The Flash Director Explains Those Bad Visual Effects: “That Was Intended”

The Flash moive has sparked some big viewer discussions about the look of the film’s visual effects. While The Flash certainly has some of the most visually-captivating DC superhero action we’ve seen, there are also entire sections of the film (particularly within the Speed Force) that look like they belong in an early 2000s CG animated movie by Robert Zemeckis (Polar Express, Beowulf and A Christmas Carol). 

Murmurs about The Flash’s poorly-rendered CGI segments started to circulate after early test screenings, but there was speculation (and hope) that those cuts of the film were unfinished and would be improved by release day; however, that didn’t turn out to be the case. Now the entire world is getting to see The Flash, and a lot of people are wondering why some parts of it look unfinished. The rumblings have gotten loud enough that The Flash director Andy Muschietti is speaking up to address the issue, letting anyone inquiring know that those visuals were “intended” to look that way. 

“The idea, of course, is… we are in the perspective of The Flash,” Andy Muschietti told io9. “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 segments of The Flash that are generating the most controversy are: 

1. The opening sequence featuring Flash saving a bunch of CGI babies, a medical assistance dog, and a maternity ward nurse from a collapsing hospital. The Babies and much of the slow-motion sequence look ridiculously cartoonish, including the creepy look of the babies – including one that gets put in a microwave for “safety.” 
2. The time-traveling sequences within the Speed Force. As Barry learns to navigate the wheels of time, he sees the different strands of realities layered out in front of him like an audience sitting in the stands of a coliseum. The different versions of the people seen in that multiversal audience also look inhumanly CGI – including all the big DC TV and Movie Characters that show up in a climatic sequence. 

The explanation that Muschietti provides above won’t be believed by every viewer out there. Given the unevenness in the film’s visual effects, all the behind-the-scenes production woes, a massive budget, etc… There will no doubt always be some lingering doubt the film simply ran out of time and budget to fully render the most visually complex and effects-heavy moments in the film. That idea is especially hard to shake given that early screenings of the film came with a message from Muschietti that the cut was unfinished. Many figured the effects were the “unfinished” part he was talking about. 

The Flash is now in theaters.