Worth Your Time And Money: Smart Parenting's The Flash Movie Review For Families

It’s been a while since my entire family of five has watched a movie in the cinema, and it’s not just because of streaming platforms. I will confess that though I love a good cinema experience, the steep ticket prices multiplied by a whopping five always leaves my husband and I thinking: Next time nalang. We can wait until it comes out wherever we stream, if it does. And the all too familiar: Ang dami ko nang nakain sa halagang ‘yan.

The last actual movie we watched inside the cinema was so life-altering that I just had to write about it. It still remains to be a family favorite, and I suspect it is the sweet mix of a new-old experience plus finally graduating from hard lockdowns which was quite an ordeal if half your family is below 18 years old. In short, it’s been over 365 days since my entire family has watched inside a cinema. I don’t think my three-year-old knows the word ‘cinema’.

So when we were all invited to catch The Flash directed by Andy Muschietti via Summit Sessions #SPMovieNight, I was so excited to tell my family and I was greeted with a, “What?” They were so out of the loop of what was coming out in the movie theaters and when new titles are released that after two unsuccessful tries, I stopped explaining myself and just pulled out my phone and looked up “The Flash 2023 official trailer”. And over dinner we ingested the wonders of superheroes in cinema.

The Flash Family Movie Review: 5 reasons to watch it in the cinema

If you’re here, I’m willing to bet you’re just like me and you're wondering: Sulit pa ba manood ng sine kasama ng mga bata? 

My quick answer: Yes. Because you’re not just paying for the movie. And now that you got my answer, keep reading (walang ganon, mars, don’t leave me just yet) why The Flash is a cinema experience for the family.

1. There’s no superhero fatigue when we’re talking about our superheroes.

I beg to disagree that it’s *groan* another superhero movie. Because Batman. There’s superheroes, and then there’s Batman. But half kidding aside, the child in me was excited to see and share the superheroes my husband and I grew up to with our kids: Superman, Wonder Woman, and of course, Batman. It was comforting and it hit all the nostalgia buttons our generation is currently known for. You got me there, Warner Bros. You got me good.

2. You may get reflective about your job as a parent. And what you’re like to your parents.

Fair warning, this is a surefire way to feel old: When you watch family scenes of superheroes, do you subconsciously see yourself as the superhero or as his or her parents? I realize that I now see family scenes from the perspective of a parent instead of imagining if I could run as fast as Barry Allen. And the scars from his family’s past weighed on me. A parent’s life and actions have the largest effect on a developing child.

In The Flash, Barry’s love for his parents reminded me of my kids’ love for me. Even as an adult, he loved them with the purity of a young child and it was a reminder of their trust in us. Parents are a child’s first superhero, do I live up to it?

On the flipside, a tender and pivotal scene between Barry and his mom reminded me of an age-old imperative: Call your mom.

3. Life-existential crisis aside, kids will love the funny moments and the ‘magic’.

My kids instantly ran around the cinema once the credits rolled (PSA: stay for one end credits scene!) and days later, they’re still running around like The Flash. They even do the set up just like he does. Seeing our kids pretend to be superheroes never gets old. 

There’s also no sensual scenes in The Flash, but there is profanity. It’s rated PG, so as long as you watch it with them, you’ll be okay.

RELATED: This Realization Hit Me Hard After Watching Disney's 'The Little Mermaid' Live Action With My Child

4. Reminder: Be ready to explain a bit of science.

This one has a bit of the multiverse so be ready to explain the time-space continuum to curious minds!

Last but not the least:

5. You’re paying for the memories, too.

As I mentioned, we highly recommend catching The Flash in cinema with your family of course for the movie itself. But I’d say the ticket price becomes worth it when you look at it as a memory-making experience with your kids. It can be something the whole family sees together, or maybe a date with one parent kind of thing if only one of you wants to catch it. But the whole shebang of checking the times, buying tickets, lining up for your snacks, and then making it in time for the trailers is an experience we from the analog-who-learned-digital generation can lovingly pass on to our kids who don’t understand why we can’t hit pause at the cinema when they need a bathroom break. 

Yup, maybe we’re turning into our parents by trying to convince our kids the things we loved then are totally still cool. But you have to admit: a cinema experience knows no generation gap, does it?

Watch Warner Bros.' The Flash at any cinema near you.