As ‘The Flash’ Visual Effects Baffle Viewers, the Film’s Director Says the VFX Are ‘Intended’ to ‘Look a Little Weird to You’

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains minor spoilers from “The Flash,” now playing in theaters nationwide.

Reviews for Warner Bros.’ long-in-the-works “The Flash” movie have been largely favorable to mixed, but most critics agree the film is the latest comic book tentpole to suffer from unappealing visual effects. Leaked scenes on social media have also led to fan bafflement over the film’s VFX, especially an opening sequence in which Ezra Miller’s superhero speeds to Gotham City to save a bunch of falling babies from a collapsing hospital.

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To say the VFX babies in “The Flash” opening scene are rendered in a hugely un-human way would be an understatement. The same goes for all of the human characters who appear during the movie’s many time-travel sequences. Suffice to say, none of them look human at all.

In a recent interview with io9, “The Flash” director Andy Muschietti said he is well aware these divisive visual effects look weird to moviegoers. Why? Apparently that was exactly his intention.

“The idea, of course, is… we are in the perspective of The Flash,” Muschietti said. “Everything is distorted in terms of lights and textures. We enter this ‘waterworld’ which is basically being in Barry’s POV. It was part of the design, so if it looks a little weird to you that was intended.”

The director is going to be sticking with Warner Bros. and DC Studios for the foreseeable future, as Variety exclusively confirmed that studio bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran have hired Muschietti to direct their new Batman movie, “The Brave and the Bold.” This film exists separately from Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson’s “The Batman” and upcoming “The Batman Part II.”

“We saw ‘The Flash’ even before taking the reins at DC Studios and knew we were in the hands of not only a visionary director but a massive DC fan,” Gunn and Safran told Variety of staying in business with Muschietti. “It’s a magnificent film — funny, emotional, thrilling — and Andy’s affinity and passion for these characters and this world just resonates through every frame. So, when it came time to find a director for ‘The Brave and the Bold,’ there was really only one choice. Luckily, Andy said yes.”

As for the future of “The Flash” franchise, Warner Bros. has developed a script for a sequel, but it will only be pushed ahead if the current movie performs well enough at the box office. With Muschietti moving on to Batman, it’s unclear if he would also be involved in “The Flash ” sequel. He told press ahead of the film’s opening that he’s open to continuing to work with Ezra Miller despite the actor’s controversial history.

“If [a sequel] happens, yes,” Muschietti said about having Miller back as the Flash. “I don’t think there’s anyone that can play that character as well as they did. The other depictions of the character are great, but this particular vision of the character, they just excelled in doing it. And, as you said, the two Barrys — it feels like a character that was made for them.”

“The Flash” is now playing in theaters nationwide.

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