Flash Gordon is pure, unfiltered Saturday morning chaos

Is it worth the time?

If you have a soft spot for grainy black-and-white sets, people in rubber masks, and plots that move at the speed of a caffeinated squirrel, then yes. You will love it. If you need your sci-fi to make sense or have high-end acting, please look elsewhere. This is for the dreamers and the people who miss when movies felt like they were held together by duct tape and sheer willpower.

Buster Crabbe as Flash is just something else. He stands there with this permanent look of 'I have no idea what is happening, but I am going to punch it.' It is fantastic. You can tell he is ready to dive into any cardboard cavern the production team could find.

The planet Mongo is just a collection of different rooms, right? One minute they are in a forest, the next they are in a torture chamber that looks suspiciously like a basement in California. It is endearing. I found myself counting the number of times someone says 'Ming!' with a dramatic fist shake. It is a lot. Probably enough to give you a headache if you turned it into a drinking game.

Let's talk about the pacing. There is no such thing here. Characters just sort of show up in new places without explanation. One moment Flash is fighting a lizard-man, and the next he is having a polite conversation in a hallway. It is like the film just forgot to include the travel time, which honestly is a great editing choice.

I caught myself thinking about Western Speed while watching this, mainly because the energy is so similar. It is that same 'let's get this done before the sun sets' vibe. They didn't have time for second takes or fancy lighting. They just needed to get the rocket ship into the air.

There is a scene where a creature that looks like a stuffed toy with wings attacks someone, and the actor’s reaction is just so incredibly bored. He barely even looks at it. It is the highlight of the whole thing. It is so much more authentic than a CGI monster that everyone has to pretend to be scared of. 🤖

Some parts are admittedly very thin. You will find yourself staring at the wall during the longer exposition dumps. But then someone will pull out a ray gun that looks like a flashlight wrapped in tin foil, and you are back in the game. It is not meant to be analyzed. It is meant to be watched with a bowl of popcorn and zero expectations.

It is definitely not Luther in terms of emotional weight. But who wants that on a Tuesday night? Sometimes you just want to see a guy in a tunic outsmart an Emperor who lives in a giant metal dome. 🚀