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Flashpoint Potentially gets Directors - Situation Review!

Yesterday it was reported by Variety that John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein (Vacation, Horrible Bosses) are in negotiations to direct the solo Flash movie, titled Flashpoint. This is the first piece of DC news since Walter Hamada (It, The Conjuring) was hired as Head of the DC Film division. Daley & Goldstein have mainly worked on comedy films and Variety has reported that Warner Bros. is eyeing a more comedic tone to the film. For those who don't know, Flashpoint is about The Flash going back in time to save his mother. But in doing so, he creates a ripple effect that takes the rest of the DC superheroes down very dark paths.

First Thoughts

I think this is a terrible idea. Whilst the two were screenwriters on Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017, Jon Watts), which I really liked, I thought the quality of that film was mainly down to Watts's directing more than anything else. As he had worked on more grounded and serious films, which he brought to Homecoming. Also, since these two primarily work on comedy films I really don't think that that they should be working on a film such as Flashpoint, which is one of DC's darkest stories.

Daley & Goldstein

As I said, these two feel like a really odd choice for Flashpoint. Not just in the fact that their body of work is quite different from the material that the film is based on. But also because their previous films haven't exactly been high in quality. They wrote and directed Vacation (2015) which was a flop both critically and financially. They also wrote Horrible Bosses (2011, Seth Gordon) and The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013, Don Scardino) which weren't really good films. So why are they even considered to direct a big blockbuster like Flashpoint? None of the films that they've previously worked on gives any indication that they would fit the project.

Flashpoint/Reboot

I did talk about the Flashpoint announcement in 2017 SDCC Superhero Coverage. Where I said that Flashpoint is an odd choice for the first Flash Solo Film. Personally, I think Flashpoint would be better as a Justice League film, as it involves a lot of DC characters. Also, with Justice League (2017, Zack Snyder) failing to click with audiences I wouldn't really rush into one of Flash's biggest stories. I can understand wanting to reboot, as the DCEU has faced quite a few problems, but I think it's a huge mistake. The DCEU does have a fanbase, and quite a loyal one at that, so a reboot would be something of a disappointment to them. Plus, DC already tried to take a lighter tone with Justice League and that didn't entice any new audience members to go and see it and quite a few DCEU fans felt alienated. So a reboot could potentially cause more harm than good.

The Flash

In my review for Justice League, I mentioned how The Flash (Ezra Miller) felt too much like a kid at times. And after watching the film a second time it stood out a lot more. In fact, beyond a naive persona and a slew of jokes, I would argue that the Flash didn't really have much character to him. So I would argue that the first Flash film shouldn't be Flashpoint but should just be a solo outing, mainly to strengthen the character more and get audiences on board with him. And that would be difficult to do with Flashpoint since it involves the whole Justice League. So that would be my suggestion for a Flash film. Because he really needs more to his character than just jokes and awkwardness. Something I don't think either a Flashpoint film or Daley and Goldstein can bring to the character.

Light V. Dark

The DCEU has been struggling with its balance between light and dark. Critics didn't like the very dark tone of Batman V Superman (2016, Zack Snyder) and so DC decided to swing in the opposite direction with Justice League with a more lighter tone, but even that didn't fare any better. But now, with this story, it seems like DC still heading to a lighter tone. Which I think is a big mistake. By going in a lighter tone they're practically just copying Marvel, which doesn't work because the DC characters are quite different from the Marvel characters. Personally, I would prefer DC tried to do more films like Wonder Woman (2017, Patty Jenkins) which was predominantly a dark film but did have more lighter parts to not be so overwhelming. And that turned out to be a huge success! So I don't think Daley and Goldstein should be writers on Flashpoint because I doubt they can find the right balance in the tone that Wonder Woman did.

Conclusion

I think John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein are not a good choice to direct Flashpoint. Very little in their past projects suggest that they would be a good fit. I also think that DC is making a huge mistake with a Flashpoint film as it's just an excuse for a reboot. When all they really need is to improve on what they already have, as there's already a fan base for the DCEU, instead of just wiping the slate clean

So that's analysis of the story from Variety. What do you think of Daley and Goldstein directing? And what do you think of Flashpoint? Please leave a comment down below. And, if you like what you read then please follow this blog for more content. Thank you for reading. :)
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