The Flash is an American Superhero film based on the DC Comics character directed by Matthew Vaughn and written by Vaughn and Jane Goldman.
Plot[]
In 2002, a S.T.A.R. Labs building in Central City caught fire because of a pyrotechnician named Mick Rory. A man with superhuman speed puts on a heat resistance suit and saves most of the people in the building. Two superheroes, The Flash (Barry Allen) and Quick (Johnny Chambers), use their superspeed to save them. The only person who he failed to save was an intern named Lisa Snart. Lisa's brother, Leonard Snart, vows revenge on The Flash for failing to save her. Johnny retires as Quick after this event. He makes a miniature cyclotron as a gun which shot ice that reduced temperatures to absolute zero. Leonard becomes The Flash's first villain: Cold.
In 2007, Barry's nephew, Wally West, is an intern at S.T.A.R. Labs. Barry has revealed to his family members that he is The Flash so they can have better protection. Wally asks his uncle, who works at S.T.A.R. Labs, how he became The Flash. Barry says he got struck by lightning and landing on a chemical cabinet he set up. Wally wishes that could happen to him. Wally's girlfriend, Jesse Chambers (who is also an intern at S.T.A.R. Labs), sneaks off and Wally follows her. They find the chemical cabinet that Barry landed on and it falls on him. He awekens with superspeed. (Jesse also has superspeed because she is the daughter of Johnny Chambers) Wally become Barry's sidekick, Kid Flash, while Jesse decides to keep her powers a secret.
In present day, Jesse is a college student, while Wally just keeps working at S.T.A.R. Labs. All Wally can think about is what he is going to do with his life. Barry tells Wally that he could be the next Flash because he feels like giving up being The Flash sometime soon. Ironically, Wally said that he felt like giving up being Kid Flash ometime soon. Meanwhile, Wally and Jesse still work at S.T.A.R. Labs with Barry, Leonard (he doesn't recognize Barry), and Kat Snow, who hates The Flash. That night, Leonard comes up with a plan to kill The Flash and starts freezing everyone at S.T.A.R. Labs, with the exception of Kat, who is helping him with his plan. Wally and Barry go to S.T.A.R. Labs to stop them. Cold freezes Barry's legs, as well as Wally's body. However, before that Wally runs into Kat and she fall into some ice chemicals and Barry almost gets out of the ice. However, it's too late as Cold continues freeze Barry and then stabs and kills him. Wally manages to escape when Jesse comes to work late, notices what's going on, and defeats Cold.
Wally goes into depression and wonders what will happen to Central City now that The Flash is gone. Jesse suggests that Wally should become The Flash. This makes Wally and Jesse to go to a secret room at S.T.A.R. Labs that contains Flash suits, information about the criminals of Central City, and a video message leftover from Barry. The message has Barry announcing his retirement and how he has made Flash suits for Wally and Jesse. Wally agrees with Jesse and decides to become The Flash. His family objects to it at first, but he manages to convince them. Wally asks Jesse to fight with him because Wally has never fought a villain alone and she agrees.
That night Kat wakes up in the hospital with newfound ice powers. She leaves and breaks Cold out of prision. She says that now that Barry is dead, they can commit as many crimes as they can. However, while robbing a bank, the two get stopped by Wally and Jesse, taking the mantle of 'Quick' from her father. While they manage to escape the cops after Wally and Jesse leave, they still know that there are two new threats for them. They think that they must hurt The Flash's heart first. However, they don't know his secret idenity. However, The Flash appears on TV proclaiming that he loves the city and the two decide to freeze the city.
Meanwhile, Jesse tells Wally that he needs to learn to fight a villain alone. She makes Wally promise that if something happens to her the next time they go out to fight crime, he will keep fighting and not go back for her. Also, the reason they don't go after Cold and Killer Frost is because they don't know where they are. However, they start freezing the city, starting with S.T.A.R. Labs. They go to fight them. However, despite they do a good job fighting, Killer Frost freezes Jesse and Cold injures Wally. Cold makes ice chains for Wally and continues to freeze the city while Killer Frost tortures Wally. However, Wally manages to escape and finds out that if Killer Frost uses her powers to much she will be overwhelmed and freeze herself. This ends up happening and she is defeated. Wally then manges to fight against Cold and manages to subdue him by running around him so fast that he Cold starts to lose oxygen (he stops at one point before he kills him). He then runs everywhere through the city so fast that the ice starts to melt. Cold tries to use his ice gun to freeze Wally, but he rewires his ice gun, which explodes and Cold freezes himself.
A few days later, Jesse wakes up in the hospital, surrviving the events. She is greeted by Wally who says that he defeated Cold and Killer Frost by himself and that they are both in jail. Jesse thanks him for keeping the promise and says that he'll have to get used to it. He teells Jesse that he got accepted into a college. However, it is in Scotland and Jese has to Be the only superhero in Central City. However, Wally decides to be The Flash in Scotland due to a vriminal named Evan McCulloch.
In a mid-credits scene, Leonard is in a prision cell speaking with a man named Profeser Zoom. Thawne talks about forming a team and Leonard sayss that he knows some people.Thawne later walked in to a level in S.T.A.R. Labs being greeted by the computer, and walked past a flame thrower, mirror technology, and hover shoes. Leonard suggests a metahuman named Mark Mardon and Thawne says "Good, I'll start with him", before he disapears, revealing he has superspeed.
Cast[]
- Anton Yelchin as Wally West / Kid Flash / Flash
- Joesph Gordon-Levitt as Leonard Snart / Cold
- Alice Eve as Kat Snow / Killer Frost
- Lily Collins as Jesse Chambers / Quick
- Edward Norton as Barry Allen / Flash
- Tommy Lee Jones as Detective West
- Jennifer Connolly as Iris Allen
- David Henrie as Donnie Allen
- Sarah Hyland as Dawn Allen
- Vanessa Hudgens as Meloni Thawne
- Nathan Fillion as Johnny Chambers / Quick
- Jaime Foxx as Professer Zoom
Soundtrack[]
Logo
The film's soundtrack is filled with songs from the 80s & 70s. This is a reference to Wally West becoming The Flash in 1985.
- Holding Out for a Hero - Bonnie Tyler
- Uptown Girl - Billy Joel
- Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Tears for Fears
- The Show Must Go On - Queen
- Take My Breath Away - Berlin
- St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion) - John Parr
- Escape - Journey
- I Will Survive - Gloria Gayner
- We Are the Champions - Queen
- Eye of the Tiger - Surivor
Reception[]
Critical Reception[]
The Flash recieved generally favorable reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 85% approval rating based on 217 reviews.
Box Office[]
The film was a box office success as the film earned $63,556,312 on it's opening weekend. The film gained $289,710,957 in the U.S. and $453,302,158 in other countries, making a worldwide total of $743,013,115.