Illuminated
There’s been a decision made to not tune the CGI very much, I guess in the assumption that it won’t matter. The emphasis instead is on a lot of story in many episodic clusters, plus what passes for human interest in this demographic.
There is some clever use of recalled Batman actors. A completely irrelevant opening scene with the Justice League (though Superman was busy). And a couple good jokes, particularly the ‘cousins dinner’ one.
But you have to value the story to keep watching, at least I do. There’s a wrapper about the murder of Barry’s mother, the mystery of which I suppose is the sequel setup. There’s a middle part of exposition, humour, and bat cave staging. And a final mess of a losing battle to save the world in parallel with an unimaginatively staged time nexus. It is all a bit ho hum.
Time travel movies these days require something more than the Superman trick.
The interesting part for me is the evolution of female superheroes. The kryptoness here is an advance in my opinion — not sexualised and capable of human anger. Managing this with the shameful comic legacy is quite a feat, but that can’t save this for me.
Posted in 2023
Ted’s Evaluation — 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.