So, after all the hype, it turns out that “The Flash” stinks. Its second half is practically unwatchable. I was duped.
The strong word of mouth it garnered these last few months was artificial, a mass-marketed campaign that worked out well, until it was seen by actual critics.
The embargo has lifted on Andy Muschietti’s film and for all the praise it might have gotten from Tom Cruise and James Gunn, among others, and a flashy CinemaCon screening in April, well, the movie just sucks.
I saw it a week ago and I can’t honestly remember much of it. I clocked out at about the halfway mark. Even Michael Keaton’s Batman rang false, and I’m a huge fan of the Tim Burton films.
The negative reviews come to us via ScreenCrush, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Variety, THR, Polygon, The Wrap. It’s currently at 49 on Metacritic. Ouch.
Now if only Fandango was owned by Warner then they could maybe cook up the audience ratings via “alternate weighting calculation.”
Did James Gunn and Warner boss David Zaslav expect these terrible reviews? I’m not sure. Muschietti was just hired to direct an upcoming Batman movie for the DCU this week. Will he stick around?
At CinemaCon, Gunn stated “I will say here that “Flash” is probably one of the greatest superhero movies ever made.” Raising expectations much? It turns out it’s not even the best superhero of the month — that distinction must absolutely go to “Spider-Man: Across the Universe.”