While Black Adam isn't a groundbreaking top-tier superhero film, it is an entertaining superhero movie that makes it up with the charm from star Dwayne Johnson as an anti-hero and guilty pleasures including non-stop action, irreverent humor and a high kill count.
Dwayne Johnson carves out his own superhero niche with his anti-hero, a concept which the film wholeheartedly commits to. People die in this movie. My mouth dropped at Black Adam's kill count. As the numbers increased, the movie set itself in a tonal sweet spot that Marvel won't go near and Sony hasn't quite achieved with its Spider-Man villain films. What Black Adam does is downright wrong, but it's entertaining as heck to watch it play out.
The current culture has become so comic book literate where the story can just introduce a superhero team, the Justice Society of America, without any introduction. You get to know this team in the midst of the action, wondering about their origin stories or how they got their powers. It works, despite being overly stuffed.
Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate is quite the scene-stealer, providing gravitas that grounds the conflict at hand and adds another level of seriousness. He's a fascinating character. I hope for a Doctor Fate solo movie with Pierce Brosnan.
Aldis Hodge's Hawkman is a great straight man to Dwayne's Black Adam. The heart of the movie comes from the moral argument between them. One character wholeheartedly believes in killing and the other is completely opposed to it. To quote the Dark Knight, this battle of wills is an unstoppable force meeting an unmovable object.
In essence, Hawkman sets up for Dwayne Johnson to be Black Adam. The character doesn't want to back one step from his principles and just doesn't give a rats. It's the best part of the film and often hilarious.
The villain was not memorable and was just a big baddie for The Rock to fight in the climax. That said, this villain is no worse than the standard Marvel villain in an origin story.
In conclusion, Black Adam is a fun movie for a one-time watch. I enjoyed it with my inner Simpsons Comic Book Guy turned off and had a good time.
I suspect I won't have the first time experience on a second watch. The seams would crack. I would see that the young JSA members were cast to appeal to the teen demographic and a boy was placed at the center of the story to appeal to children, and the fact that the same boy does a voice-over in the opening credits is odd. On a second watch, I would realize it was all a bit silly.
Dwayne Johnson claims Black Adam as the mark of a new era for DC. The film does feel like a rechristening of the DC universe in a soft reboot type way. Now, the plan seems to be moving away from the Walter Hamada era. It always seemed weird to me how Hamada diverted from Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman stories and just focused on side characters and Elseworld projects.
I am glad plans are being made to get the DCEU going again. Dwayne Johnson bringing back Henry Cavill's Superman back to the DCEU is a great marketing idea that will guarantee butts in seats, even though it's hard to picture Dwayne Johnson as a star and producer willingly losing the fight.
