BLACK ADAM | REVIEW

 

With Black Adam, things don't exactly start out well. It all has a Scorpion King vibe, and not only because of Dwayne Johnson. The narration has an oddly heavy echo pattern. The grade is terrible. Regarding the story itself, its inflated feeling of self importance makes everything feel immediately constricting. The mythos is as absurd as the weirdly groundless setting. Middle Eastern location, maybe but not definitely on a different planet, and era that predates the construction of the pyramids. Not that the fashion would lead you to believe it. Eventually, a more exciting adventure will rise above the nonsense, but only in the sense that its forerunner accomplished such a brilliant achievement in shattering expectations.

Teth-Adam is Johnson. In the beginning, he is a Kahndaqi slave who is subsequently found to be Shazam's slave. He received superhuman talents from the same Council of Wizards that in 2019 transformed Asher Angel into Zachary Levi. Despite being previously tied to that movie, it was decided not to give Black Adam, Shazam's then antagonist, his own blockbuster when Johnson rejected Levi's superhero in favor of him. This makes sense. Johnson has a reputation for generating large crowds in a challenging time for multiplexes. His charismatic smile and megawatt charm have prevented many potential flops.

Here, not so much. Johnson's Teth-Adam is attractive but by default depressing. With this history, anyone would be. When Adam, a demigod who was formerly an oppressed slave, escapes from his three thousand year captivity, the world views him as a danger. He's an antihero who takes a harsh approach to eliminating miscreants. There is humor amid the terror, but it doesn't quite fit—think of Marvel's sardonic Drax the Destroyer. Although The Rock is a wide comedian, he is also friendly, bright, and unexpectedly wry. Johnson's delivery skills are lacking, which is sad because Dave Bautista makes it look simple. True, the storyline and writing are dreadfully inconsistent and never quite decide how self-aware and even Black Adam ought to be wise, but nonetheless.

Those more traditional heroes of the so-called Justice Society have been better characterized. They are the ones Viola Davies, who briefly played Amanda Waller in Suicide Squad, sent in. Never, ever mix them up with DC's other Justice squad. You might want to hang out with these people, the League. There's the masculine and deserving Hawkman played by Aldis Hodge, Cyclone played by Quintessa Swindell from In Treatment, and the silly but endearing Atom Smasher played by Noah Centineo. As the wise old statesman Doctor Fate, a sort of Cumberbatch meets Stewart hybrid with a cosplay-friendly mask, Pierce Brosnan directs the trio. Their goal is to defeat the mysterious Adam and, more subversively, to make things funnier and show that Marvel isn't the only superhero team out there that can drown out the chitchat.

Adam pursues justice no matter the cost, but the Society practices traditional altruism. Adrianna (Sarah Shahi) and Amon (Bodhi Sabongui) Tomaz, a mother and son from contemporary Kahndaqi with magnificently persuasive political voices, are bridging the gap. Commentary on self-determinism in colonial conflict zones adds an unexpected but welcome depth to this. Even more so as the fights that usually close out shows degenerate into. Black Adam can't be saved from its problems by progressive ideals, but Jungle Cruise director Jaume Collet-attempts Serra's go a decent way.

Collet-strange Serra's curiosity in making references to a wide range of cultural touch points is also weirdly winning. For instance, a plot point with Howard Carter influences allows the production design to embrace everything Indiana Jones. The Justice Society earlier received a present from the opening scene that somewhat haphazardly leaned into Thunderbirds territory. If the rest of the movie had shared in such unplanned hilarity, Black Adam might have found a more fascinating place to go.