The final gag almost makes it all worth it. What’s been saddest about seeing the slow decline of the failed DC shared movie universe is the frankly obscene amount of money and talent that’s gone to waste particularly over the last five years. This film, that loosely adapts the “Flashpoint” storyline from the comics sees Barry Allen / The Flash (Ezra Miller) use his super-speed to travel back in time to prevent his mother’s murder and his father’s false imprisonment and in the process changes the course of history and tears open the multiverse. Michael Keaton’s return to the role of Bruce Wayne / Batman after three decades is a joy, when he’s actually on screen and not a more agile digital double, and the under-used Sasha Calle as Super Girl makes for a restrained, burdened contrast to the irritatingly hyper and giggly younger Barry. But whatever early charm THE FLASH has soon gets weighed down by misjudged multiverse fanservice and never quite deciding what it’s trying to say. SSP