Black Adam – A Messy Antihero Movie

While it has been widely-reported the DC cinematic universe has been in shambles, so has Warner Bros. following the merger with Discovery. As the year comes to an end, each look to right the ship with Black Adam, an eagerly-anticipated superhero film and a passion project for Dwayne Johnson. That being said, despite the best intentions and so much fan anticipation, the landscape is still in shambles and that fact could be seen throughout for better or worse. Regardless, the film still has plenty to offer for the most diehard fans but at the end of the day, one can’t help but want more. For a superhero film, or an anti-hero film, it is surprisingly dull and low energy which is arguably a cardinal sin when it comes to the genre. Built on a thin base of derivative and cliché story beats, there is very little excitement to be had over the course of its messy story that merely goes through the motions instead of making much in the way of effort. The only effort appeared to come by its cast who at least try to make it work, however, there is only so much they can do especially when trying to make up for the lack of range of Dwayne Johnson who essentially sleepwalks his way through the film.

Black Adam sees the God-like entity known as Black Adam (Johnson) freed after nearly 5,000 years of captivity and released into a much different world than the one he left last. The more things change, the more they stay the same as his homeland of Kahndaq found itself under the rule of yet another oppressor. Now if it wasn’t already clear, Black Adam was unlike any other superhero based solely on his sheer brutality harkening back to his time prior to his captivity. Suffice it to say that this would have to be reigned in in order for him to move forward. Trying to push him in that direction, the story attempts to humanize him and someone acclimate him to the current time period with an activist single mother named Adrianna Tomaz (Sarah Shahi) and her son Amon (Bodhi Sabongui) in a thin and inconsequential subplot meant to tie the story together. However, as the film goes on, in what should come as a surprise to absolutely no one, there was a lot more to that story. Ultimately, most audiences are unlikely to care about any of it.

Those simply looking to see Black Adam easily dispatch anyone or anything in his path will not be disappointed for the most part. However, the film’s execution of those moments does leave much to be desired. Though muted, the brutality is there but it gets lost within frenetic, CGI-heavy action sequences that are somehow dull and devoid of any kind of excitement whatsoever led by a disinterested Johnson. Attempting to prop these sequences up with several needle drops, their combination has the opposite effect by making them come off as incredibly corny which is also the opposite of one would want in any superhero film. Meanwhile, the Justice Society are shoehorned into the film to further prop up Johnson and Black Adam and move the story forward. Paved with cliches and derivative story beats, its trajectory is uninteresting as a whole and predictable to a tee. Understandably, it’s all about Black Adam growing as a character in today’s world, the Justice Society coming together as a team, and both learning to work together and not against each other, however, all that character development is hampered by mediocre dialog that will surely illicit more eye rolls than engagement.

In the end, Black Adam amounts to a rushed prologue for the story set up by the film’s post-credits scene whose events will also come as a surprise to absolutely no one and is the most exciting part of the film.

In terms of the performances, they could be described as making the most out of its circumstances. Black Adam may not be a remarkable film by any means and the direction and script did no one any favors but its cast, Dwayne Johnson aside, do their best to at least keep things watchable. However, even they have their limits as there is only so much they can do. Among the Justice Society members worthiness of the characters aside, including Hodge as Hawkman / Carter Hall, Brosnan as Dr. Fate / Kent Nelson, Noah Centineo as Atom Smasher / Al Rothstein, and Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone / Maxine Hunkel, there is some chemistry to be had which did lead to some entertaining lighter moments though the combination of tones did not quite work. That awkward fit just made for an awkward watch more than an entertaining one overall.

Black Adam is a misfire that is destined to be forgotten in the grand scheme of the DC cinematic universe. Its purpose was basically to introduce Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam, doing so clumsily. Whether or not we wanted it, he’s here.

still courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.