Directed By Jaume Collet-Serra

Starring – Dwayne Johnson, Viola Davis, Sarah Shahi

The Plot – Nearly 5,000 years after he was bestowed with the almighty powers of the Egyptian gods-and imprisoned just as quickly Black Adam (Johnson) is freed from his earthly tomb, ready to unleash his unique form of justice on the modern world.

Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, intense action and some adult language.

Black Adam – Official Trailer 2 – YouTube

POSITIVES

“Black Adam” certainly won’t reinvent the wheel for superhero films, nor will it restore the D.E.C.U to the kind of prominence we’re all rooting for, but it does manage to elicit a few benefits in capable framing devices that better films have stumbled upon attempting. For starters, Adam himself does feel like an actual conflicted anti-hero, and not just a hero with an occasional edginess to him. Though he does only kill badly intentioned people, it’s nice to see a carelessness to the consequences that he continuously dishes out, and when illustrated under the spell of a dark humor kind of tonal capacity, helps to conjure more than a few hearty gags to play into the film’s psychological balance. On that aspect too, this feels like the most self-aware film of the entire D.E.C.U, with maybe “Shazam” being the lone exception. I stake this claim because not only does Collet-Serra’s direction bring back the wonder and excitement of the genre, with exhilarating sequences and expanding lore, but he does it in ways that values the occasional upbeat humor in levity that actually garners with it effectively and naturally conjured laughs at its disposal. Most importantly, the gags never convolute nor corrupt the depths of the film’s dramatic intensity, instead reserving itself for the moments when their influence can attain a merit of hope to the proceedings to dissolve some but not all of the dramatic tension engrossed in the torturous past of the titular protagonist. As for expected returns, the action is rivetingly shot and full of impact from an intricate sound design and top tier special effects, and the fantastic musical score here from the great Lorne Balfe plays into the character study at the forefront of the film’s narrative, with dark and foreboding tones present initially, but then giving way to a more triumphant and ambitious capacity with the thunderous roar of his orchestral achievements. However, all of these aspects would be for naught if the performances weren’t dependable, and such a responsibility falls on the broad shoulders of the most physically imposing figure to ever don a superhero moniker. Simply put, Johnson was born to play this role, whether in the imposing aspect of his physique never requiring padding in the suit, or the gritty and unforgiving consistency of his portrayal commanding a captivating assertiveness to those he comes into contact with. Like the movie, Johnson doesn’t reinvent his capabilities, but he does solidify why he may be the last of the big-name action superstars, with a role that attains merit in feeling like one of those rare generational offerings where you couldn’t even imagine anyone else portraying Adam. In addition to Dwayne, Aldis Hodge and Pierce Brosnan are equally remarkable in their respective monikers, with Brosnan conveying an aspect of class and sophistication to balance his sardonic sarcasm, and Hodge supplanting a much needed degree of heart and resiliency to the engagement that did what Johnson couldn’t by the design limitations of his character, and one that has me yearning for a future film from him and the rest of the Justice Society, if just for the family forming dynamic that made “Shazam” my very favorite of the D.E.C.U films thus far.

NEGATIVES

For a film that has sat on the shelf in development hell for fifteen years, it’s strange and even a bit sad that this script couldn’t have found ways to elude the many formulaic instances and familiarities that immediately and unfortunately diminished its possible growth. For starters, the film is full of compromising tropes in scenes and sequences that not only feel stale for the fact that they’re from an era and age when “Black Adam” was first greenlit and good superhero films were few and far between, but also downright ugly for how they don’t win any creativity points from many Marvel personalities they shamelessly rip off. Before I begin on this, I am well aware that some of these D.C characters existed well before Marvel’s, but we’re talking about a cinematic universe here, and in that regard the similarities can be spotted in appearance alone. Hodge’s Hawkman virtually mimics The Falcon in appearance and capabilities, Brosnan’s Doctor Fate is Doctor Strange, right down to his capabilities in cloning, and Atom Smasher looks like Deadpool, but emotes and transforms exactly like Ant-Man. As for the script itself, there is some respect at the film continuously imbedding a few twists to reward a patient audience throughout a two-hour run time, but their predictability is easily telegraphed in strange creative actions that, intentional or not, convey something deeper to scenes that should otherwise feel simplistic. Then there’s the dialogue that is overstuffed with backstory and exposition feeling like it crams in five films of information to a single property. This constantly strained my investment and made the conversations and corresponding themes of the film feel so forced and heavy-handed. Finally, I could’ve done without a villain for this film, as I feel the war of words and actions between Black Adam and the Justice Society was more than capable in keeping my attention, with both sides learning lots about each other through the exercises in war. The script even echoes the unnecessary remorse of this desire, as it not only deposits very little time to fleshing out this antagonist, but only brings him back during the final twenty minutes of the film, where it feels far too late by then to feel effective. What doubles down on this sentiment even further is the fact that once again D.C constructs an ugly computer-generated antagonist threatening Armageddon and bringing a barrage of explosions and devastation in making him feel even half of a threat to Adam. He doesn’t, and the climactic final battle underwhelms with the kind of aforementioned predictability that not only prescribed zero relevance to the antagonist, but also wipes away humanity in the balance by imprisoning him in this hollow hodgepodge of C.G constructs that never even attempt to tap into any kind of momentary vulnerability to enhance the dramatic tension.

OVERALL
“Black Adam” isn’t quite the lightning in a bottle needed to rescue a studio on life support, but it is the kind of fun and hopeful adventure thriller that D.C should’ve embraced a lot sooner. Led by a spectacularly soaring turn from Johnson at the helm, as well as some exceptional special effects, the film is saved from the depths of despair, all the while possibly laying the groundwork for a future Justice Society film that I’m just dying to see.

My Grade: 6/10 or C+
Shout out to Johnny Todd for accurately predicting my grade. Thank you for reading.