The Flash (2023)

[MilkSpiller22]

I agree and I hope I'm wrong (I'm a DC fan and they really need a hit), but word of mouth is not great enough to overcome the hurdles I mentioned.
Current projections have it at around $70M opening weekend, so with lots of competition it would need to have really good legs to make $200M domestically (international market has been terrible for DC lately, but maybe this movie breaks out). I hope it's succesful, but if it behaves like most comic book movies, it will end up with numbers similar to Black Adam, which was a bomb and actually had a much lower budget.

Marvel has a set an unfair superhero movie box office bar. Marvel is a successful franchise. Or at least it was.

No dc movie has done as well as marvel. And Flash, even though he is a core 5 DC hero he is not the core 3(Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman).

Shazam 2 got killed because of black Adam. And black Adam should never have been made.

If this movie is good, then people will watch it!! And someone said that a dead universe will hurt this movie. But I don’t think so, because this is being used as a rebirth as well. The end which is also the beginning!!

And I really don’t think people will not see it because of the Ezra Miller drama. Most people either don’t remember what that drama is or just don’t care.

And people are going to wanna see Keaton as Batman again. That is super exciting.

 

[DarthVedder]

Marvel has a set an unfair superhero movie box office bar. Marvel is a successful franchise. Or at least it was.

No dc movie has done as well as marvel. And Flash, even though he is a core 5 DC hero he is not the core 3(Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman).

Shazam 2 got killed because of black Adam. And black Adam should never have been made.

If this movie is good, then people will watch it!! And someone said that a dead universe will hurt this movie. But I don’t think so, because this is being used as a rebirth as well. The end which is also the beginning!!

And I really don’t think people will not see it because of the Ezra Miller drama. Most people either don’t remember what that drama is or just don’t care.

I hope you are right. I will watch it at the movies regardless this weekend.

 

[calsnowskier]

Avoiding all spoilers, is Shazam 2 needed before seeing this? Are there any references or background that is established in that movie that helps in this one?

To extra avoid spoilers, a simple yes/no will suffice.

 

[DarthVedder]

Avoiding all spoilers, is Shazam 2 needed before seeing this? Are there any references or background that is established in that movie that helps in this one?

To extra avoid spoilers, a simple yes/no will suffice.

From what I've seen, you only really need to see Man of Steel. I guess Justice League would help since that was The Flash's only previous appearance on this universe (other than a short and confusing cameo on Batman v Superman).

 

[MilkSpiller22]

Avoiding all spoilers, is Shazam 2 needed before seeing this? Are there any references or background that is established in that movie that helps in this one?

To extra avoid spoilers, a simple yes/no will suffice.

shazam 2, you can basically skip... not a bad movie... but added nothing to nothing....

 

[BusSport]

Avoiding all spoilers, is Shazam 2 needed before seeing this? Are there any references or background that is established in that movie that helps in this one?

To extra avoid spoilers, a simple yes/no will suffice.

No.

 

[Duffman]

From what I've seen, you only really need to see Man of Steel. I guess Justice League would help since that was The Flash's only previous appearance on this universe (other than a short and confusing cameo on Batman v Superman).

Spoiler: Another movie to see, just in case,

Original Batman would help too so you know why Michael Keatons there. And really Batman And Robin but only so you’re not confused on why Clooney shows up.

 

[Duffman]

Spoiler

Only thing I really didn’t care for is I don’t think Ezra Miller is strong enough to play 2 characters throughout the whole movie. Once we got to alternate timeline Barry it was ok at first but after 2 hours of it I was just annoyed.

Rest of the movie was really good though, definitely a good “end” to the DCEU.

 

[DarthVedder]

Supergirl looking very nice.

 

[BeaReylo]

Saw it yesterday, it was pretty good, not great but good. I would definitely recommend giving it a go.

 

[DarthVedder]

is it fair to call it a bomb already?? it just came out today!!!

It had a $12M lower than Black Adam opening weekend, and general audiences aren't loving it. That after WB threw everything they had in marketing this film, with superbowl spots and a long line of celebrities hyping it.

With a huge production + marketing budget (likely close to $400M), the Box office ceiling is around $300M global ($125M domestic), making it one of the worst bombs ever, far more expensive than Shazam II.

 

[DarthVedder]

My thoughts:

Spoiler

Ezra Miller killed this movie twice. First with all of Ezra's legal troubles, controversies and being a total weirdo. And second by being way too annoying through the film. The film has a lot of greatness, but I couldn't fully get into it because I was constantly annoyed by Ezra. Too bad that they wasted a lot of Batman great scenes, both from Batfleck and Keaton's return. Also I think that Supergirl was great, I hope they find a way to keep using her in the new universe.

 

[Superbelt]

I thought it was a good movie despite Ezra who I really hope is done. On par with recent Marvel movies, and much better than most anything DC usually does in theaters.

The CGI that Warner Brothers keeps using constantly pulls me out of the experience though. If they can't do CGI well, they need to focus on practical effects or change the movie.

 

[DarthVedder]

I thought it was a good movie despite Ezra who I really hope is done. On par with recent Marvel movies, and much better than most anything DC usually does in theaters.

The CGI that Warner Brothers keeps using constantly pulls me out of the experience though. If they can't do CGI well, they need to focus on practical effects or change the movie.

I think that, even if you are able to look past Ezra Miller's off-screen controversies and legal problems, enjoyment of this movie depends on one's ability to like Ezra's kind of humor. If you find Ezra funny, you will enjoy this movie. To me, at times it felt like Thor: Love and Thunder. I still liked The Flash better than T: L&T, but many important moments just lost meaning because of Ezra's constant annoying quips.


The good / great:

1. Both Batmen's scenes.
2. The scenes with Barry and his mom and dad.
3. Supergirl

Spoiler

was good in her very limited time on screen

The bad:
4. Plot was too much of a confusing mess

The terrible:

5. CGI. My gosh, some of it was Scorpion King level of terribleness.
6. Younger Barry was so annoying, he even annoyed older Barry.

 

[Superbelt]

I think that, even if you are able to look past Ezra Miller's off-screen controversies and legal problems, enjoyment of this movie depends on one's ability to like Ezra's kind of humor. If you find Ezra funny, you will enjoy this movie. To me, at times it felt like Thor: Love and Thunder. I still liked The Flash better than T: L&T, but many important moments just lost meaning because of Ezra's constant annoying quips.


The good / great:

1. Both Batmen's scenes.
2. The scenes with Barry and his mom and dad.
3. Supergirl

Spoiler

was good in her very limited time on screen

The bad:
4. Plot was too much of a confusing mess

The terrible:

5. CGI. My gosh, some of it was Scorpion King level of terribleness.
6. Younger Barry was so annoying, he even annoyed older Barry.

Well, like I said, on par with RECENT Marvel movies.

There's a bright line that hit right at the end of Endgame.

For a DC movie, it was a success. I'm not a fan of Ezra, but the movie as a whole worked.

They really didn't have an explanation for how there were multiple versions of 'Bruce Wayne' not being the same biological person or even the same chronology even though everything else around them was nearly identical. I know, it was cool wanting to bring in all those past incarnations of different characters, but 'turn your brain off and enjoy it' still isn't good enough.

All Flash content leads to Flashpoint. That's the only thing they know how to do with Flash, is having him fuck up the timeline and then have to go and fix his mistake. That made the TV show nosedive.
If you can't do CGI right, do something else. The back and forth of the CGI to real babies was stupid, and it was mostly CGI. If you can't do it right, don't do a 'Babyshower'. Marvel did speedster CGI effects better with Evan Peters, and that was almost a decade ago.

 

[DarthVedder]

Well, like I said, on par with RECENT Marvel movies.

There's a bright line that hit right at the end of Endgame.

For a DC movie, it was a success. I'm not a fan of Ezra, but the movie as a whole worked.

There's no way to qualify The Flash as a success (and I kind of liked it, maybe more than most recent MCU movies).

I mean, it's going to be a massive flop, and will probably result in Blue Beetle being an even bigger flop than it was going to be already (that movie is DOA). The best we can say is that it is "alright" quality-wise, on par with most recent MCU stuff at a time when the MCU is in a clear decline overall (DCEU would love to get MCU's box-office numbers, even with the current quality decline).

 

[mr.hockey4242]

This movie was the definition of Ok

Only thing truly bad about it was the horrendous CGI. Everything else was passable. Not a complete waste of time and didnt horribly drag. But not much special about it except for the fun of Keaton Batman.

 

[DarthVedder]

This movie was the definition of Ok

Only thing truly bad about it was the horrendous CGI. Everything else was passable. Not a complete waste of time and didnt horribly drag. But not much special about it except for the fun of Keaton Batman.

Pretty much. The movie is alright, has some really good parts.

But alright is not going to resurrect that brand.

 

[Duffman]

Pretty much. The movie is alright, has some really good parts.

But alright is not going to resurrect that brand.

They’re not trying to resurrect anything, everyone is just waiting for these movies to be done so Gunn can officially move on from the Snyderverse and start doing what he wants.

 

[DarthVedder]

They’re not trying to resurrect anything, everyone is just waiting for these movies to be done so Gunn can officially move on from the Snyderverse and start doing what he wants.

I think the mistrust will carry over to the new Universe. If the movies are actually good, they should gradually win over fans, but I'm sure that Superman: Legacy will still suffer from this, at least initially.

Similar scenario to Batman Begins, which struggled at the box office because of the "Batman and Robin" stench, but paved the way for "The Dark Knight Rises".