"The Flash" (2023)

Yesterday, I received an early Christmas present from my former roommate Jessica. It was a Blu-ray of The Flash (2023).

The movie stars Ezra Miller as Barry Allen, Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne, Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne and Sasha Calle as Supergirl.

The IMDb summary:

Barry Allen uses his super speed to change the past, but his attempt to save his family creates a world without super heroes, forcing him to race for his life in order to save the future.

I viewed the movie for the second time today. I wasn't expecting too much from reading much skuttlebutt against it before seeing it the first time (yesterday). I don't feel the negative reviews expressed were justified. Was it a perfect movie? No. But I found it very entertaining.

While trying to change the past (to save his mother's life), Barry opens up a multi-verse of different times. It was fun seeing Keaton don the cape and cowl and great to see George Reeves, Chris Reeve, Helen Slater and Adam West representing the different universes. Oddly, this also included the Superman that never was, Nicholas Cage.

Gal Gadot made a cameo as Wonder Woman at the beginning. 

Overall, I would grade The Flash somewhere around A- or B+. 

CBS's "Supergirl"

The premiere of Supergirl on CBS ended a little while ago.

I thought the show went well with plenty of action and humor. Thankfully, it is not campy.

Actress Melissa Benoist (Supergirl/Kara Danvers) is very eye-pleasing and she played the duo roles pretty well.

Calista Flockhart played her bitchy boss quite convincingly.

The special effects for a television show are sometimes a hit or miss. For Supergirl, they more hit than miss.

In the show's scenario, Kara is Kal-El's older cousin sent to Earth after him in a separate rocket from Krypton when the planet was about to explode to protect Kal-El. But, the shock wave from Krypton's explosion sent Kara's rocket into the Phantom Zone. She remained there for years until (and it's unclear how) she broke free of the Zone

Now on Earth, Kara finds herself younger than Kal-El (there's no aging in the Phantom Zone) and she is put into the care of the Danvers, who happen to be former Superman Dean Cain (Lois and Clark) and former Supergirl Helen Slater. Having Cain and Slater was a nice touch.

Unfortunately, criminals from the Phantom Zone were also freed when Kara was and are now on Earth.

The original Supergirl of the Silver Age was Kal-El's younger cousin Kara, who was born and grew up in Argo City, a Kryptonian city that was blown away intact from Krypton's explosion with an air bubble. The ground below Argo City was turned into Kryptonite and Kara' father, Zor-El, saved the city by covering the surface with lead sheeting.

Kara was sent to Earth as Argo City was being hit by meteors that destroyed the protective lead sheeting while she was a teen.

My grade for tonight's show: A.

"Supergirl" Coming To CBS

Above, a drawing of Supergirl by Jim Mooney. Mooney was to Supergirl as Curt Swan was to Superman.

CBS Television has given its green light on its new Supergirl television series.

According to Entertainment Weekly:

Appearing at the Television Critics Association’s semi-annual press tour in Pasadena on Monday, CBS entertainment chairman Nina Tassler was pressed for details about the project — which marks the network’s first entry into the genre since 1990’s short-lived version of The Flash — while critics also wondered why the network swooped in and grabbed the show rather than putting the series on its sister network, the super-hero-stuffed The CW. 

First, since Supergirl is on CBS, you can definitely expect the show to be a crime procedural. Yet Tassler emphasized the show will have serialized elements as well. “There will be [crime] cases, but what [executive producers] Ali Adler and Greg Berlanti pitched was a real series arc for her,” she said. “The beauty of it is now with shows like Good Wife and Madam Secretary, you can have serialized story elements woven into a case of the week. She’s a crime solver, so she’s going to have to solve a crime. She’s going to get a bad guy.”

Casting for Supergirl has yet to be announced (reports are that it's coming soon). But what will Supergirl's costume look like? Will it be similar to the one the late Supergirl artist (of the 1960s) Jim Mooney drew (see image at top) or will it be something like the one below (with, um, bat-wings)?

Personally, I think Supergirl should be a blonde with a costume similar to the one Helen Slater wore (maybe updated) in the terrible movie version. (Slater did a good job and she looked like the Supergirl of the comics. She was just saddled with a bad script.) Maybe Slater will get a guest spot or something in the show.

To read more, go here.