The Flash (2023) review

Speedster Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) comes up the dodgy idea of dashing so quickly he can go back in time and prevent his mother Nora (Maribel Verdú) from getting murdered and his father Henry (Ron Livingston) being falsely accused of the crime, but instead ends up in an alternate universe where he encounters his double, tries to find Batman but meets a very different Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton), saves Supergirl (Sasha Calle) from the Russians ... and then has to contend with General Zod (Michael Shannon), who wants to grind up the Earth.  Just like the other superhero movies, all the old "tricks" are in play - individuals can be "resurrected" at will, it seems to be making it up as it goes along, etc. - and the last third is a little too mawkish (you have to simply "live" with loss) ... but the apparent hate this has gotten is outlandish: it's fittingly fast-paced, it has a healthy sense of humor about it and the cast is superb.  Anytime you get Shannon and Keaton not to mention Affleck and Clooney in the same picture, it really can't be that bad.  Also, considering what's been happening with Miller off-screen, when The Flash tells a traumatized medical worker, "I understand that these events can be psychologically scarring.  You should seek the services of a mental health professional" ... that has to be self-referential, right?