Pretty amused at the folks in the comments wanting an “actual” review of the movie. Y’all are subscribed to the Escapist, right? Surely you’re familiar with zero punctuation, cold take, or even 3 minute reviews? None of them give you a hard verdict on something. That’s not what the escapist does. This review is an excellent piece of cultural commentary, cleverly done and with a delightful conceit. And, personally, I think it did plenty to tell me about the movie. Don’t listen to the haters, Darren. This is brilliant work
To be fair, I think the review also tells you how I felt about the movie and why it made me feel that way. Ebert made the point that a good review shouldn’t just scare those away who will hate a film, but also help those who would like it - even if the reviewer didn’t. It’s easy to be flippant or dismissive about this, so I want to be careful, but honestly - if the idea of “Michael Keaton doing the Black Adam pose as Danny Elfman’s score plays” sounds like a good time to you, then this review points you in that direction.
I don't see how this isn't an "actual" review. Darren shared thoughts about the movie, and even had KC step in and offer his thoughts about it. That's all a review is. An opinion about a piece of art. That's it. That's the full definition. That's all you need to be a reviewer.
It's not a review, it's 5 minutes of historical context surrounding the film and qualitative comments on keaton's acting it's fine to do a review anyway a writer wants but i can certainly read a wikipage or news articles if i needed to know the context of the film. all the other shows you mentioned have qualitative comments about the medium it's talking about. this doesn't really have any. worse still, there's hardly any from darren himself. it's a cute video, and i certainly watch the escapist for the reasons you list, but the review itself is lame
@carlosgaitan5399 my impression of his review is that the film was pretty unremarkable or mid that he spent most of the review talking about everything around it on purpose to drive home the point that its a bit meh and the only things of interest is the controversies surrounding it and the bits of nostalgia which is a poor reflection on the film. That is a review, just a subtle way of expressing his thoughts without giving an obvious thumbs up or down. Or at least that's my take on this. Feel free to correct me Darren 😅 Cool video regardless.
Small trivia/correction about what you said about Flashpoint (the comic): It wasn't actually meant to be a crisis-like event at its inception. It was retooled as an event to reboot continuity during the writing process, which you can also absolutely see when reading it.
1:42, the difference is, those comics became famous because they were the best in the business, while _Flashpoint_ became famous for being a middling alt-universe story that was used as an excuse to reboot the whole line.
Translation: "I have no strong feelings toward this movie outside of its cultural context. See it or don't, I don't care. Please don't stab or fire me." Which, I think, says all we need to know about it.
It really speaks to the epic mishandling of the DC Ended Universe that a film initially proposed to be one of the starting point of the universe as a cinematic collective spent so long failing to be made and working around the lead’s Mcavity Speedrun Attempt to break every human law that it has now become the tool used to end it. It’s almost impressive that the projects has been among the walking dead so long that half of the things it was initially pitched to overcome in tone and content of DC films became thing of nostalgia it was retooled fo celebrate instead. It’s a single-film thesis of the failure of one of the most expensive failed fil projects in history.
I think people like Keaton as Batman because he made for a compelling Batman. It isn't just because of cynical nostalgia that people liked Keaton's Batman.
@@ExNihil0 That he's a weirdo. That he lives in a heightened a stylized fairy tale world where it is somehow simultaneously 1939 and 1989. That he's an interesting inversion of a Tim Burton protagonist, in that he's a guy who kinda wishes he was a freak rather than a guy who is a freak - that he has to construct a suit and persona to reflect the oddness that comes naturally to Beetlejuice or Edward Scissorhands. That he's romantic and introspective, but also kinky. That he's a family blockbuster protagonist who is into whip and blood play. That he has a unique choreography owing to the design of the costume in which he is placed, which means that he has to adopt a minimalist approach to movement where he can only move his entire upper body. That he's bumbling and awkward around people. That he has a room that he just sits in, waiting for the Bat-Signal to come on and shine through his window. That's the stuff that I love about Keaton's Batman, and I don't feel like any of it is reflected in this movie, sadly.
These kinds of movies are one of the reasons why I think that copyright needs to be gutted. It's obvious from how little real consistency there is that studios aren't making these because they have something to say about established characters or even a story to tell for established characters, but because they have something to sell using established characters. Without excessive copyright terms, passionless hacks would still have the power of money to over-budget films, advertise aggressively, and leverage brand recognition, but I think they'd be a lot more leery to parade the corpse of nostalgia when they know that they'll be competing with anyone else who wants to, including people who actually love the source material.
I agree. These large multimedia companies shouldn't be the only ones who hold creative capabilities of these characters since they've been wasted on Companies like Disney and Warner Brothers
Fantastic review, really original way of touching on the context and practical realities of the movie while still reviewing the movie itself. Not something we need for every review, but it's fun to see something like this on occasion, especially for a film where the drama surrounding it is more interesting than the film itself.
Oh yeah. We do more conventional reviews as a rule, but when the opportunity comes along to have some fun - “Ghostbusters”, “Space Jam”, “Scream 6” - we like to think we’re flexible enough to play with the format in a way that is itself a comment on the film.
@@UnreasonableOpinions Yep. It's notable that in two of those three cases, and maybe even in three of those three cases ("Scream 6" is much better than "Ghostbusters: Afterlife", "Space Jam: A New Legacy" and "The Flash"), the framing device of the review serves as a comment on how little "there" there is... well, there. It's notable, for example, that "Spider-Verse" didn't require or inspire a gimmick like this. I never even thought about doing something like this for "Spider-Verse", because that's a rich text with a lot of meaning quite apart from the corporate realities willing it into being.
This was such an amazing review. Never y-before has a review been so perfect in the way it captures the timey-whimy nature of a convoluted time travel adventure with the convoluted nature of indecisive film production from an interfering studio and the various histories that intertwined to lead us to a film that simply exists. Bravo.
I really want to see the alternate universe version of this that Tom Cruise mustve seen to call and rant about how good it was. It seems like this was at one point a legitimately fantastic film
To be fair, Cruise loves movies. I have my issues with the man, but I suspect his head would explode if you tried to get him to publicly say something bad about somebody else’s movie.
@@UnreasonableOpinions Yep. He can't even pick one movie over others. When he's asked to name his favourite movie, he's like "the experience of watching a movie." And, as cynical as I can be about that man, I think he honestly believes that, as trite as it sounds.
This was an absolutely amazing review. Clever play with the flashpoint resets lol. Also KC Mooney is not the dynamic duo we deserved, but it's the one we need
You can really feel they wanted to cut him out in the final act especially given how little the villain appears possibly less than any villain in a superhero movie.
Oh, so nicely done. Good call Darren; you weren't kidding when you said you felt sorry for KC editing - brilliant job KC; flawless! Excellently done guys, a "Chef's Kiss" of writing and editing!
With NC's top-notch editing to boot, Darren couldn't have reviewed the uniquely Hollywood brand of superhero action-movie banality, perhaps a subcategory of our sunny American materialism and kitsch, any better or more entertaining. Difficult not to applaud here for whatever it's worth!
The message of the movie is to not get bogged down by the past and have hope for the future, which is just a pathetic unsubtle attempt to tell DC fans that we promise we will do better in the next universe please forget our dumb mistakes and give us another chance. Look at all the other time DC has changed structure through nostalgia and it turned out ok
It’s also, as the review points out, insanely hypocritical to make a movie ostensibly about how we are the sum of our mistakes and flaws, which also serves as a prelude to a reboot erasing these characters with these mistakes and flaws.
Have you ever watched Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and suddenly a bunch of dead people like Abraham Lincoln walk into the hospital room out of nowhere. Its like that but unironically.
The AI generated cameos are disturbing enough but the fact that one of them is GEORGE REEVES- who considered the role of Superman to have ruined his life by sending his career into stagnation & very likely committed suicide because of it- is appalling.
Thanks. KC deserves a lot of the credit here. I came up with the concept, but it was KC who pulled it off and made it flow. But, generally speaking, really glad that people like it.
Yep, that was the plan. To create a review that would capture the experience of trying to process a movie that comes with so much baggage but as little content as "The Flash."
Interesting way of reviewing it. I feel this film is relying more on folks wanting to see how the snyderverse ends that folks actually wanting a good film.
I had my suspicions this was gonna be the case for good ole Barry in his first solo debut after the shit storm the production went through and Ezras otherwise bonkers behavior.
Honestly I wasnt a fan of this review presentation style. The first couple 'rewinds' made it interesting and kept me solely focused but by about the mid point it had worn off and I was having trouble actually understanding what point you were trying to make with the bit. Its as if you were making a review of or commentary on reviews for the movie but the message got lost in the mix. Im certainly interested in new presentation methods and ideas but this one's was overused that it simply left me uninterested in the end.
Yeah, it was a neat idea, and I'm glad they tried it. But it was at odds with really doing a good job of conveying information. Then again, that's UA-cam for you. There's weird meta entertainment that we consume these days where the very process of review itself becomes a sort of standalone . . . 'show'? It's honestly very strange and I feel like we're sorta melting our brains.
I'm more just tired of spectacle in general. It's fun in small doses, but when everything has to be 'epic', constantly, then nothing can be 'epic'. It all just blends together into a mess of CGI. But all we seem to do is get these spectacle films faster and faster, closer and closer together.
The Flash is movie that needs and doesn't need to be seen. It's a flailing, screaming child that refuses to do its homework but somehow demands to be passing in school, loudly shouts it wants its desert without needing to eat its rice, won't stop harrassing his brother and stealing his clothes, and broke the window again. Ignore it till it finally tires itself out, lock it in the closet with a pencil, flashlight and its homework, and don't let it out until it's ready.
Calle is portraying Supergirl as dignified and badass. This version of Superman/girl has been experimented on their entire lives and have been taught to fear humans. She should be emaciated, paranoid and feral.
I can't remember who said it, but it was something of a critique that 'all of our cultural heroes are only accessible behind a Disney+ subscription.' Which is ironic when most of Hollywood got its start by adapting public Domain figures.
Ehh it's probably the best DC movie so far. Let's hope the next few are decent too. Also, I wasn't aware that everyone hated Keaton's batman. I was a kid when I saw that and it blew my godamned mind.
I was a teenager. If I remember right, the "controversy" about Keaton's casting started before anyone had actually seen the movie. Nerds freaking out about "The weird little guy from Beetlejuice" playing Batman instead of, I dunno, AHHHnold or whatever. And then there were fans saying it was too "dark", not "dark" enough, not true to the comics/cartoons, etc. Same as it always is. We've been having the exact same incredibly stupid argument about a man who dresses up as a bat for OVER 30 YEARS, because nerd-dom as a whole is fundamentally stuck in the damn past.
Movie critics have a very difficult time understanding how being a child changes your perception of a movie *even after you become an adult.* We had no problem with Keaton because we had no expectations before we saw him. Finding out he was in Beetlejuice after the fact doesn't change our original "This guy is cool!" verdict. It does for some people, but they're usually trying to impress unimpressed older people by (pretending to be) changing their mind.
@@MadMadNomadHave you ever considered that "nerd-dom" is multiple generations of people who are predisposed to similar interests and behavior? It's not nerds stuck in the past-- it's new nerds acting like old nerds. Human nature doesn't change.
@@frumentarii7383 There's a finite amount of time that these folks can keep making message movies that lose money before they go broke. Their resources are not infinite.
Yeah, a statement about the reality of the industry should not be misconstrued as an endorsement of the industry. I feel like it would be very difficult to watch that review and consider "... it is enough that it simply *is*" or "it would be too much to ask it to be actually good" to be an endorsement of the film. It's bad because nobody involved cared whether it was good.
Ha! We try to keep the video reviews a reasonable length. This one went a bit longer, but I do think it is suitable sense, so it doesn’t waste anyone’s time.
I love reviews that are better written, more thematically coherent, and clearly made with more care than the things they're reviewing. Mooney nailed this!
Very well done Darren & Team! But I was told by Tom Cruise, Stephen King and anyone else tangentially connected to WB that this was the best comic book movie since The Dark Knight?! Its B CinemaScore, RT 67% (6.3/10) & MetaCritic 56/100 ratings beg to differ and has clearly affected its box office which is shaping up for a 'Black Adam-esque' $64/72m 3/4-day domestic opening weekend! Would be very interested in a video of Darren's ranking of all the DCEU movies including both versions of Justice League & Suicide Squad, feel free to include Peacemaker S1 in there as well!
Saw the movie with friends. We all liked it very much, despite some flaws. That's my review of the film. Also, saw your video. Liked it very much, too. Sadly, my life was not changed by either experience. But then, perhaps that's too much to ask from such things.
Yeah, we do crossover on occasion. There’s a really good (or fun) thing we did with Jack on one of the In the Frame videos last year, which I really enjoyed.
I was the 666th like on this video so I appreciate that nearly as much as I appreciate the work you guys put into this review. Loved the message/critique, loved the gimmick that was used, and the "twist" near the end. Thanks for the hard work you guys put in.
To be fair, it gets to four separate points; how the film’s function is its form, how the movie’s function is at odds with its characters and themes, how it’s not a cohesive movie so much as a grab bag of content delivered to minimum specifications, and how its use of nostalgia for Michael Keaton’s Batman captures nothing of what it actually was.
I'm surprised you guys didn't go back to 1961 when Flash was involved in the story "Flash of Two Worlds", the first of its kind that helped begat this entire notion of comic book continuity and crossovers.
If you watch the review you should get it. The second section of the review explains the plot of the film is Barry travelling back in time to reverse the death of his mother, which should be enough - we hope - to clue the viewer into what’s happening the the review. The third section of the review talks about how the production of the film itself was a constant process of resetting and rewriting the film, often retroactively, much like the plot of the film is Barry resetting and rewriting the film. The hope is that the viewer can piece these two core arguments together and understand how they are reflected in the structure of the review, which also hopefully gives the viewer a sense of what it feels like to watch “The Flash”, a film constantly being redrafted from within and without.
@Darren_Mooney I got only about half way - and that seems to explain my lack of getting it. Your idea makes sense, and is a totally valid artistic decision. I feel that it raises a question that I've pondered ever since my barely matured self encountered Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. The question is, should an entertainer ever intentionally make his audience feel aggravation towards something the audience is supposed to feel favorably about? In Luca's case, he wanted the audience to find Jar Jar endearing, and no one did, largely on account of him being so (intentionally!) aggravating that fan edits removed him from the film entirely. Here, in the case of an online movie review, the intent is, I assume, for the audience to broadly enjoy consuming the review from beginning to end, but you've chosen a format that is intentionally unpleasant to process. Other the other hand, I can see some in the comments appreciate your approach in this one. Maybe announcing your intention in the beginning might have signaled to scatterbrains like myself that the review would eventually come together into a cohesive whole, and that the disjointing narrative was to prove a point in particular.
@@DavidDavyDavidson I don’t know if I’d describe it as “intentionally unpleasant.” It’s certainly meant to draw your attention to the form of the review, and make you feel a little frustrated, but that’s part of how games work, for example, or even thrillers or horror movies or sometimes even comedies. (The rake joke on “The Simpsons”, a lot of “Community”, etc.) I think (hope) that it’s enjoyable, in a sense of either “oh, I see what they’re doing here!” or even just a “oh, I’ve never seen an argument made like this before!” The hope is that it inspires audience to lean in, as it were. Sure, it won’t be for everyone - there are plenty of moviegoers who don’t appreciate the structure of, say, “Memento” - but that doesn’t mean it’s an invalid approach; after all, there are enough “ordinary” reviews of the film out there anyway. There seem to be plenty of people in the comments who did enjoy it, so I don’t feel like it was a misfire. That said, I’m sorry that you didn’t enjoy it. I appreciate the thoughtful response, and - if it helps - not every review (or even most reviews) is this formally ambitious. Recently covered “Fast X”, “Spider-Verse”, “Transformers”, all straightforward.
My father's day gift was to take my sons to watch the flash absolutely had a wonderful experience. Movie's are a way to take you away from everyday problems. Lots of people having a difficult time with life right now! if a movie can take them away for for a little while than its absolutely worth the price of admission. Cheers everyone
How can they keep Ezra Miller as the lead, it's contractual. The whole DC cinematic history for the last decade has them been the ceo's saying "no let's restart the cannon, let's recast, let's redo batman"
Pretty amused at the folks in the comments wanting an “actual” review of the movie. Y’all are subscribed to the Escapist, right? Surely you’re familiar with zero punctuation, cold take, or even 3 minute reviews? None of them give you a hard verdict on something. That’s not what the escapist does. This review is an excellent piece of cultural commentary, cleverly done and with a delightful conceit. And, personally, I think it did plenty to tell me about the movie. Don’t listen to the haters, Darren. This is brilliant work
It also implies that a review is supposed to come to a decisive conclusion, rather than providing people with context to make informed decisions.
To be fair, I think the review also tells you how I felt about the movie and why it made me feel that way. Ebert made the point that a good review shouldn’t just scare those away who will hate a film, but also help those who would like it - even if the reviewer didn’t.
It’s easy to be flippant or dismissive about this, so I want to be careful, but honestly - if the idea of “Michael Keaton doing the Black Adam pose as Danny Elfman’s score plays” sounds like a good time to you, then this review points you in that direction.
I don't see how this isn't an "actual" review. Darren shared thoughts about the movie, and even had KC step in and offer his thoughts about it. That's all a review is. An opinion about a piece of art. That's it. That's the full definition. That's all you need to be a reviewer.
It's not a review, it's 5 minutes of historical context surrounding the film and qualitative comments on keaton's acting
it's fine to do a review anyway a writer wants but i can certainly read a wikipage or news articles if i needed to know the context of the film. all the other shows you mentioned have qualitative comments about the medium it's talking about. this doesn't really have any. worse still, there's hardly any from darren himself. it's a cute video, and i certainly watch the escapist for the reasons you list, but the review itself is lame
@carlosgaitan5399 my impression of his review is that the film was pretty unremarkable or mid that he spent most of the review talking about everything around it on purpose to drive home the point that its a bit meh and the only things of interest is the controversies surrounding it and the bits of nostalgia which is a poor reflection on the film. That is a review, just a subtle way of expressing his thoughts without giving an obvious thumbs up or down.
Or at least that's my take on this. Feel free to correct me Darren 😅 Cool video regardless.
Darren needs to be let off the leash like this more often
As Darren, I'll fully concede that sometimes the leash is a good idea. :)
(Hugo from "Succession" voice: "woof woof.")
Small trivia/correction about what you said about Flashpoint (the comic): It wasn't actually meant to be a crisis-like event at its inception. It was retooled as an event to reboot continuity during the writing process, which you can also absolutely see when reading it.
Yea started off as just a Flash mostly semi big story arch that finishes quick and then BOOM a few comics later it effects literally everything
Came here years ago for ZP, but these film reviews are killing it. Kudos guys.
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed. Really thrilled that it worked at all. KC’s work is amazing.
@@Darren_Mooney dude, it's brilliant!! Congrats!
Mishearing the Director's name as machete made it logical, that this is - for many characters and actors - an axe job.
An axe job.
Accurate, really.
Eyyyyyyyyy
@@hailmuffins6934 macarena!
1:42, the difference is, those comics became famous because they were the best in the business, while _Flashpoint_ became famous for being a middling alt-universe story that was used as an excuse to reboot the whole line.
Translation: "I have no strong feelings toward this movie outside of its cultural context. See it or don't, I don't care. Please don't stab or fire me."
Which, I think, says all we need to know about it.
Ha! I think the point is more that there is nothing to the film beyond its context.
Is that what the producers think of the movie?
It really speaks to the epic mishandling of the DC Ended Universe that a film initially proposed to be one of the starting point of the universe as a cinematic collective spent so long failing to be made and working around the lead’s Mcavity Speedrun Attempt to break every human law that it has now become the tool used to end it. It’s almost impressive that the projects has been among the walking dead so long that half of the things it was initially pitched to overcome in tone and content of DC films became thing of nostalgia it was retooled fo celebrate instead.
It’s a single-film thesis of the failure of one of the most expensive failed fil projects in history.
The movies that are to be made about the making and unmaking of the DCEU will likely be far better films than the films of the DCEU themselves.
They should have made a Batman Beyond movie instead
Agreed. That would have been better
Yes!!!! So many remakes of batman yet none add anything new. Batman Beyond would at least be a different style.
Absolutely that's so true but it makes too much sense
Hollywood hates great ideas so that would never work.
We were gonna get one in the original plans after this one. It got canned
I think people like Keaton as Batman because he made for a compelling Batman. It isn't just because of cynical nostalgia that people liked Keaton's Batman.
Oh, I loved Keaton’s Batman. But there’s nothing of what made me love Keaton’s Batman in this movie.
@@Darren_Mooney what do you love about him?
@@ExNihil0 That he's a weirdo. That he lives in a heightened a stylized fairy tale world where it is somehow simultaneously 1939 and 1989. That he's an interesting inversion of a Tim Burton protagonist, in that he's a guy who kinda wishes he was a freak rather than a guy who is a freak - that he has to construct a suit and persona to reflect the oddness that comes naturally to Beetlejuice or Edward Scissorhands. That he's romantic and introspective, but also kinky. That he's a family blockbuster protagonist who is into whip and blood play. That he has a unique choreography owing to the design of the costume in which he is placed, which means that he has to adopt a minimalist approach to movement where he can only move his entire upper body. That he's bumbling and awkward around people. That he has a room that he just sits in, waiting for the Bat-Signal to come on and shine through his window.
That's the stuff that I love about Keaton's Batman, and I don't feel like any of it is reflected in this movie, sadly.
These kinds of movies are one of the reasons why I think that copyright needs to be gutted. It's obvious from how little real consistency there is that studios aren't making these because they have something to say about established characters or even a story to tell for established characters, but because they have something to sell using established characters. Without excessive copyright terms, passionless hacks would still have the power of money to over-budget films, advertise aggressively, and leverage brand recognition, but I think they'd be a lot more leery to parade the corpse of nostalgia when they know that they'll be competing with anyone else who wants to, including people who actually love the source material.
I agree. These large multimedia companies shouldn't be the only ones who hold creative capabilities of these characters since they've been wasted on Companies like Disney and Warner Brothers
I love the steady breaking of the review’s universe via the writer’s name.
The universe keeps shrinking.
Fantastic review, really original way of touching on the context and practical realities of the movie while still reviewing the movie itself. Not something we need for every review, but it's fun to see something like this on occasion, especially for a film where the drama surrounding it is more interesting than the film itself.
Oh yeah. We do more conventional reviews as a rule, but when the opportunity comes along to have some fun - “Ghostbusters”, “Space Jam”, “Scream 6” - we like to think we’re flexible enough to play with the format in a way that is itself a comment on the film.
Plus it helps for those films where the drama surrounding them is so much more interesting than the mediocrity within them.
@@UnreasonableOpinions Yep. It's notable that in two of those three cases, and maybe even in three of those three cases ("Scream 6" is much better than "Ghostbusters: Afterlife", "Space Jam: A New Legacy" and "The Flash"), the framing device of the review serves as a comment on how little "there" there is... well, there.
It's notable, for example, that "Spider-Verse" didn't require or inspire a gimmick like this. I never even thought about doing something like this for "Spider-Verse", because that's a rich text with a lot of meaning quite apart from the corporate realities willing it into being.
This was such an amazing review. Never y-before has a review been so perfect in the way it captures the timey-whimy nature of a convoluted time travel adventure with the convoluted nature of indecisive film production from an interfering studio and the various histories that intertwined to lead us to a film that simply exists. Bravo.
Thank you. Very proud of how this one turned out.
Very entertaining and a surprise KC cameo? Already better than the movie itself
A fan-mandated recast!
The "Reviewed by KC Mooney" was a great touch I almost missed
@@kingdead42 And it could have been a cameo from Aaron Mooney too, but... it's still hard to talk about that tragic incident.
@@Darren_Mooney 🙏❤️
Excellent Review! Probably your best one to date!
That was kind of amazing. Restarting and exploring all these different perspectives on The Flash blew me away somewhat.
I really want to see the alternate universe version of this that Tom Cruise mustve seen to call and rant about how good it was. It seems like this was at one point a legitimately fantastic film
To be fair, Cruise loves movies. I have my issues with the man, but I suspect his head would explode if you tried to get him to publicly say something bad about somebody else’s movie.
I have never heard or read Tom Cruise having a bad thing to say about someone else’s movie. I don’t know if he even can.
@@UnreasonableOpinions Yep. He can't even pick one movie over others. When he's asked to name his favourite movie, he's like "the experience of watching a movie." And, as cynical as I can be about that man, I think he honestly believes that, as trite as it sounds.
This was an absolutely amazing review. Clever play with the flashpoint resets lol. Also KC Mooney is not the dynamic duo we deserved, but it's the one we need
That was a really cool review. Well done.
You can really feel they wanted to cut him out in the final act especially given how little the villain appears possibly less than any villain in a superhero movie.
This was a lot of fun, need more of this outside the box presentation.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed. KC’s edit was phenomenal.
One of the most fun reviews for this film that I've seen... and, ironically, it's significantly more fun than the film itself.
Oh, so nicely done. Good call Darren; you weren't kidding when you said you felt sorry for KC editing - brilliant job KC; flawless! Excellently done guys, a "Chef's Kiss" of writing and editing!
Thanks. Yeah, I’ll own giving myself the easy part of the assignment.
@@Darren_Mooney I admire your honesty.
With NC's top-notch editing to boot, Darren couldn't have reviewed the uniquely Hollywood brand of superhero action-movie banality, perhaps a subcategory of our sunny American materialism and kitsch, any better or more entertaining. Difficult not to applaud here for whatever it's worth!
All these crappy half-assed sequels and reboots makes me feel like I was a groomed teenager brained washed into thinking all this was ok...
Such a great movie. If it was in the MCU list of great movies, it would’ve been in the top 10.
This is one of the most brilliant and creative approaches to doing a review I've seen yet.
Thanks! We tried to have a little fun.
The message of the movie is to not get bogged down by the past and have hope for the future, which is just a pathetic unsubtle attempt to tell DC fans that we promise we will do better in the next universe please forget our dumb mistakes and give us another chance. Look at all the other time DC has changed structure through nostalgia and it turned out ok
It’s also, as the review points out, insanely hypocritical to make a movie ostensibly about how we are the sum of our mistakes and flaws, which also serves as a prelude to a reboot erasing these characters with these mistakes and flaws.
So since the flash going back in time is Flashpoint, do we call Darren resetting the review Mooneypoint?
Moneypoint!
Brilliant way to review the film, and even the rugrats plugin in the first attempt was great 😂
That was all KC!
Great review - the extra effort with the clever presentation was just the best
Thanks. It felt like a way to say something about the movie in a way that complimented the actual content of the review.
Have you ever watched Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and suddenly a bunch of dead people like Abraham Lincoln walk into the hospital room out of nowhere. Its like that but unironically.
BTW Snyder wasn't kicked off production, he left after the death of his daughter.
The AI generated cameos are disturbing enough but the fact that one of them is GEORGE REEVES- who considered the role of Superman to have ruined his life by sending his career into stagnation & very likely committed suicide because of it- is appalling.
And even Reeves was like, “I’m never playing Superman again.”
At the very least the Flash movie gave us this incredible review of it, so at least some good came from its existence.
Thanks!
That was really dope.
Also, considering this got out, but Batwoman didn't... I honestly wish corporate mandates mandated something else.
This review wins the award for best editing 🏆
Yep. KC just did a tremendous job.
Mans LITERALLY wrote a time travel plot for a review. Whatever they're getting paid, it's not enough.
Most fascinated by a movie review I've been since the first time i saw a plinkett review.
That was a great and innovative video. Congrats, Darren.
Thanks! Glad you enjoy it!
One of Darren's best movie analysis. Just great, keep the good work.
Thanks. KC deserves a lot of the credit here. I came up with the concept, but it was KC who pulled it off and made it flow. But, generally speaking, really glad that people like it.
This review is a true work of art! And it actually makes me want to check out a movie I had no interest in, even if just of morbid curiosity.
This review somehow both says everything and nothing... which, given the "fIlM," fits perfectly
Yep, that was the plan. To create a review that would capture the experience of trying to process a movie that comes with so much baggage but as little content as "The Flash."
Can’t wait for the Mooneyverse
The Mooney-Verse is much cooler, and more fun. (Also has a much more conventional reviewer, oddly enough!)
Interesting way of reviewing it. I feel this film is relying more on folks wanting to see how the snyderverse ends that folks actually wanting a good film.
Loved this review! You committed to the bit till the end
Thanks! We’re very proud of it.
I didn’t catch any Darren Mooney puns.
But that’s okay - you can still go back, you can still fix this.
(Review begins rewinding.)
That was unnecessarily weird
Easily the best review of this movie! Thanks for the laughs
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed!
Some say we're still watching the review to this day, trying to get it right.
Part of me will be tempted to bring it back as some kinda of stinger for Gunn’s “Superman: Legacy.”
I had my suspicions this was gonna be the case for good ole Barry in his first solo debut after the shit storm the production went through and Ezras otherwise bonkers behavior.
Honestly I wasnt a fan of this review presentation style. The first couple 'rewinds' made it interesting and kept me solely focused but by about the mid point it had worn off and I was having trouble actually understanding what point you were trying to make with the bit. Its as if you were making a review of or commentary on reviews for the movie but the message got lost in the mix. Im certainly interested in new presentation methods and ideas but this one's was overused that it simply left me uninterested in the end.
Yeah, it was a neat idea, and I'm glad they tried it. But it was at odds with really doing a good job of conveying information.
Then again, that's UA-cam for you. There's weird meta entertainment that we consume these days where the very process of review itself becomes a sort of standalone . . . 'show'?
It's honestly very strange and I feel like we're sorta melting our brains.
can we all just collectively stop caring about superheroes? It’s been fifteen years since the first Iron Man. Let’s give it a rest yeah?
I'm more just tired of spectacle in general. It's fun in small doses, but when everything has to be 'epic', constantly, then nothing can be 'epic'. It all just blends together into a mess of CGI. But all we seem to do is get these spectacle films faster and faster, closer and closer together.
Actual factual
The Flash is movie that needs and doesn't need to be seen. It's a flailing, screaming child that refuses to do its homework but somehow demands to be passing in school, loudly shouts it wants its desert without needing to eat its rice, won't stop harrassing his brother and stealing his clothes, and broke the window again.
Ignore it till it finally tires itself out, lock it in the closet with a pencil, flashlight and its homework, and don't let it out until it's ready.
There are only 3 things in this movie that actually look LEGIT GOOD:
1): Michael Keaton
2): Ben Affleck
3): Sasha Calle as Supergirl.
Calle is portraying Supergirl as dignified and badass.
This version of Superman/girl has been experimented on their entire lives and have been taught to fear humans.
She should be emaciated, paranoid and feral.
@@clementcastro9725 Fair enough but I’m referring to her performance/acting. I’ve never read the comics
None of these things are Legit Good
@@marcelosilvestre244 They are, in my personal opinion
If only her suit didn't look so cheap.
Even a dumpster fire will keep you warm in the winter.
I love how pop vultu- I mean culture has been atomized, restructured, and reformatted into a form that the tiny elite thinks is entertaining.
I can't remember who said it, but it was something of a critique that 'all of our cultural heroes are only accessible behind a Disney+ subscription.' Which is ironic when most of Hollywood got its start by adapting public Domain figures.
Nuanced review, best review on the key issues with the film, specially the change of critic at the end, no wait...!
We can still fix it, I just need another pass!
Maybe the best review of this product
Thanks!
This is your best review to date.
Thanks. Credit where credit’s due, KC did an amazing job with it. I remember pitching it to him and thinking it would be insane, but he makes it work.
Not enough crimes
TIME crimes.
Ehh it's probably the best DC movie so far. Let's hope the next few are decent too. Also, I wasn't aware that everyone hated Keaton's batman. I was a kid when I saw that and it blew my godamned mind.
I was a teenager. If I remember right, the "controversy" about Keaton's casting started before anyone had actually seen the movie. Nerds freaking out about "The weird little guy from Beetlejuice" playing Batman instead of, I dunno, AHHHnold or whatever. And then there were fans saying it was too "dark", not "dark" enough, not true to the comics/cartoons, etc. Same as it always is. We've been having the exact same incredibly stupid argument about a man who dresses up as a bat for OVER 30 YEARS, because nerd-dom as a whole is fundamentally stuck in the damn past.
Movie critics have a very difficult time understanding how being a child changes your perception of a movie *even after you become an adult.* We had no problem with Keaton because we had no expectations before we saw him. Finding out he was in Beetlejuice after the fact doesn't change our original "This guy is cool!" verdict.
It does for some people, but they're usually trying to impress unimpressed older people by (pretending to be) changing their mind.
@@MadMadNomadHave you ever considered that "nerd-dom" is multiple generations of people who are predisposed to similar interests and behavior? It's not nerds stuck in the past-- it's new nerds acting like old nerds. Human nature doesn't change.
Sorry, but it actually DOES matter whether the film is good or bad. That's actually ALL that matters.
@@frumentarii7383 There's a finite amount of time that these folks can keep making message movies that lose money before they go broke. Their resources are not infinite.
Yeah, a statement about the reality of the industry should not be misconstrued as an endorsement of the industry. I feel like it would be very difficult to watch that review and consider "... it is enough that it simply *is*" or "it would be too much to ask it to be actually good" to be an endorsement of the film. It's bad because nobody involved cared whether it was good.
Need more meta: "This itself is not a review of the movie, The Flash."
We should have had Nick claim this was the best review in the history of reviews.
Ok that was quite meta, didn't know they could Chronobowl too. But I wonder how many would change history to get Batgirl released instead
How the hell did this fit into 6 minutes
Ha! We try to keep the video reviews a reasonable length. This one went a bit longer, but I do think it is suitable sense, so it doesn’t waste anyone’s time.
Lois was the key to all this
Jar-jar is the key to all of this.
I love reviews that are better written, more thematically coherent, and clearly made with more care than the things they're reviewing. Mooney nailed this!
Very well done Darren & Team! But I was told by Tom Cruise, Stephen King and anyone else tangentially connected to WB that this was the best comic book movie since The Dark Knight?! Its B CinemaScore, RT 67% (6.3/10) & MetaCritic 56/100 ratings beg to differ and has clearly affected its box office which is shaping up for a 'Black Adam-esque' $64/72m 3/4-day domestic opening weekend!
Would be very interested in a video of Darren's ranking of all the DCEU movies including both versions of Justice League & Suicide Squad, feel free to include Peacemaker S1 in there as well!
Saw the movie with friends. We all liked it very much, despite some flaws. That's my review of the film. Also, saw your video. Liked it very much, too. Sadly, my life was not changed by either experience. But then, perhaps that's too much to ask from such things.
Now all we need is Marty Sliva to appear so we can demand something be done about his kids (KC Mooney and Daren Money).
Yeah, we do crossover on occasion. There’s a really good (or fun) thing we did with Jack on one of the In the Frame videos last year, which I really enjoyed.
I liked it. Felt very tonal with what a flash film should be. I'd watch more and I'm down to see how the DCU works out
Bravo! This review is more entertaining than the movie itself :D
After so many years, Grant Gustin will always be the true Flash
The TV show did flashpoint justice
Chuckie from Rugrats lol
All KC, baby!
@@Darren_Mooney they are phenomenal I think.
"KC Mooney"
lol, nice
Yep, KC nailed it!
The time travel joke would have worked better with a moviebob cameo or two.
Trying to follow this video with all those “no wait let’s go back” was a pain
I was the 666th like on this video so I appreciate that nearly as much as I appreciate the work you guys put into this review. Loved the message/critique, loved the gimmick that was used, and the "twist" near the end. Thanks for the hard work you guys put in.
2:49 a lot of people are lauding this style of presentation but I hate it lol get to the point
To be fair, it gets to four separate points; how the film’s function is its form, how the movie’s function is at odds with its characters and themes, how it’s not a cohesive movie so much as a grab bag of content delivered to minimum specifications, and how its use of nostalgia for Michael Keaton’s Batman captures nothing of what it actually was.
I'm surprised you guys didn't go back to 1961 when Flash was involved in the story "Flash of Two Worlds", the first of its kind that helped begat this entire notion of comic book continuity and crossovers.
WE CAN STILL GO BACK!
(Begins rewinding.)
This got a good laugh out of me,this may go down as one of my fave reviews from the channel.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed!
Welp, if the movie is anything like this review then it's a hard pass god damn it.
I don't get it. Do I have to watch the movie in under the understand the format of its review? Or did the first Flash do the annoying time reset?
If you watch the review you should get it.
The second section of the review explains the plot of the film is Barry travelling back in time to reverse the death of his mother, which should be enough - we hope - to clue the viewer into what’s happening the the review.
The third section of the review talks about how the production of the film itself was a constant process of resetting and rewriting the film, often retroactively, much like the plot of the film is Barry resetting and rewriting the film.
The hope is that the viewer can piece these two core arguments together and understand how they are reflected in the structure of the review, which also hopefully gives the viewer a sense of what it feels like to watch “The Flash”, a film constantly being redrafted from within and without.
@Darren_Mooney I got only about half way - and that seems to explain my lack of getting it. Your idea makes sense, and is a totally valid artistic decision.
I feel that it raises a question that I've pondered ever since my barely matured self encountered Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. The question is, should an entertainer ever intentionally make his audience feel aggravation towards something the audience is supposed to feel favorably about?
In Luca's case, he wanted the audience to find Jar Jar endearing, and no one did, largely on account of him being so (intentionally!) aggravating that fan edits removed him from the film entirely.
Here, in the case of an online movie review, the intent is, I assume, for the audience to broadly enjoy consuming the review from beginning to end, but you've chosen a format that is intentionally unpleasant to process.
Other the other hand, I can see some in the comments appreciate your approach in this one. Maybe announcing your intention in the beginning might have signaled to scatterbrains like myself that the review would eventually come together into a cohesive whole, and that the disjointing narrative was to prove a point in particular.
@@DavidDavyDavidson I don’t know if I’d describe it as “intentionally unpleasant.” It’s certainly meant to draw your attention to the form of the review, and make you feel a little frustrated, but that’s part of how games work, for example, or even thrillers or horror movies or sometimes even comedies. (The rake joke on “The Simpsons”, a lot of “Community”, etc.)
I think (hope) that it’s enjoyable, in a sense of either “oh, I see what they’re doing here!” or even just a “oh, I’ve never seen an argument made like this before!” The hope is that it inspires audience to lean in, as it were. Sure, it won’t be for everyone - there are plenty of moviegoers who don’t appreciate the structure of, say, “Memento” - but that doesn’t mean it’s an invalid approach; after all, there are enough “ordinary” reviews of the film out there anyway. There seem to be plenty of people in the comments who did enjoy it, so I don’t feel like it was a misfire.
That said, I’m sorry that you didn’t enjoy it. I appreciate the thoughtful response, and - if it helps - not every review (or even most reviews) is this formally ambitious. Recently covered “Fast X”, “Spider-Verse”, “Transformers”, all straightforward.
I get what your doing with the constant reverse of the video but due to that I did not watch it because it was very stupid and annoying
Nice use of the framing device. Keep it up.
The format was cute and innovative but I need to watch another video now, actually reviewing this movie.
My father's day gift was to take my sons to watch the flash absolutely had a wonderful experience. Movie's are a way to take you away from everyday problems. Lots of people having a difficult time with life right now! if a movie can take them away for for a little while than its absolutely worth the price of admission. Cheers everyone
KC Mooney 😂 Are we ready for the Escapist Cinematic Universe?
Their biggest mistake was involving Snyder. I still don’t understand what Nolan was thinking.
Edit: Ezra should never have been cast as any Flash.
Brilliant review, I love it.
How can they keep Ezra Miller as the lead, it's contractual. The whole DC cinematic history for the last decade has them been the ceo's saying "no let's restart the cannon, let's recast, let's redo batman"
they should've mandated better CGI
Really like this input
Stuckman and Jeremy Jans where mostly positive with a side of bad cgi and over shadowing.
I mean I have to praise the movie for the superman lives cameo if nothing else.
Turkey Tom Ezra UA-cam vid , if you want to understand the flash.
Aren't all superhero movies a corporate mandate? They provide entertainment but that's it nothing gained by watching like an actual movie does.
Good point.
The first Iron Man and The Dark Knight were superhero movies and didn’t feel like corporate mandates
Literally all movies from big studios are corporate mandated. Otherwise, they wouldn't exist.
@@trise2033😂😂👎👎👎. Films are made by people who want to creat art and tell stories
@@chasehedges6775 Unless those films are wholly financed by those people, then the investors/corporations providing the financing will beg to differ!