The Flash (film)

**The Flash**was a 2009 superhero action film based on the DC Comics superhero, The Flash. The film starred Dave Franco, Tessa Thompson, Hilarie Burton, Jensen Ackles, Paul Dano, Henry Cavill, Victor Garber, William Hurt, Gary Oldman, and Don Cheadle. The film was released worldwide on September 25, 2009 and received critical acclaim and was a box office success, grossing $709.7 million worldwide.

## Plot

14 years ago, Nora Allen was murdered in a strange blur of lightning when her son, Barry, was only 11. Barry saw the bizarre event but was strangely transported from the house to the street in a matter of seconds. Barry arrived home to find out the police arrested his father, Henry, for the murder. Barry has spent the rest of his life investigating strange events like these to find out how his mother died. He was taken in by cop Joe West and his daughter, Iris, who is the same age as Barry. Barry is now the CSI at the Central City Police Department. However, the day S.T.A.R. Labs releases it's particle accelerator, Barry was in his lab with chemicals surrounding him. The accelerator went wrong and released a wave of strange energy that also struck Barry with lightning. Barry was sent into a coma for nine months until he wakes up with super speed.

Barry was taken to S.T.A.R. Labs after five months in his coma where Harrison Wells, the founder of S.T.A.R. Labs who also was paralyzed in the blast, tries to get Barry to run tests, which he does not want to do. Wells' only two remaining employees, Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon, the former of which lost her fiancee in the blast, convince Barry to use his abilities to stop the other humans who gained superpowers from the blast who are using their abilities for evil, calling them metahumans. Barry reunites with Iris, who is now dating her father's partner, Eddie Thawne, and Joe, who is excited to see him back. Barry soon reveals his powers to Joe, who agrees to help them out. On Barry's missions, Barry soon gains the name, "The Flash". Joe decides to investigate Wells for possibly murdering Nora, as he opened S.T.A.R. Labs a month after Nora's murder. However, Joe becomes convinced Wells is not involved, only to be visited by the metahuman that killed Nora, who also superspeed, telling him to drop his investigation or Iris dies.

Barry begins to see the fellow "speedster" that killed his mother while running while Caitlin learns Ronnie is alive and suffering from memory loss, while also being able to emit into flames. Joe tells Eddie about metahumans. Joe and Cisco investigate Barry's childhood home and discover the blood of two people, neither is from Wells but one is from adult Barry. Caitlin and Cisco further learn that Ronnie has been merged with scientist Dr. Martin Stein. Barry is forced to travel back in time to protect the city just in time as Cisco is murdered by Wells who reveals himself to be Eobard Thawne/The Reverse-Flash, Nora's murder and Eddie's descendant from the future. Cisco begins to have "dreams" of Wells killing him. Caitlin is able to get through to Ronnie and he seperates from Stein, who reunites with his wife.

Eddie proposes to Iris, who says yes. Barry finds a room in S.T.A.R. Labs that Wells is using that includes a future newspaper about the Flash disappearing in a crisis with the Reverse-Flash. He also learns that in the future he will marry Iris, get promoted at the CCPD and create the A.I. Gideon, who Wells is using. Cisco, Caitlin, Joe, and Barry come together to stop Wells and discover he is using the wheelchair to recharge his superspeed, which he lost after traveling back in time to kill Barry, only to be confronted by 2024 Barry who speeds Barry away, though Thawne still murders Nora and after losing his speed stays in 1995 and takes the form of Harrison Wells. Ronnie and Caitlin decide to get married after Wells is stopped and placed in a cell. Stein marries the two just as Wells escapes and kidnaps Eddie. They rescue Eddie only to learn Wells has turned the particle accelerator back on in an attempt to create a wormhole that will send him back to his own time. Wells gives Barry the offer to use the wormhole to save his mother, which would also change their timeline significentally, though reverting it back to the way it used to be.

Barry takes the offer but is signaled by his 2024 self to not save his mother and returns to 2009 to stop Wells from escaping. However, Wells gains the upper hand but before he can kill Barry, Eddie kills himself, erasing Thawne from existance. The wormhole grows bigger into a black hole that begins to rip apart the city. Barry speeds into the black hole, along with Ronnie and Stein, to save the day.

## Cast

* Dave Franco as Barry Allen/The Flash
* Tessa Thompson as Iris West
* Hilarie Burton as Caitlin Snow
* Jensen Ackles as Eddie Thawne
* Paul Dano as Cisco Ramon
* Henry Cavill as Ronnie Raymond/Firestorm
* Victor Garber as Martin Stein/Firestorm
* William Hurt as Henry Allen
* Gary Oldman as Harrison Wells/Eobard Thawne/Reverse-Flash
* Don Cheadle as Joe West

## Reception

### **Box office**

The film grossed $709,711,008 worldwide, $296,623,634 in the United States, and $413,087,374 in foreign areas.

### **Critical reception**

*The Flash* recieved critical acclaim. The film currently holds an 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 73 out of 100 on Metacritic.