DC Comics

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By Paul GlynnEntertainment reporter

Film critics have had their say on The Flash , the new Dc Comics movie starring troubled US actor Ezra Miller .

The superhero's much anticipated first solo film had been in doubt after Miller was and had.

The Times and The Guardian both gave it Two Stars , with the latter calling the character a " gurning, smirking mess".

But the Evening Standard hailed it as " one of The Best superhero movies of the 21St Century so far".

Miller, who uses they/them pronouns, avoided prison in January after at a neighbour's house.

They were put On Probation and told to get clean and continue Mental Health treatment.

Miller plays Barry Allen/The Flash , a police forensic investigator and member of the Justice League who can move at superhuman speeds.

The character travels back In Time to prevent the death of His Mother - which his father was wrongly convicted for - while also mentoring his younger self, bringing unintended consequences.

" a great big multiverse misadventure".

He Said producers had attempted to get around Miller's publicised personal and legal problems by giving their Flash " a line that appears to address The Elephant on the screen".

" Facing a traumatised eyewitness, Our Hero suggests: 'You should seek the services of a mental Health Professional . The Justice League is not very good at that part yet', " wrote Maher.

" And Then there's a naughty pause, and a half turn to camera, followed by: 'Trust Me !' Which, in the context of a morally specious movie that's mostly about reflogging the cultural canon of an entertainment conglomerate, seems pretty tasteless. "

The Film also features cameos from some superheroes of old, including Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck 's Batmen and Gal Gadot 's Wonder Woman .

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noted how there were " spectacular and surreal visions of the various iterations of DC superheroes and The Final appearance from an almost forgotten version of Bruce Wayne gets a laugh".

He added: " But 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. "

'Morally tricky'

, calling it " muddled, poignant and - because of Ezra Miller - morally tricky".

" There's no real sense that anyone would be helped by either the release or the cancellation of Miller's movie, " she wrote. " In both scenarios, Warner Bros gets to shrug all responsibility and Focus On the fate of its product and not The People it employs. "

She did, however, praise The Writers for their exploration of grief, and Miller for their dual performances, which helped elevate " a character whose only defining trait used to be 'irritating'. "

was more enthusiastic, saying it was " by far The Best movie to come out of this modern, post-Nolan Warners/DC collaboration" - with reference to director Christopher Nolan 's The Dark Knight trilogy.

'The Film 's chief asset'

" Keaton not only reprises his role wonderfully, he knows How To slot himself into this complicated narrative so that, Oddly Enough , he's In Line with what The Flash as a whole is trying to do. "

Fans would " enjoy the flashes of greatness" while The Film was " enjoyable entertainment, even if it spends more time spinning its wheels than reinventing them".

He added that " troubled star" Miller " turns out to be The Film 's chief asset, bringing humour, heart and a vulnerability not often seen in big-screen superheroes. "

, Writing that The Flash " exudes less of that Back to The Future playfulness and more of that mythological but arbitrary blockbuster self-importance".

And while he did enjoy the start of the " entertainingly heady comic-book caper of time-warp heroism and identity" he concluded that ultimately " none of it makes a lot of sense".

He added that " 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".

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Source of news: bbc.com