The Flash (film)

The Flash is a 2008 superhero film based on the DC Comics superhero of the same name. The film was directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and stars Andrew Garfield, Chyler Leigh, Scott Speedman, Mads Mikkelsen, Amber Heard, Cameron Monaghan, Linda Cardellini, and Michael Rosenbaum. It was released on July 2, 2008 and grossed $300.7 million against a $110 million budget. It ran 130 minutes and received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its acting (particularly Garfield), direction, musical score, costume design, production values, and visuals, although some critics found it derivative of other superhero films. The Flash 2 is in development.

Plot
Four years ago, twelve-year-old Barry Allen comes home to discover his mother murdered and his father arrested for it, depsite his pleas of being innocent. Family friend and detective Darryl Frye agrees to take Barry in, who vows to get to the bottom of his mother's death. In present day, Barry is bullied at school, though he excels in all his classes and works as an intern at the Central City Police Department on the side. At Central City High School, Barry has a crush on Iris West, though she is caught up with other people. Barry is also friends with the science teacher, Eobard Thawne. While working in his lab at the CCPD, Allen is struck by lightning and flung into his chemicals, which cause him to fall into a coma. Upon waking up after weeks in the coma, Allen discovers he now has super-speed, and informs Frye of his newfound abilities. Inspired by the recent appearance of Batman in Gotham City, Barry begins helping the police solve crimes around the city while in a suit he made to protect him from burning off his clothes while running, while the police and the public openly accept "The Flash" as their hero.

Iris, who works as an intern at the Central City Citizen, begins writing articles about the Flash. However, when her articles get her into trouble with her boss for not including enough evidence, she is fired. Iris's best friend, Linda Park, announces a party at her house for her birthday, and Barry decides to ask Iris to be his date to the party. However, she is asked out by another kid in their grade before he can. Barry meets Wally West, Iris's brother who is a Freshman. Wally encourages him to not give up, as Iris tends to break up with "jocks" quickly. When Barry's distraction toward Iris causes him to let a criminal escape, Barry decides to give up his attempts to ask Iris out. Meanwhile, Thawne becomes anrgy upon learning of the Flash's arrival in the city and decides to kill him, revealing he has super-speed. While the Flash is accepting an award presented by the mayor, Thawne attacks, masking his identity. The Flash fights him, but Thawne is revealed to be able to absorb his speed and use it against him. Thawne calls him by name, causing Barry to realize it is Thawne, who manages to get away.

Barry meets Thawne at the school, who appears to not realize Barry knows his identity. Barry plays dumb and decides to lead him on. Meanwhile, Iris begins an online blog to write about the Flash, which steals many of the Citizen's readers, angering her former boss. On the night of Linda's party, Barry attends alone, but Wally cheers him up, until he leaves him to hang out with Linda, who he crushes on. Thawne, still masking his identity, attacks again, forcing everyone to leave the house, while the Flash shows up to fight Thawne again. When Iris endangers herself to get footage of the attack, Thawne almost kills her, until the Flash gets her to safety. Thawne nearly gets away, but Frye shows up after Barry contacted him and the police arrest him, uncovering his identity. Barry visits him and stops playing dumb, asking him about his vendetta against Barry.

Thawne reveals that he is from the year 2451, where the Flash is an honored hero. Thawne became obsessed with the Flash and recreated his accident to give himself super-speed. However, due to the extreme policing of the future, crime is nearly nonexistent, so Thawne began creating accidents to save, appearing as a hero. The Flash visited him from the past and trained him. However, after learning of what Thawne has done, he turned him into the police. Thawne managed to escape and went back in time to kill Barry as a child, so he could never ruin Thawne's life. However, he killed Nora instead by mistake and stayed behind in the past to guide Barry into becoming the Flash, which he was supposed to in 2014, but it happened six years early, forcing Thawne's plan to go into action much earlier. Barry, enraged at Thawne's revelation, attempts to kill him, but Frye stops him. However, Thawne's super-speed allows him to vibrate through the walls and he escapes once more.

At a school assembly, Barry returns, making a scene in front of the entire school. However, after blending into the crowd, Thawne shows up, announcing he is there for the Flash. However, the school evacuates due to the knowledge of Thawne's identity. Barry suits up and prepares to stop Thawne once and for all. After fighting, and entering the "Speed Force", the power that gave Barry his abilities, Barry has Thawne in a headlock. However, the both realize that the Speed Force entered Barry six years early because of Thawne's interference with the timeline, and Thawne begins disappearing due to his actions accidentally killing one of his ancestors during the fight. Barry learns that Frye got Thawne on video admitting to the murder of his mother, and Henry can be let go. However, Henry is revealed to have a heart condition that requires him to move in with Frye as well, and giving him up to a year to live. Iris is reinstated at the Citizen, while Linda kisses Wally as a birthday present. Barry considers revealing his identity to Iris, but is persuaded not to. In a post-credits scene, Barry decides to train himself to be able to time travel.

Cast

 * Andrew Garfield as Barry Allen/The Flash
 * Chyler Leigh as Iris West
 * Scott Speedman as Eobard Thawne/Reverse-Flash
 * Mads Mikkelsen as Henry Allen
 * Amber Heard as Linda Park
 * Cameron Monaghan as Wally West
 * Linda Cardellini as Nora Allen
 * Michael Rosenbaum as Darryl Frye

Box office
The Flash grossed $147.9 million (49.2%) in the United States and Canada and $152.8 million (50.8%) in other territories for a total of $300.7 million. Worldwide, it is the nineteenth highest-grossing 2010 film. It achieved a worldwide opening weekend of $36.4 million.

Critical reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 77% based on 239 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10.