Movie reviews: 'The Flash' is a film that provides action, warmth and nostalgia

THE FLASH: 3 ½ STARS

"The Flash," the long-awaited DC origin story of Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) a.k.a. The Flash, echoes all the all the stuff we expect from a big superhero tentpole movie. There are multiple universes, multiple superheroes and, once again, the world is in danger but it is the title character's emotional life that sets this movie apart from the pack.

Loosely based on the "Flashpoint" comics, the movie sees Barry still grieving the death of his mother (Maribel Verdú) and his father's (Ron Livingston) wrongful incarceration for her murder. Fueled by pain and rage, he finds a way to potentially ease his anguish when he discovers his superspeed gives him the ability to create a "chronobowl" and travel back to the day his mother was killed.

"I could save people," he says. "I could save my mom."

Before setting off to right the wrongs of the past, he consults with Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) who warns him against messing with the fabric of time. "You could destroy everything."

Ignoring Batman's advice, Barry travels to the past and soon pays the price for his impulsive actions. Caught in an alternate universe where a younger version of himself doesn't yet have superpowers.

"This is my face," his doppelganger says. "You stole my face."—Barry soon realizes he is in uncharted territory. "This can't be happening," he says. "I completely broke the universe."

Things go from bad to worse when Kryptonian supervillain General Zod (Michael Shannon) makes the scene, loaded with ill will for all of humanity. "This world must die," he says.

Having changed the past and potentially the future, Barry teams with alternate universe Batman (Michael Keaton) and Kara Zor-El, a.k.a. Supergirl (Sasha Calle) to restore order. "If I can't undo what I did, if I can't get back," he says, "there may not be a future."

"The Flash" finds a balance between fan service and a story for general audiences. Origin stories can be nightmares, filled with endless exposition and scene setting, but, for the most part, director Andy Muschietti keeps things moving along. Perhaps not with his star's superspeed, but at a good clip. You don't need a roadmap to follow the multiverse aspect, so ever-present in superhero movies nowadays, and Barry's personal story is both entertaining and emotional.

Part of that is the casting. Miller is wonderfully cast as the title character. They bring both a well-defined silliness and deep inner life to their dual portrayal of Barry as both an adult and a teenager. I can't tell whether a crack Miller delivers early on to a victim of a large scale disaster—"You should seek the help of a mental professional," they say. "The Justice League is not very good at that… trust me."—is meta, given Miller's recent, very public issues, or if it is wildly inappropriate. Either way, it is the film's only reference to Miller's well-reported off-screen behavior, and a rare misstep in the film's carefully crafted first half.

It's when the movie becomes larger and louder that it loses some of its charm. The appearance of Zod, complete with some dodgy CGI, raises the stakes but shifts focus from the film's heart and soul, which is Barry's quest to save his mother. The big showdown is a staple in superhero movies, but "The Flash" works best when it is character driven. In this case, bigger is not always better.

Oversized or not, "The Flash" is entertaining with nice little details, like how Barry has to eat high calorie food to fuel his superspeed and a wild baby shower. Literally, a shower of babies falling from the sky. As a buddy movie—Barry and Barry are an odd couple of a sort—it gets dark without surrendering to the ennui that has shaded so many of the other DC movies.

The result is a film that provides action, warmth and nostalgia—it's worth the price of admission to hear Keaton say, "Yup. I'm Batman"—and a few genuine surprises (NO SPOILERS HERE!).

THE BLACKENING: 3 ½ STARS

"The Blackening," a new horror satire now playing in theatres, answers a question never before addressed in a horror film. In the world of modern slasher films, the Black characters are always the first to die, so this new film asks, how would that change if the entire cast is Black?

Set on a Juneteenth weekend at a remote Airbnb in the middle of nowhere, the story begins with party hosts Morgan (Yvonne Orji) and Shawn (Jay Pharoah) prepping the house in advance of their guest's arrivals. In the Game Room they find a game called The Blackening, with a Monopoly-style design around a racist blackface caricature in the center of the board.

Shocked by the game's iconography, they are even more shocked when the game demands they answer a series of questions, or they will be killed. They play along until Shawn gets a question wrong, and things quickly go south.

Cut to the others as they make their way to the cabin for a weekend of "reckless, unadulterated fun." Lawyer Lisa (Antoinette Robertson), her BFF Dewayne (Dewayne Perkins, who co-wrote the script), Allison (Grace Byers) and former gang member King (Melvin Gregg) are in one car. Arriving separately are the boozy Shanika (X Mayo), Lisa's on-and-off boyfriend Nnamdi (Sinqua Walls) and Clifton (Jermaine Fowler), an oddball who says he was invited by Morgan, but no one seems to know him.

As the night wears on weird things start to happen. Doors open by themselves and strange characters appear in the shadows. Not that anyone notices… at first. Dewayne is high on MDMA while everyone else, save for Clifton, plays the card game Spades.

The drinks flow as the old friends gets caught up, and soon the attention turns to the Game Room and the unusual game Morgan and Shawn played hours earlier before their disappearance. With the remaining guests crowded around the board, the game begins to talk and taunt. "If you answer my questions correctly you will live," the game says, "and Morgan will be released. Get one wrong and you will die."

As the game asks questions like "Name five Black actors who appeared on 'Friends,'" it becomes clear the danger is real, and there are consequences for their answers. This is not just a board game, it is a game of survival. As panic sets in, the group has to make a crucial decision. Do we stay together or split up and try and get help?

"The Blackening" borrows tropes from familiar slasher movies. The remote cabin in the woods is a classic location, we meet a couple redneck hillbillies at a gas station and there's more than a hint of "Saw" on display. But what the movie does is take those elements and use them through a lens to explore Blackness, racism and popular culture. It's a movie loaded with subtext, one that uses the genre to speak to issues that confront Black people every day.

In its examination of stereotypes and prejudice, from within and outside of their group, the movie tackles big topics but does so with a great deal of humor and some real suspense. The allegories may be more effective than the actual gore, but despite the light touch with the bloody violence, "The Blackening" achieves something special and interesting within its genre.

ELEMENTAL: 3 STARS

"Elemental," the new Pixar picture now playing in theatres, takes an old-fashioned love story and gives it a high-concept spin.

The setting is Element City, a metropolis divided into four distinct districts, one for every kind of the city's anthropomorphized element residents. The fire people live in the Fire Land, there's the Splash District for water people, the Terra District for land people, and the Breeze District for air people.

"Elemental" focusses on the Lumen family and their fiery daughter Ember (voice of Leah Lewis) who immigrated to Element City looking for a better life. The young flame is poised to take over the family's Fire Land shop, a small convenience store with the slogan "We Flame to Please!"

"This shop is the dream of our family," says patriarch Bernie Lumen (voice of Ronnie Del Carmen). "Someday it'll all be yours!" Eager to please her parents, Ember feigns excitement at the prospect of running the shop, the family's pride and joy.

"I've been trying to fill my father's shoes," she says, "but I was never asked what I want to do."

As her hidden resentment grows, Ember becomes sullen and begins lashing out until she meets Water person Wade Ripple (voice of Mamoudou Athie), who, as a youngster, was once stuck inside a sponge. Despite that trauma, he grew up to be a kind, laid-back guy who cries at the drop of a hat.

Ember has always thought that "elements don't mix," but when Wade comes into her life she learns that sometimes opposites do attract and that she can make her own decisions. "Why does anyone get to tell you what you can do in your life?" asks Wade.

"Elemental" has a big heart, but not big enough to justify the film's feature length. A new spin on the star-crossed lovers genre, à la "Romeo and Juliet," it is a simple tale of the heart wanting what the heart wants despite differences. Then there's the "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" vibe between Wade and Bernie, which is clever but never quite ignites.

The vivid artwork is often spectacular, and provides many beautiful images, but the watered-down story does not equal the film's visual impact.

Director Peter Sohn, who also helmed "The Good Dinosaur," builds a new world and introduces other story elements, including immigration metaphors and references to racism and intolerance, but these aspects often feel tentative, more well-intentioned than effective.

Better is the relationship between Ember and her father. Sohn used personal experience to shape the story of a father's expectation and deference to tradition, and how the weight of that affects Ember. Their connection feels authentic and grounds the action of the rest of the film.

Opening the show in theatres is "Carl’s Date," a sweet-natured short film featuring Carl Fredricksen (voice of Ed Asner) and his adorable talking dog, Dug (voice of Bob Peterson) of the much-loved film "Up." It's a funny, tightly scripted look at companionship that made me think, by the time the main feature was over, that "Elemental," given its slight narrative, might have had more punch, and seemed less stretched, as a short.

"Elemental" is wonderfully crafted, but the formulaic story prevents it from sitting on the shelf alongside other Pixar greats like "Up," "WALL-E" or "Toy Story."