THE FLASH Reviews Are In And It Definitely Doesn’t Sound Like The Best Superhero Movie Ever Made

Earlier this year, DC Studios boss James Gunn called The Flash “one of the best superhero movies I’ve ever seen.” Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav later added to that by saying it’s “the best superhero movie I’ve ever seen,” while celebrities like Tom Cruise and Stephen King have also given it the thumbs up.

Alas, the first reviews are telling a very different story. 

While these verdicts are by no means as bad as those for Black Adam, the movie is receiving reviews primarily in the 3* range and below. Fan sites certainly seem to have appreciated it more (suggesting there could be a divide between fans and critics) but social media reactions had many believing The Flash would receive the same sort of universal praise as Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. 

We’ve compiled reviews from a wide range of sources below, but the overall consensus seems to be it’s a good, not great, DCEU movie (calling it the best of those feels like faint praise) which struggles to do Barry Allen justice. It’s worth noting that the special effects sound hit-and-miss, as does the time-travel story. There are also those who had an understandably hard time looking past the accusations surrounding Ezra Miller.

On the plus side, these verdicts suggest there’s fun to be had and heaps of fan service. Despite that, the widely discussed “secret ending” is coming under fire and may not land as expected. 

Read through some of the reviews below and check back here soon for our verdict. 

The thing is, none of it makes a lot of sense. In ‘The Flash,’ the multiverse of possibilities that opens up by toying with the past becomes an excuse to throw everything but the Batcave sink at the audience. Despite the vividness of Ezra Miller, the movie steamrolls Miller’s personality as it goes along. – Variety

The early word on The Flash calling it one of the greatest superhero movies ever made was pure hyperbole. But in the bumpy recent history of the DC Extended Universe, it’s certainly an above-average entry. – The Hollywood Reporter

What it amounts to is a movie that spends all its time racing from one poorly-thought out story element to another, from one only modestly satisfying nostalgia shout-out to another, and with only questionable results. How fitting, yet how disappointing: ‘The Flash’ has the runs. – The Wrap

It has taken so long for a feature-length ‘The Flash’ to finally hit theaters, and he’s too late. Barry is barely the lead character of his own movie. [C] – The Playlist

What’s less persuasive is the CGI, an eyesore that’s particularly gaudy when the finale’s ‘secrets’ drop. The tone is similarly choppy, especially in a climactic punchline that clashes with the film’s emotive developments. With just Aquaman’s return incoming, the result is a movie that suggests this DCEU had promise, even if its directors couldn’t quite focus it. Time to pass the baton… [3/5] – Total Film

In its best moments, ‘The Flash’ touches on something new and exciting, but too often, its the past that tugs on, keeping it from speeding ahead. [B-] – IndieWire

[This] is not a movie with any new ideas or dramatic rethinking, and – at the risk of re-opening the DC/Marvel sectarian wound – nothing to compare with the much-lauded animation experiment in the recent Spider-Man films. The intellect in this intellectual property is draining away. [2/5] – The Guardian

The Flash ends on a purposefully open note (and a pretty good joke), so that if the film succeeds at the box office, Miller’s Barry can run again another day. If it doesn’t, the precedent is set for a full continuity reset. Whatever DC movies await us in the future, let’s hope they avoid multiverses. It’s well-trod territory at this point, even for a speedster. [C+] – Entertainment Weekly

While I have a few complaints and there are a couple of head-scratching loose ends, “The Flash” is still a funny, emotional, action-heavy crowd-pleaser that ranks among the best DC movies ever made. [7.5/10] – Slash Film

Whether or not this was all worth the long development saga and the troubles with its star will, of course, be for individual fans to decide, but there is undeniable entertainment value in The Flash. It’s sometimes buried under layers and layers of storytelling knots that the film never fully untangles, but the fun is there, and when the film is really working, that turns out to be enough. – The AV Club

The Flash may have an unwieldy third act and indulges in too much unearned fan service, but that doesn’t stop it from being an entertaining and earnest DC superhero film. [7/10] – IGN

[If] a film can give you things that are exciting and heartfelt, all while you laugh and smile along, that’s hard to beat. And The Flash is definitely hard to beat in the conversation of the best DC movies of this era. – Gizmodo

[They] never consider that the time travel aspects make absolutely no sense, and only hurts the larger story in the way that it’s handled here. Thankfully, those antics are enjoyable and hard not to get excited about, but unfortunately, this isn’t a story that holds together on a narrative level. Cameos and fan service are fine to have, but the story has to be there to back them up, and it’s not quite there with The Flash. [C+] – Collider