Lisa Johnson Mandell’s The Flash review says the film has its moments—there just aren’t enough of them to make up for all the missteps.

When I first set out to watch The Flash, the big question for me was whether or not I could forget Ezra Miller’s disturbing and illegal behavior off screen, and engage with their performance on screen.

But as the film began, the big question for me was whether or not I could endure an entire film that starts out with The Flash popping a baby in a microwave oven and slamming the door on it.

Granted The Flash’s intentions were noble. It seems the wing of a hospital was collapsing, and a crumbling neonatal floor sent a number of poorly rendered newborns hurtling toward the ground. In an effort to save one, The Flash shoves it in a microwave oven that is also falling.

He ends up delivering all the babies safe and sound to a hysterical nurse—even the baby like thing in the microwave oven, which cheerily dings indicating the cook time is finished, when it gently hits the ground.

Yes, it’s that kind of humor.

But not entirely. Once I got over the baby drop, I kind of liked the fact that this didn’t seem to be your typical super hero movie in which some all powerful villain attempts to take over the universe.

Instead, it began as a goofy regular guy Barry Allen, (Miller, who did indeed pull off the incredible fete of immersing me in their character), trying to go back in time to make a simple gesture that would keep his mother from being murdered and his father unjustly imprisoned for the deed.

In the process, he meets up with his goofy-in-a-different way 10-years-younger self, and they have some delightfully fraternal back and forth as they try to minimize their impact on the time continuum…until they must work together to thwart the all powerful villain (General Zod, played again by Michael Shannon) attempting to take over the universe. Sigh.

Now The Flash is not without its moments. The cameos from Batmen past, including Michael Keaton, Ben Affleck and more are fun, as the trailer, which maximizes Keaton and minimizes Miller, would have you believe.

But the CGI effects are a snore—we’ve seen them all, done much better, before.

Unless you’re a hardcore superhero movie fan, there’s just not that much here for you. And even if you are, it’s questionable. Director Andy Muschietti clearly dropped the baby, er, ball, on this one.

Rated PG-13

2 Hours 24 Minutes

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Lisa Johnson Mandell’s The Flash review says the film has its moments—there just aren’t enough of them to make up for all the missteps.