Alright! Today I'm reviewing the Shazam! spin-off Black Adam, which is the eleventh film in the DCEU and tells the story of a slave who became a god and wakes up after 5000 years of imprisonment. Now he's confused, angry, and finds himself as the appointed defender of his homeland of Kahndaq, defending it from the demon Sabbac and the Justice Society of America, who believe him to be a threat. Which he is.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Black Adam is the guy playing the title character, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. He's the biggest movie star in the world right now, one of the most likable and charismatic leads to ever graze the screen, marking the first time the actor has been a bigger deal than the comic book character since, like, what? Nicholas Cage as Ghost Rider back in '07? Anyways, the movie almost entirely hinges on his performance, which I had doubts about - after seeing so many fun blockbusters where he more or less plays the same jovial strongman, I was worried his performance would be that... but more scowly. It is, to some extent, but for the most part, he does a terrific job actually acting as the character - While it's impossible to not see the Rock at all, it's pretty easy to see Black Adam. It helps that his obvious love and passion for the character and DC are apparent in every single interview.
The amazing casting choices extend to the supporting characters, namely the Justice Society of America's members. Aldis Hodge is the perfect Hawkman, a by-the-books hero whose commitment to the no-kill rule proposes fun ethical dilemmas that are handled with a surprising amount of apt for a superhero movie starring the Rock. Noah Centineo and Quintessa Swindell as Atom Smasher and Cyclone, respectively, aren't given much to do in the script other than provide laughs and make action scenes look cool, but they do that in spades with palpable chemistry.
But my favorite character by a long shot was easily Pierce Brosnan's Doctor Fate. Going into Black Adam I knew he would emerge as my favorite character, but I never could have expected the sheer level of perfection that Brosnan brings to the role. The man is Doctor Fate. Every time he’s on screen it’s an absolutely pitch-perfect adaptation of one of DC’s coolest characters. The visuals, the costumes, and the booming voice are perfect. If you want to get nitpicky you could complain about the Topher Grace Venom effect wherein he removes his mask constantly, but even then it’s never irritating. The dude absolutely owned the role and I’m excited to see more of Fate, wherever and whenever he shows up next. I need his solo movie yesterday.
Something else I admire about the film is how brazenly it drops you into the larger world of DC. With little to no explanation of how they were formed, funded, or previously saved the world, the JSA is dropped into the narrative and we’re expected to roll with it. I honestly love that approach - with Marvel doing the heavy lifting by familiarizing the general audiences with giant men and sorcerer supremes, DC gets to trail behind and just have fun with it. There is no worry about breaking the suspension of disbelief, they just show up and start doing stuff, providing fantastic dramatic flair and visuals to make for some pretty engaging fight scenes. The gung-ho nature of it all makes it feel more like a weekly adventure than an origin story, which is appreciated when superhero origin stories are a dime a dozen.
Speaking of those fight scenes, Black Adam is chock full of them to the point where there might actually be too much action. All of it is bombastic and larger than life, but there are perhaps one too many Hawkman v Black Adam fight scenes that I would have rather seen as a philosophical debate with words. They’re all fun to watch and more often than not totally worth the ticket price, but there is a clear difference between the action set pieces that are plot-driven and those that are there for the sake of action.
And with that much action and superheroes and costumes and big-budget stars, one might begin to worry about the CGI in the film. 2022 has been a rough year for blockbuster CGI, but Black Adam continues the DC trend of having excellent graphics. Now, this does not mean the movie looks good - it just means the CGI doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb à la She-Hulk or Love and Thunder. Visually, Black Adam is the visual equivalent of orange, brown, tan, and gold being thrown in a blender, stirred into a smoothie, and then dumped onto a Rock action figure. It’s a far cry from The Batman’s intense framing and cinematography, looking more like a Bay-era Transformers movie that someone dropped in mud. You can see what’s going on, but it’s rather ugly. Additionally, the color grading in the first ten minutes is reminiscent of the “vivid cool” Twilight filter or a Snyder-era DC movie where it’s needlessly desaturated.
Speaking of the first ten minutes, the movie’s opening narration is an absolute slog to get through. Between the terrible voiceover, the visual gradient, and not starring any of the charismatic adult leads, the first ten minutes are placed on two child actors who are decidedly not up to the task. The last ten minutes are equally bland, devolving into a giant punchfest where an underdeveloped skinny dude gets a ridiculously buff CGI body and terrible artificial voice deepener to match so the movie can have a last-minute antagonist (A grand tradition in the DCEU). The pacing issues and unnecessary sloppiness of the beginning and end make the movie a sandwich of your least favorite superhero tropes and a cool episode of Justice League Unlimited.
Black Adam, already an interesting idea as a Dwayne Johnson vehicle + superhero spectacular, even more interestingly contains the strengths and weaknesses of both genres. The Venn diagram of both genres has overlapped to give us the pros of Johnson's charisma, cool costumes, genuine humor, big action, and just enough dumb fun to toe the line between dumb and fun. It's also sometimes too loud, contains a poorly conceived third-act CGI fight, the "that's actually your name? You gotta find a catchphrase" trope, and old songs over action scenes. Like, potentially cool character introduction? What better way to introduce the slave from 2600 BC than with the Rolling Stones' 1966 smash hit "Paint It Black?"
With that Venn diagram in mind, Black Adam is better than you would think for "Dwayne Johnson meets the superhero genre," but that doesn't mean it's good. It does mean it's not great, but that doesn't make it not good. It has the same vibe as Aquaman - yeah, it's dumb at times, but for the most part, the lead is so charismatic and there's so much action happening at every given moment that it's hard not to enjoy. Like, I'm not going to go out and actively rewatch it or claim it's one of the genre's best, but if someone in the same room as me puts it on I'm not leaving until it's over. It's a fun movie, and sometimes that's enough. There's so much movie going on - it's doing so much and it's doing much of it pretty well.
Part of what elevates Black Adam for me personally is the problematic philosophies behind the heroes fighting each other. In a surprisingly nuanced discussion, American heroes invade a third-world country to cause property damage and enforce a terrorist regime. It is only when the populace gets a local hero and revolts that they are able to finally able to save themselves. The idea isn't even done well, but the mere fact that they took the time to recognize "Wait, this looks really bad" is appreciated. In a time of overly apolitical movies (Top Gun: Maverick's "rogue state"), the mere fact it tried to have political subtext and recognized that fact is appreciated, which I think is Part V on my "applauding the superhero genre for being up to par with regular movies" (IV was the violence in Multiverse of Madness).
In the end, Black Adam is a movie tailored for a good time at the theater. Big action, fun characters, top-notch costumes, hilarious humor, the most bankable star in the world, and the most bankable genre in the world all blended together in a signature color palette of brown. There's not a chance you walk out feeling like you wasted your money or saw something completely offensive to every cinematic sensibility you have. It's dumb fun anchored by the ever-fantabulous Doctor Fate.
It has the flaws one would expect from superhero+Dwayne Johnson, but at the end of the day, it's very watchable. It hits more often than it misses, but the misses aren't even terrible misses - they're just generic tropes the movie would be stronger without. If you're not a fan of Johnson's work or DC, well, this isn't the movie for you. But if you like either of those things or entertainment in general, Black Adam should satisfy.
Overall, I give Black Adam a very strong 7/10. “Objective faults aside, Black Adam is a very fun, very cool, very action-heavy adventure designed to delight audiences and forever change the hierarchy of power.”
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Cool that he wants to fight Superman, but let's see how he handles Captain Marvel first. |
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