director Andy explains the odd look of the effects
good pr
valid visual choices
or thinking on the fly
you decide lol
One thing most superhero movies have going for them is you know how they should look. When Batman, Spider-Man, or Iron Man put on their suits, the world around them doesn’t change. With the Flash though, when Barry Allen puts on his suit and taps into his powers, the world around him does change—at least to Barry—and figuring out what that’s going to look like is one of the challenges of adaptation.
You’ll see that play out in Warner Bros.’ new DC film The Flash, which is in theaters today. We’ll have a ton to say about some of its big spoilers in the coming days, but there’s one minor spoilery thing we wanted to write about first: the visual effects. In the film, director Andy Muschietti has to create a whole new visual language not just for when Barry is running (called the “Speed Force”), but also later in the movie, when he runs so fast he can turn back time (in a place called the “Chrono Bowl”). And anytime the movie is in the Speed Force or Chrono Bowl, any other human being that isn’t Barry looks, let’s say, weird. Almost like the film had to hit a release date and wasn’t able to finish the visual effects. Which sounds bad, but bear with us.
Note: We’re going to talk about a moment in the film’s opening sequence, nothing else, but just to be safe...
The first example, and the one we’re going to focus on here, is in the opening action sequence when Barry (Ezra Miller) runs to Gotham City to help Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) stop a falling building. As that happens, an entire nursery of babies fall out of the window and Barry has to save them all in milliseconds. The effects, as described above, look a bit off—so when io9 spoke to the Muschiettis, director Andy and producer Barbara, about The Flash, we asked if that was the intention.
“No, we used all real babies,” Barbara joked, but then Andy gave us the real answer. “The idea, of course, is...we are in the perspective of the Flash,” he said. “Everything is distorted in terms of lights and textures. We enter this ‘waterworld’ which is basically being in Barry’s POV. It was part of the design so if it looks a little weird to you that was intended.”
And there you have it. If you see The Flash and wonder, “Wait, are those visual effects real? Did they finish that?”, the answer—whether you love it or hate it—is yes, they did. It was done on purpose and was the filmmaker’s intention to make sure what the Flash sees is different from what a normal person would see. Plus, in terms of the opening, it also has the side effect of making the sight of babies falling to their deaths feel slightly less traumatic.
It was a simple movie for simple folks. It's was fun.
Another giant stupid cartoon with rubbery people doing rubbery ****, yes. But it returned the essence of what comic books always were: dumb, big fun spectacles. It's something that I think the Marvel movies strayed from. They became a brand...the "Marvel" movie. This isn't a Marvel movie, it's not a DC movie, it's not a Snyder movie...it's just a comic book movie. They took all those goofy ridiculous concepts like infinite earths and speed force and all that and just made a movie.
It was fun. I hope a lot of people see it and it does well. I don't think it'll be revolutionary or anything, but it's just a really fun movie to experience, like GOTG3.
My biggest surprise was that I wasn't all that interested in Keaton's role. He felt out of place and unnecessary to me. Yeah, he's the main "draw" of the film, but I think it would have been fine without him. His performance was fine, but the action scenes were so far removed from the Burton movies that he may as well have literally been an animated character like Roger Rabbit superimposed alongside real people. You've all seen the trailers, so you know exactly what I mean.
I enjoyed all the nostalgia-bait cameos. I even liked Supergirl, which blows my mind because I remember rolling my eyes so hard when this pic surfaced all those years ago:
Fun movie. Totally shocked that Ezra Miller could actually carry a film, but he pulled it off.
this felt like a true comic book movie and story in live action that was pure fun and entertaining that flowed like a comic should as I felt that a lot of that formula has been missing in the DCU as of late replaced with the typical Hollywood dramatic outlook theme incorporated in the plots. I think that’s why the DCU has been failing in their storylines as of late.
As you referred too as a simple movie..sometimes this what you need for a comic book flow
I like the fact that the flow was this is a Flash movie as the trailers really did make it seem like it centered around the return of Keaton Batman more..great pr IMO to throw fandom off the trail of expectations.
I will be surprised if this isn’t a hit. The only way it could fail is if people expect that Miller the person can not be an actor playing the role as the Flash once more..IMO he proved he can still act as a character to the highest degree foregoing being a troubled individual in real life off the camera
In this case ..I’m glad they stayed with Miller on this and gave him a chance..I respected what Grant Gustin did for the CW Flash series..but honestly, the flow with this film wouldn’t have worked with Gustin.
I think Miller needs to be our cinematic Flash for the future if it is still possible
As for Keaton..I felt he embraced the role once again for whatever they expected him to be. Originally Keaton was never the type that felt that he needed to be Batman as a franchise role player moving from film to film.. He already stated long ago he only agreed to be in BR because Burton wanted him too , that after 89 ..he was done being Batman at the time. That once Burton left the franchise …so would Keaton
I felt Affleck was more out of place in this film IMO..I kind of sensed this wasn’t the film that needed a Batfleck version of Batman and it looked like Affleck knew what direction the DCU was heading and it seemed like he didn’t care anymore portraying Batman as opposed what he brought to the Snyderverse in the previous films.
Great film and I liked that it wasn’t a bad typical DCU offering. I‘d say it has become of my favorite DCU Snyderverse films next to the first WW.
It’s too bad that Miller is a problem off camera…because he can be the ideal Flash in movies and respect him for that . Hopefully he can clean up his act and turn it around because I would like to see him as the Flash again…I think he deserves to revisit the role in the future.
One problem that really irked me on the plotWhy was there nothing explained on how Barry’s mother was killed , it bothers me because the key factor why the plot of Barry for the film was established centered around Barry trying to change her death but they never showed what exactly happened to her..how could they leave this out ,e even when the father had been cleared they never explained …only his alibi . I’m thinking there has to be a director’s cut coming of this film because I’m sure it was probably cut out which makes no sense
Yeah, I was surprised they didn’t introduce Reverse Flash and all of that. But it sounds like over the course of its lengthy production it went through lots of changes. Maybe at one point they had Miller as RF and given the odd screen issues it might have been too close for comfort? They focused only on clearing his dad and not at all with finding the real killer, which if there isn’t any physical evidence to prove his innocence, finding the killer and brining him to justice would be the next logical alternative. They almost went out of their way to not even bring that up as an option. [/ISPOILER
Yes I was curious about this too but in our criminal justice system the defense doesn't need to find the real culprit, only provide reasonable doubt regarding its client's supposed guilt. A video of him elsewhere while the crime took place is evidence enough of that to persuade a judge during his appeal. Also, in the end Barry could never undo his mom's death so finding the culprit was ultimately less important to him than clearing the one parent he had left.
director Andy explains the odd look of the effects
good pr
valid visual choices or thinking on the fly
you decide lol
One thing most superhero movies have going for them is you know how they should look. When Batman, Spider-Man, or Iron Man put on their suits, the world around them doesn’t change. With the Flash though, when Barry Allen puts on his suit and taps into his powers, the world around him does change—at least to Barry—and figuring out what that’s going to look like is one of the challenges of adaptation.
You’ll see that play out in Warner Bros.’ new DC film The Flash, which is in theaters today. We’ll have a ton to say about some of its big spoilers in the coming days, but there’s one minor spoilery thing we wanted to write about first: the visual effects. In the film, director Andy Muschietti has to create a whole new visual language not just for when Barry is running (called the “Speed Force”), but also later in the movie, when he runs so fast he can turn back time (in a place called the “Chrono Bowl”). And anytime the movie is in the Speed Force or Chrono Bowl, any other human being that isn’t Barry looks, let’s say, weird. Almost like the film had to hit a release date and wasn’t able to finish the visual effects. Which sounds bad, but bear with us.
Note: We’re going to talk about a moment in the film’s opening sequence, nothing else, but just to be safe...
The first example, and the one we’re going to focus on here, is in the opening action sequence when Barry (Ezra Miller) runs to Gotham City to help Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) stop a falling building. As that happens, an entire nursery of babies fall out of the window and Barry has to save them all in milliseconds. The effects, as described above, look a bit off—so when io9 spoke to the Muschiettis, director Andy and producer Barbara, about The Flash, we asked if that was the intention.
“No, we used all real babies,” Barbara joked, but then Andy gave us the real answer. “The idea, of course, is...we are in the perspective of the Flash,” he said. “Everything is distorted in terms of lights and textures. We enter this ‘waterworld’ which is basically being in Barry’s POV. It was part of the design so if it looks a little weird to you that was intended.”
And there you have it. If you see The Flash and wonder, “Wait, are those visual effects real? Did they finish that?”, the answer—whether you love it or hate it—is yes, they did. It was done on purpose and was the filmmaker’s intention to make sure what the Flash sees is different from what a normal person would see. Plus, in terms of the opening, it also has the side effect of making the sight of babies falling to their deaths feel slightly less traumatic.
I believe them when they say it was a conscious decision to make things look different, but IMO creatively it was a misstep. A film should be an immersive experience that draws you into it, but the dodgy look of things in the Chrono Bowl / Speed Force had the reverse effect. When your visual choice has the entire audience wondering if it was intentional or not, you've made a mistake.
Yes I was curious about this too but in our criminal justice system the defense doesn't need to find the real culprit, only provide reasonable doubt regarding its client's supposed guilt. A video of him elsewhere while the crime took place is evidence enough of that to persuade a judge during his appeal. Also, in the end Barry could never undo his mom's death so finding the culprit was ultimately less important to him than clearing the one parent he had left.
That is an interesting factor as well..but I really didn’t focus on that theoryI felt whatever the reason no matter what , whether it was implied by a super villain involvement or not or a simple burglar ..there needed to be a scene showing or referring exactly how she died because it was a piece of the plot of the film even if it wasn’t a long scripted scene or it was meant to be just a few second shot..the flow of this particular film needed that moment and not focus greatly on the aftermath of his father over her with no explanation whatsoever
Keaton's Batman has more action scenes in this movie (& kicks more ass) than in both of his Burton films combined. And while yes much suspension of belief is required (given his age) for the lightning fast reflexes he demonstrates, his Batman still relies mostly on his tech and gadgets.
Keaton's Batman has more action scenes in this movie (& kicks more ass) than in both of his Burton films combined. And while yes much suspension of belief is required (given his age) for the lightning fast reflexes he demonstrates, his Batman still relies mostly on his tech and gadgets.
Exactly…whoever leaked that information on the role he played in the film..did not see the film to miss all of this
I think if Keaton could go back in time, I almost bet he would think “ this is the Batman I wanted fans to see in action in 89 and BR but the technology was just not there “
I liked his performance as Bruce Wayne. Felt very natural, just like the Burton movies.
The action scenes were completely preposterous for me. Ignoring all the physics/reality of a man being in his 70s/all that, why does Hollywood seem to think Batman has a magic cape that let's him just shrug off multiple machine guns' worth of bullets? Just like the stupid scenes in Pattinson Batman where he just charges into machine gun fire head on, takes zero damage, no concern about his exposed face.
I understand these are fantasy movies, but it's like the filmmakers have never read a Batman comic book before.
If you want to see a stunt man doing really REALLY cool stuff in a modern 89 costume go see this!
However if you want to see the return of Tim Burton’s Batman this AIN’T FOR YOU!
There was no reason it had to be him!
Hands down worst universe cameos ever with laughably embarrassing cameo cgi and the worst end credits scene ever DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME WAITING FOR IT!
I thought the cameos
were going to interact in the story like in DS2
but NOPE!
I will admit that I was completely floored by the end character reveal before the credits I was not expecting that whatsoever BUT WHY!
Umm what else.
WB please give all DC rights back to Snyder ASAP!
One word for The Flash.
DISAPPOINTED!
Make that 2 words..
HIGHLY DISAPPOINTED!
ARE YOU READY FOR THIS NONSENSE..
THE 89 BATMOBILE WASN’T EVEN FREAKING USED…AT ALL!
It didn't HAVE to be Keaton's Batman but Bale's probably still trying to remove all of his Gorr makeup so who else were they going to get to put butts in seats - Clooney?
I agree all of the cameos during the worlds collide segment were pointless and distracted from the story. And while I indicated earlier that I enjoyed seeing Gal Gadot's WW show up in the very first movie cameo, I think even that was unnecessary and it should have been Flash saving the day. I suppose it helped underscore Barry's "JL Janitor" view of himself but it still felt almost intrusive for her to show up for a 10 second scene, never to be seen again.
I thought it was going to be Keaton not Clooney getting out of the car before the end credits. I did laugh when Barry said "You're not Batman!', verbally acknowledging how every Batman fan feels lol.
I completely agree about the post-credits scene. I was expecting to see Kara/Supergirl - I'll be surprised if they don't keep her around going forward - she was quite good in the limited screen time she received.
It didn't HAVE to be Keaton's Batman but Bale's probably still trying to remove all of his Gorr makeup so who else were they going to get to put butts in seats - Clooney?
I agree all of the cameos during the worlds collide segment were pointless and distracted from the story. And while I indicated earlier that I enjoyed seeing Gal Gadot's WW show up in the very first movie cameo, I think even that was unnecessary and it should have been Flash saving the day. I suppose it helped underscore Barry's "JL Janitor" view of himself but it still felt almost intrusive for her to show up for a 10 second scene, never to be seen again.
I thought it was going to be Keaton not Clooney getting out of the car before the end credits. I did laugh when Barry said "You're not Batman!', verbally acknowledging how every Batman fan feels lol.
I completely agree about the post-credits scene. I was expecting to see Kara/Supergirl - I'll be surprised if they don't keep her around going forward - she was quite good in the limited screen time she received.
If you want to see a stunt man doing really REALLY cool stuff in a modern 89 costume go see this!
However if you want to see the return of Tim Burton’s Batman this AIN’T FOR YOU!
There was no reason it had to be him!
Hands down worst universe cameos ever with laughably embarrassing cameo cgi and the worst end credits scene ever DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME WAITING FOR IT!
I thought the cameos
were going to interact in the story like in DS2
but NOPE!
I will admit that I was completely floored by the end character reveal before the credits I was not expecting that whatsoever BUT WHY!
Umm what else.
WB please give all DC rights back to Snyder ASAP!
One word for The Flash.
DISAPPOINTED!
Make that 2 words..
HIGHLY DISAPPOINTED!
ARE YOU READY FOR THIS NONSENSE..
THE 89 BATMOBILE WASN’T EVEN FREAKING USED…AT ALL!
As soon as the action started for him…I knew what to expect as it has been documented that Keaton was the only Batman that used stuntmen the most. So yes I didn’t believe for one second he himself would even attempt anything major in this film
It didn't HAVE to be Keaton's Batman but Bale's probably still trying to remove all of his Gorr makeup so who else were they going to get to put butts in seats - Clooney?
I agree all of the cameos during the worlds collide segment were pointless and distracted from the story. And while I indicated earlier that I enjoyed seeing Gal Gadot's WW show up in the very first movie cameo, I think even that was unnecessary and it should have been Flash saving the day. I suppose it helped underscore Barry's "JL Janitor" view of himself but it still felt almost intrusive for her to show up for a 10 second scene, never to be seen again.
I thought it was going to be Keaton not Clooney getting out of the car before the end credits. I did laugh when Barry said "You're not Batman!', verbally acknowledging how every Batman fan feels lol.
I completely agree about the post-credits scene. I was expecting to see Kara/Supergirl - I'll be surprised if they don't keep her around going forward - she was quite good in the limited screen time she received.
At one point I envisioned waiting until Indy came out and then binging both that and the Flash on the big screen as a fun throwback to 1989. Now I'm thinking, eh, maybe best to do that at home because that's a long time to spend in a theater if both films disappoint, lol.
Don’t forget about those old 2021 set photos . . .
They clearly did reshoots in 2023.
Would have been better the way it was originally shot in my opinion considering we won’t be seeing ANY of these actors again anyway. It’s going to be a self contained movie until the end of time.
Also, what a downer this movie is for kids. I thought Guardians Of the Galaxy 3 was hardcore, but the levels of despair in Flash and what happens to the heroes is kind of ****** up for a comic book movie.
I thought the movie was great, really enjoyed it. Funny, emotional, good action scenes. The CGI wasn't great but I suppose that makes sense as it's what Barry sees. The CGI during Zod and Superwoman's fight wasn't bad or distracting.
Yes I was curious about this too but in our criminal justice system the defense doesn't need to find the real culprit, only provide reasonable doubt regarding its client's supposed guilt. A video of him elsewhere while the crime took place is evidence enough of that to persuade a judge during his appeal. Also, in the end Barry could never undo his mom's death so finding the culprit was ultimately less important to him than clearing the one parent he had left.
The whole defense argument of face recognition was so freaking DUMB!
As if there weren’t 1,000 other cameras in a major metropolitan city that didn’t record him right outside the damn supermarket including security cameras in the parking lot!
