THE FLASH (12A, 144 mins) Action/Fantasy/Adventure/Sci-Fi. Ezra Miller, Michael Keaton, Sasha Calle, Michael Shannon, Ben Affleck, Maribel Verdu, Ron Livingston, Kiersey Clemons, Antje Traue. Director: Andy Muschietti.
At the end of Back To The Future Part III, the blockbuster time travel saga which is explicitly name-checked in The Flash, Emmett "Doc" Brown (Christopher Lloyd) tenderly parts ways with Marty McFly (Michael J Fox) by reminding his protege: "Your future is whatever you make it, so make it a good one."
Those optimistic words ripple throughout Christina Hodson's script to this self-referential adventure for the fleet-footed DC Comics superhero, which revisits cataclysmic events from the DC Extended Universe beginning with the 2013 film Man Of Steel.
The socially awkward title character of director Andy Muschietti's picture, who drolly describes himself as "essentially the janitor of the Justice League", is acutely aware of the dangers of meddling in the space-time continuum.
After all, it took Marty and Doc three films to unpick the mess they caused by reshaping events in 1955 California.
However, cool heads cannot prevail when there are almost two and a half hours of screen time to fill, allowing Hodson to gleefully ricochet through five decades of DC Comics tragedy and redemption as far back as Tim Burton's dark and brooding 1989 incarnation of Batman.
Putting aside lead actor Ezra Miller's widely documented mental health issues, he delivers endearing dual performances as Barry Allens, who collide and collude (in direct violation of laws which state you should never interact with your past self) to save the world from an intergalactic menace.
Michael Keaton lightly wedges tongue in cheek as he gamely dusts off his bat suit, catalysing a touching father-son dynamic with Miller that tugs heartstrings with an inevitable pay-off.
Barry Allen (Miller) discovers he can abuse his powers to travel back in time to the day his mother Nora (Maribel Verdu) was killed in the family home and his father Henry (Ron Livingston) was arrested for her murder.
Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) advises Barry against rash decisions fuelled by grief: "There's nothing broken about you that needs to be fixed. Don't let your tragedy define you."
Alas, Barry persists, creating devastating ripples that bring him face to face with a different incarnation of Batman (Keaton), Kryptonian prisoner Kara Zor-El aka Supergirl (Sasha Calle), a defiant General Zod (Michael Shannon) and the despot's ferocious second-in-command Faora-Ul (Antje Traue).
The Flash is one of the most enjoyable DC Comics films outside of the darker Batman/Joker series, powered by the dynamic duo of Miller and Keaton.
A barrage of pithy pop culture references provides a steady supply of giggles to complement the boisterous action.
Like the Back To The Future trilogy, Muschietti's picture runs out of steam in a messy final act, which falls into the same trap as some recent Marvel movies by sacrificing human drama to an overload of questionable CGI.
:: SWEARING :: NO SEX :: VIOLENCE :: RATING: 7/10
