This is hardly breaking news, but when it comes to watching “The Flash” Ezra Miller poses the biggest challenge. The crimes and overall bizarre conduct of the film’s troubled star soaked up entertainment headlines and understandably has left bad tastes in the mouths of many moviegoers. Therefore it’s equally understandable if people find themselves struggling with the old ‘art over the artist’ dilemma. I tend to look past it mainly by considering all the other talented people who poured their blood, sweat, and tears into making their movie.

Still it’s a realistic predicament Warner Bros. and DC Studios are facing. And it’s a shame because Miller is actually quite good playing two versions of the same character from different timelines. While not everything in the dueling performances land, particularly with the younger Barry we encounter (more on that in a second), Miller captures and conveys elements of both characters that highlight their similarities and differences. It’s a challenging task but Miller pulls it off.

“The Flash” is the 13th installment in the DC Extended Universe and a film that (kinda) sets up the transition to James Gunn’s rebooted DCU. Personally I’ve really enjoyed the DCEU model and it’s sad to see it going away (it wraps up later this year with “Blue Beetle” and “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom”). With both its hits and misses, the DCEU produced a cool variety of films that could be crazy and audacious, that could take some wild swings, that wasn’t afraid to feature darker tones, and that gave us truly larger-than-life heroes and villains.

With “The Flash” director Andy Muschietti and screenwriter Christina Hodson have made a movie that not only celebrates the DCEU, but also the screen history of several characters that many of us truly love. The film is full of terrific fan moments and the cameos alone will bring smiles to many faces. I promise, there are things packed in it that you’ll never see coming. I ate it up.

But there’s also a genuinely heartfelt and tragic story at its center – a story of grief and loss and one awkward and lonely young man’s struggle to cope. This is where the movie’s biggest surprises lie. Among the waves of superhero action, big set pieces, and often dazzling special effects, Muschietti and Hodson center their film on a tender and deeply human story that resonated far more than I ever expected it to.

When not answering calls to duty as a member of the Justice League, Barry Allen (Miller) works as a low-rung forensic scientist in Central City. Life has been hard for the lonely and anxious Barry. His mother, Nora (Maribel Verdú) was murdered and his father, Henry (Ron Livingston) is in prison after being falsely accused of killing her. “I lost my mom to a tragedy and lost my dad to the criminal justice system.”

During a moment of overwhelming sorrow Barry runs with such fury that he accidentally travels back in time. Barry returns to his present day where he poses to himself a question: what if he could go back in time and prevent his mother’s death? After helping Batman thwart a heist gone wrong (in a rousing, fun, and funny early action sequence), Barry tells Bruce (Ben Affleck) about his discovery. Bruce promptly warns him of the dangers of tinkering with time.

But Barry, driven by the sincerest of emotions, disregards his mentor’s warnings and travels back to the day his mother is killed. As non-invasively as possible Barry saves his mother and heads back to his time. But on the way he’s knocked out of the SpeedForce and into and alternate 2013 where he encounters his naive and immature 18-year-old self. Barry discovers that he has arrived on the very day that his 18-year-old self is to first get his powers. It’s also the day that the evil General Zod (Michael Shannon) arrives to invade Earth.

Understanding the death and destruction Zod brings, elder Barry sets out to form the Justice League with 2013 Barry following along. But he quickly learns this is a much different Earth – one with no Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, or Cyborg. He does find an old hermit Batman, retired and holed up in what remains of Wayne Manor. But it’s not his caped crusader. This Bruce Wayne is none other than Michael Keaton, reprising the role he played in the 1989 and 1992 Batman films. He also meets a Kryptonian named Kara Zor-El aka Supergirl (Sasha Calle) who he must convince to join their fight against Zod and his legion.

There’s so much else that’s better left unsaid including numerous nods to the past and (possibly) a few hints about the future. Fellow fans of DC, its history, and its characters will love some of the places the movie goes. And while we’re currently experiencing an over-saturation of multiverse movies in the superhero space, this one manages to feel surprisingly intimate and self-contained (at least to a degree).

There’s plenty more I could say. I appreciated its self-referential style, the well-timed laughs, the good pacing, the open-armed embrace of nostalgia, the way it left a big smile on my face. Seeing Keaton back in the cape and the cowl was an absolute delight and Calle makes for a great Supergirl. And I won’t mention the other faces that pop up at the most unexpected times. All of it makes the movie’s handful of hiccups and annoyances easy to look past. It turns out to be another entry that reminds me of why I already miss the DCEU. “The Flash” is out now in theaters.

VERDICT – 4 STARS