The Cinematic Review-verse

Photo courtesy of Batman-News.com and Warner Bros. Pictures. Wyckoff native Ezra Miller’s (they/their) return as the Scarlet Speedster in the solo film The Flash was both heavy and goofy. And what it lacked in being at least 80% faithful to the Flashpoint comic, it made up for with riveting music reminiscent of John Williams, John Powell and Danny Elfman, crazy adventures/misadventures across the Speed Force, somewhat diverse casting, and proof that in Michael Keaton’s case, you don’t have to teach an old Bat new tricks. After saving the world with the Justice League, Barry Allen is still trying to get his family and life together. But once he finds that as The Flash that he can super-speed back in time, he goes back to prevent his mother’s murder, and inadvertently creates a multiverse of problems. It’s going to take Barry from Earth 2, an older, alternate Bruce Wayne, and Supergirl to help the Justice League comic relief to prevent the multiverse from going haywire. Add to that an al...

Flashpoint’s cover. Photo courtesy of Third Eye Comics and DC Comics. Today, I finished reading the Geoff Johns composition of ‘Flashpoint’. After weeks of putting it off, re-reading it today felt like watching Grant Gustin’s recently completed TV series and being sent back to Philosophy/Ethics in college. I’m no big Barry Allen expert, but this comic storyline came off as more burdensome compared to what I’ve seen of his lighthearted, awkward self in 2017’s Justice League film. I could relate to wishing I could go back in time to not have to say goodbye to a loved one. But as I said earlier, it was like Philosophy and Ethics all over again, given that you have to really think about how saving one life affects so many other ones. Flashpoint was very darkly toned with the graphics and depictions of wars tearing the Justice League apart, literally and metaphorically. But as heavy as this task was, Barry kept running to make everything right, if not for himself, then for his loved one...

  Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse comes out today. Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures. What started off with good hard rock grooves ended with a cliffhanger that I hunger for a resolution to. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was fun in the beginning, then got heavy towards the end. It’s also very confusing with this multi-dimensional rift thing. Continuing a year from Into the Spider-Verse , Miles Morales, voiced by Shameik Moore , is still having trouble finding himself, between being Brooklyn’s newest Spider-Man and figuring out his life beyond the mask and electro-webs. But when Gwen Stacy , voiced by Hailee Steinfeld , comes from her dimension to his, Miles finds himself in a Pandora’s Box of crises that spell out how hard it is to be Spider-Man in every possible Earth. As for what I enjoyed about Across the Spider-Verse , I enjoyed hearing Gwen and Spider-Punk’s, voiced by Daniel Kaluuya, rocking music beats in the background as they dealt with the misadventures of being ...