Review of 'Black Adam'

In the ancient city of Kahndaq a ruthless dictator forces his people to mine for “Eternium” so he can create for himself a magical crown. A young boy is given the power of Shazam, becoming invincible as “Teth-Adam” (Dwayne Johnson) and kills the dictator. In the present day, when archaeologist Adrianna Tomaz (Sarah Shahi) discovers the Crown of Sabbac they are ambushed by a Intergang, a ruthless band of killers. Adrianna reads an incantation that awakens Adam from his slumber at which point he promptly kills loads of people. Carter Hall / Hawkman (Aldis Hodge) is contacted by a government official about the incident. Hawkman gathers his fellow members of the Justice Society of America, consisting of world-weary Kent Nelson as Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan), Maxine Hunkel as Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell), and Albert “Al” Rothstein as the heavy Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo), to stop Adam. Adrianna's son Amon (Bodhi Sabongui) sees Adam as Khandaq's hero but Adam denies this fending off the JSA. Amon forms an attachment to Adam who slowly comes to realize he will need the JSA to defeat the Intergang and, yes, save the world.

An interesting, action heavy, superhero film featuring a somewhat ambiguous, invincible, anti-hero and ruthless killing machine played by the Rock. The film looks great with amazing action sequences but the somewhat confusing story lets it down somewhat though there are a couple of plot twists at the end…that don't really make too much of a difference. There are attempts at humour but they are incredibly dark and fall a bit flat.

The Rock is, well, the Rock, playing true to form as the heavy of heavies, brutally killing anyone in his path. PG this is not. Adam's glacial character arc never entirely convinces and never really feels terribly, well, human but rather a killer automaton. The supporting cast are OK with a surprise turn from Pierce Brosnan as Dr Fate providing a touch of reason to proceedings though with an equally inexplicable character arc…it would help if we actually knew who these characters are though perhaps the filmmaker's expect this to be watched by fanboys?

An entertaining if somewhat exhausting and often brutal super-hero film.

Rating: “It is OK but I have some issues”

Review Date: 2023-04-02

Directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra

Studio: Warner Bros.

Year: 2022

Length: 125 minutes

Genre: Action/Adventure

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6443346/

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