Movie reviews: 'The Flash' is a film that provides action, warmth and nostalgia

This week, pop culture critic Richard Crouse reviews new movies: 'The Flash,' 'The Blackening' and 'Elemental'

"The Flash," the long-awaited DC origin story of Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) a.k.a. The Flash, echoes all the all the stuff we expect from a big superhero tentpole movie. There are multiple universes, multiple superheroes and, once again, the world is in danger but it is the title character's emotional life that sets this movie apart from the pack.

Loosely based on the "Flashpoint" comics, the movie sees Barry still grieving the death of his mother (Maribel Verdú) and his father's (Ron Livingston) wrongful incarceration for her murder. Fueled by pain and rage, he finds a way to potentially ease his anguish when he discovers his superspeed gives him the ability to create a "chronobowl" and travel back to the day his mother was killed.

"I could save people," he says. "I could save my mom."

Before setting off to right the wrongs of the past, he consults with Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) who warns him against messing with the fabric of time. "You could destroy everything."

Ignoring Batman's advice, Barry travels to the past and soon pays the price for his impulsive actions. Caught in an alternate universe where a younger version of himself doesn't yet have superpowers.

"This is my face," his doppelganger says. "You stole my face."—Barry soon realizes he is in uncharted territory. "This can't be happening," he says. "I completely broke the universe."

Things go from bad to worse when Kryptonian supervillain General Zod (Michael Shannon) makes the scene, loaded with ill will for all of humanity. "This world must die," he says.