The summer movie season is safely in the rearview and fall is upon us ushering in the newest batch of “must see” films. This week brings the much-anticipated release of the DCEU’s Black Adam, starring Dwayne Johnson. Let me preface this review with the fact, going in I don’t know Black Adam from blackjack, so my take is based purely on what I saw on the big screen. If you’re looking for faithfulness to the comics, I can’t help you. I’m a simple “Rock” fangirl excited by a handful of trailers, featurettes, and interviews that went in with an open mind and crossed fingers for a thrilling movie going experience.
I did mention I’m a fangirl so the prospect of seeing Dwayne Johnson poured into his enhancement free super suit for a couple of hours not only didn’t hurt my feelings but means at a minimum the film is a biased 5 for me.
No.
I have no shame.
Where things go from there is definitely more of an objective subjective opinion.
Indeed, where does Black Adam go?
The overall story is a pretty standard origin story. Predictable and familiar. The flashbacks of ancient Kahndaq are cool, yet reminiscent of The Scorpion King/300.
That familiarity is an issue that comes up repeatedly throughout the movie. I want to be fair, but for me various characters, scenes, and settings felt “lifted” straight from other sources, especially from the MCU, and didn’t do much to hide, improve, or expand on them. Time and again I found myself thinking this is nothing more than the DCEU version of this, that, or the other. Keeping me from completely being immersed in what was happening on the screen as I thought about how I saw that already in X film with Y character. I’m all for recycling but this is lazy and disappointing for something in development for over a decade.
A sentiment that goes double for some of the dialogue as well, especially in the first half of the film. Pure, unadulterated trash.
As for the characters, they are a bit hit and miss in terms of development. Obviously, Black Adam himself gets the most in-depth treatment., However, other key characters fall by the wayside to the point where there isn’t much sense of who they are, what they’re about, or even their point. All things that would make for a stronger story and really elevate the film. It’s like watching the second film in a trilogy without benefit of seeing the first.
I’m a bit lost on one of the main characters and how they even end up being key as well as some head scratching over another cool but head scratching cameo. Don’t even get me started on Pierce Brosnan. They had the poor man looking like and old dude that kept nodding off more than a superhero.
The writers didn’t seem to put an overabundance of thought, effort, or importance into tying things together and having them make sense. Perhaps they were counting on everyone having the comic book background knowledge to draw from?
The action sequences pack a lot of punch (yes pun intended) are a lot of fun and the darker tone of the film adds some flair but get bogged down as the unfold with an overuse of slow motion. The impact gets watered down and feels very cookie cutter. While the violence gets pushed as far as they can with a PG - 13 rating, it can be brutal but not overly gory.
Good soundtrack. The humor is sparse, but lands. Solid visuals and direction.
Black Adam’s pacing gets a little long in the tooth but isn’t too bad. I never got a full-on case of the wiggles but was feeling a need to wrap things up well before the end. The overall vibe of the movie is also a bit choppy. It feels like several different films cobbled together because they couldn’t decide what kind of film they wanted to make. Not great, but I’ve definitely sat through much worse.
When all is said and done Black Adam is okay. Didn’t love it. It didn’t wow me or blow me away, but I did enjoy it. I’m definitely interested to see where things go from here, especially given the mid credit sequence tease. I think it could certainly have been better, but it most definitely could’ve been much worse. It’s worth checking out on the big screen but isn’t remarkable or highly memorable. While I’d be hard pressed to pick a favorite part, line, or point out anything in particular that really stood out to me, I’m glad I went. I also wouldn’t be adverse to seeing Black Adam again.
I give Black Adam a heavily biased rating of 6.5.
