The official reviews for The Flash have arrived, with DC’s latest blockbuster placed under the critical microscope.

A few weeks ago, a pile of types of influencers posted rave reviews of DC’s The Flash movie online. Now the critics’ reviews are in and, well, their reports are a little more mixed.

The Flash is currently at 72% on rotten tomatoesa quite respectable figure if not close to the 85% and more of the last two Avengers films.

However, when you dig a little deeper, you’ll find that reviews are certainly divided, with some liking the film’s energy and others giving it the dreaded two stars.

First, here’s the bad news:

“It’s not a film with new ideas or a dramatic overhaul, and – at the risk of reopening the DC/Marvel sectarian wound – nothing to compare with the much-vaunted animated experience of recent Spider-Man films. intellect of this IP is running out,” says The gardians Peter Bradshaw.

The edge also criticizes The Flash for being “too meta nostalgic” in an outright negative article.

the flash instead tries to liven up a mediocre story with half-baked visual tricks and overly meta-nostalgic pieces that, unfortunately, feel like distractions meant to keep you from thinking about Ezra Miller while you watch Ezra Miller act against himself is Charles Pulliam-Moore. take.

The film’s verdict, well, verdict also doesn’t throw punches. “The first and last 10 minutes demonstrate the winning superhero saga that it could have been, but the middle two hours are all about sloppy, shameless fan service,” Alonso Duralde writes.

You might want to approach The Flash with caution if you’re not particularly invested in the DC Universe, as it seems to rely on the lure of nostalgia. Michael Keaton returns to his role as Batman after more than 30 years away, after all.

And now the good news…

However, some critics got on much better with the film. of the empire Chris Hewitt gave The Flash a solid 4-star review, calling it “a witty, warm comedy that deserves to be more than just a Flash in the pan”. See what you did there.

Deadline review is perhaps the closest you’d expect if you kept up to date with some of the early reactions on social media. “The DCs the flashIt may not be the greatest comic book movie ever made, but it comes pretty darn close,” says Deadline’s Chief Film Critic, Peter Hammond.

If you want a quicker look at what critics are thinking, you might want to check out the Reddit Megahead on the subject. It contains more links and excerpts than we can squeeze into a news article.

The Flash was released in cinemas on June 16. We’ll be watching the box office of this one with keen interest. Its production budget was reportedly $330 million, well above the $200 million of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and the $185 million of The Suicide Squad in 2021.

This one has the potential to break down as the hard flops come. Still, reviews suggest that if you weigh Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and The Flash next week, this film is still the clear choice.

Shortlist Verdict

ShortList was among the first in the world to see an early version of the film, in May. If you’re looking for a nostalgic trip along the lines of what Marvel did with Spider-Man: No Way Home, then you’re in luck because there are tons of throwbacks to DC movies of yore.

The central character or characters are played well by Ezra Miller, though their off-screen antics taint what you see on screen. It’s a shame because they’re easily some of the best bits of a movie that’s too long and sometimes suffers from pretty bad CG (although that could be due to the first version we saw).

However, we’re fans of the movie – it’s jam-packed with enough invention to ensure that even when there are bumps in the road, The Flash drives along at such speed that it never gets in the way of the fun.