some fashion, but unless you're James Gunn's wife or John Xena you're not going to make it.
 
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WaywardFan

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WB should have just dropped DC, taken the short-term loss, and moved on rather than to continue losing money hand over fist. Instead they hired Gunn and want to go all in. I don't see it working in the long term. Will they ever even break even?
IMO, they should have kept Henry, Ben, and Gal. They could have kept Jason, they should have kicked Ezra to jail and pulled in Grant Gustin. Further develop the big three characters in their own movies and then more Justice League, introduce more characters...THAT PEOPLE WANT TO SEE. Like Disney and Marvel, the formula for superhero success is not complicated but for some reason no one cares. Stop with the agendas, stop with the swapping, write good stories.
 

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