There’s a lot of Scrubs-theme about this movie’s trailer – ‘I’m no Superman’ 😏…😏 We get it, Dwayne ‘the Demi-God’ Johnson; you’re bad to the bone, and you break ’em just for fun! But I don’t know these characters and I honestly haven’t given much thought to Black Adam until I started driving to the cinema. So, DC me, movie!
While searching for a powerful artifact, the Crown of Sabbac, and racing against a militant force to find it, Adrianna Tomaz (Sarah Shahi) unleashes Teth-Adam (Dwayne Johnson), an ancient champion with the might of Gods. Adam is quick to dispose of those he views as enemies, and he alerts the Justice Society of America who travel to confine his abilities. But the people of Kahndaq live in the ruins of a once prevalent empire, who have been ransacked for resources, and dominated by outside influences for centuries – they view Black Adam as their savior and side with him, resisting any intervention by American superheroes. As our parties squabble it out regarding justice and purity, a satanic threat emerges with the Crown of Sabbac in hand.
This movie is trying to do a lot – it’s introducing Black Adam, plus his lore, plus the Justice Society of America that includes four shiny new characters, plus there’s human characters and a villain’s plot. The weakest part of the movie is probably the first ten minutes in the present day, where the human characters have to search to ‘get the thing’ and fight off an undisclosed number of bad guys. But once Black Adam makes the scene, most of the action is, as the kids say, ‘dope as fuck’ 🤙 Black Adam is ‘stacked’, with the abilities of Superman, and the attitude of the Punisher. Dwayne Johnson brings a stern danger to Black Adam, which I found commendable after watching him play a jovial presence in movies, and just in life, for years – I never watched WWE back in the day, so I never found out what ‘the Rock is cooking’, but I can imagine it served as rocket fuel for this role. Yet, what the hell is this movie rated? With so much Black Adam merchandise flooding shopping centers, I assumed this movie would be aimed at kids, but zombies, and copious amounts of graphic murdering; it seems Zack Snyder’s grim vision for the DCEU is alive and well – I’m happy, but I’m just not sure how many parents will be. It’s also true that from a certain point of view, this movie can feel like it’s trying to chew bubblegum and walk at the same time – it’s trying to justify its place in the DCEU, but it can also be rushing around without properly explaining itself at times, a bit superficially like Venom: Let There be Carnage. My biggest question is, what’s the deal with those bikes that the villains have? How’d they get them? But this movie also does okay at inserting character exposition as it goes, and it’s clear that the focus is on the action, to excite and delight, if you’re in the mood to go with it.
I think the movie’s strongest move is putting the anti-hero in the hands of an oppressed nation. It’s not something I can remember seeing before, though there have been many comic-book movies come out year to year. It’s like if the ‘Age of Ulton Avengers had shown up to save the day, and Sokovia had their own stable hero, handling his own vision for justice. I ended up really liking Adrianna’s role in this, as she becomes more than just the intelligent woman on the sidelines, like those in The Mummy (2017) and Morbius; she’s able to call out the American interference or neglect of her country, and be the voice for an alternative perspective of history, while Black Adam figures out how he fits into this new world. To that end, her son Karim (Mo Amer) does the same, but the kid character can feel a little out of place for a while – it’s not like he’s a John Connor type, and this ‘terminator’ must protect him for the vitality of the story. But I decided that Karim does add heart, and alleviates some seriousness to this affair, even if he’s a little cliché at times, reminding me of Fred from Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers: The Movie 😂 The twist to Black Adam’s origin is cool, if not ruined by the trailers 😠, but I like that we have a Dad-hero now, who has learnt from the tragedy of his son, which is most commonly the other way around, from Batman to Spider-Man. And the movie has the best end-minute I’ve seen for a while, where our new champion breaks the throne and forgoes finally saying his new name, Black Adam, before the credits roll – it’s in the pocket of the ending of the first Iron Man, but obviously not quite as cool, marginally.
Pierce Brosnan gets into the superhero game! And why not? Welcome! Personally, I don’t think I give him enough credit for being such an influential James Bond just before my era, because we don’t see him much in movies anymore, and Daniel Craig blew me away, but this character, Dr. Fate, is about what I’d imagine a suave Bond to be like in his 70s and beyond. And this is how you kill a Bond with dignity (No Time to Die 👆). I like how DC has allowed Marvel to do its heavily lifting – all the dimension warping and future-sight abilities have been explained so thoroughly to movie fans in Doctor Strange and properties, that Dr. Fate can swoop in and go straight to being fun. And he’s so much fun; I like how Dr. Fate is the first to warm up to Black Adam and form a mutual understanding – if not for Black Adam, Brosnan would steal the show.
And my man-muffin gets a gig. Aldris Hodge sits exclusively in the ‘I’m not gay, but if I were gay, I’d be super gay for…’ category for me, I’ve mentioned this before #hunk. His Hawkman seems a step forward from what Marvel have done so far as well, but plan to do with Sam Wilson’s Captain America – that’s one for DC, beating Marvel to the punch. I’m not sold on wind-girl though – what’s her name, Cyclone? Actress Quintessa Swindle wears black-and-white striped socks, and sports a flying monkey backpack at her introduction, framing her like a feisty Wicked Witch of the East in my mind… and since Scarlett Witch is my favourite MCU character, I like witches. But luckily, they also give her super-smarts and nanotechnology, otherwise she really wouldn’t have much to do in this caper. But she’s super cute, and there’s always time moving forward. Lastly, I just love Viola Davis as Amanda Waller and want to mention her again – the character values her job and nothing else, and her coldness emanates from Davis’s performance 🥶
Is it a choppy movie? I suppose so – Black Adam is off screen for probably 10-minutes straight, which is strange when he’s the title character. But the movie inspired my imagination, and I always have time for comic-book movies, living this life as the nerd I am 🤓 I think Black Adam would make for one hell of a comic book story, swapping back and forth from the past, present, and future as it goes, and since movies are currently in the business of bringing comic books to life, it’s a job well done. There’re a few shot selections I disagreed with, but I actually think it’s well put together, so kudos to director Jaume Collett-Serra for his execution as well. For mine, it’s no better or worse than The Suicide Squad last year, and Black Adam gave me great fun.
4.0
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