In development for nearly as long as its titular character lay dormant, Black Adam has finally been unleashed on the world, for good or for ill. Dwayne Johnson plays Teth-Adam, a man from the ancient civilization of Kahndaq who is bestowed the powers of the very gods themselves by the mystical wizard Shazam and his magical cohorts who reside at the Rock of Eternity. Using these newfound powers, Adam becomes the champion of the enslaved people of Kahndaq and sets them free from their oppressive ruler in a climactic battle for the ages that foils the ruler’s evil plan to harness the power of untold horrors via a legendary malevolent crown known as the Crown of Sabbac. Both the crown and Adam go missing in the aftermath of this fight. At least that’s how the story of Teth-Adam’s myth goes.
Modern Kahndaq, unfortunately, has seen its people return to subjugation under the eyes of the Intergang, an international criminal organization partaking in some modern day colonialism in the country. It is in this situation that university professor turned freedom fighter Adrianna, her brother Karim, and a pair of their close allies go into the desert in search for the Crown of Sabbac and Teth-Adam’s tomb. Intergang forces catch onto Adrianna’s group trying to pull off their best Indiana Jones impersonation and intercept them shortly after Adrianna manages to obtain the crown. The crown is conveniently in the same area as Teth-Adam’s final resting place, and in an act of desperation Adrianna recites the incantation carved on the cover of the tomb, unleashing Adam and all of his godly might on the Intergang soldiers.
The awakening of Teth-Adam ends up drawing even more outside attention to Kahndaq as the superhero team the Justice Society of America, under orders from Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller, sends a small task comprised of Aldis Hodge’s Hawkman, Pierce Brosnan’s Doctor Fate, Noah Centineo’s Atom Smasher, and Quintessa Swindell’s Cyclone into the beleaguered country to subdue Teth-Adam. Unlike the story of a beloved champion repeated within Kahndaq, the Justice Society has intel related to the real story of Adam, and are acting under the guise of preemptive global protection.
With a premise like that; one that tackles how perspective can affect how events and people are viewed, there was real potential for Black Adam to deliver some powerful messages. Unfortunately, the film’s multiman writing team doesn’t seem to be up to the task, whether due to too many cooks in the kitchen or meddling from those with more power than them. The resulting film is rather middling and by the numbers narratively speaking.
Black Adam is also a weird film in that while Teth-Adam is unquestionably the film’s main character, the film at times doesn’t feel like it is about him, and outside of a handful of flashback scenes isn’t even from his point of view. The film also overstays its welcome just a bit by tagging on a big smash fest finale after what seemed like a good stopping point.
It is of course expected of the genre now that a superhero film needs to end on a big action scene, and that is good or even bearable in films with stellar or even just serviceable action scenes. Sadly Black Adam’s fight scenes just left me wanting more. Don’t get me wrong, on paper the idea of seeing Dwayne Johnson just going on a whole hog tear through nameless mooks is a concept I would very much like to see, but it is also a concept that one can easily overindulge in as well.
Similarly, I actually went into the film looking forward to seeing Black Adam take on the Justice Society of America, particularly because I am a fan of both Hawkman and Doctor Fate. The prospect of Doctor Fate being properly let loose on the big screen in and of itself basically sold me on seeing this in a cinema. But these fights end up also having a similar rinse and repeat feel to them.
The monotony of the action scenes could have been something I could brush aside if the acting made up for it. And for me personally, it just did not. Outside of Pierce Brosnan, who now in hindsight decided to put on an acting clinic when he really did not need to do such a thing, the acting in the film as at best “inoffensive”. Dwayne Johnson in particular puts in a rather muted performance compared to what people expect. The character of Teth-Adam is the kind of “anti-hero” who is basically an absolute dick to anyone who isn’t an explicit ally of his.
I was genuinely hoping for something more from Johnson with his portrayal here as under his wrestling persona The Rock he has excelled at being the exact kind of personality needed for Teth-Adam. Instead he turns in a more serious effort that he just quite honestly doesn’t have the acting skills needed to make shine. I’ve gotten this far without mentioning Bodhi Sabongui’s Amon, Adrianna’s son, and for good reason. Amon, while not a bad character, is at times rather annoying, and at other times functionally a living plot device to move the story along.
Visually the film is suffice to say a mixed bag as well. On one hand you have some really great effects utilized with Doctor Fate, and some, but not all, of the effects used when Adam uses his powers are, pardon the pun, electrifying. But then you get into some of the weirder visual choices. Multiple action scenes have some very questionably chosen slowed down or freeze frame shots. This for whatever reason regularly happens when Cyclone uses her powers, but it applies to nearly everyone.
I have also noticed that there has been some peculiar choices made in framing Dwayne Johnson’s face in many shots. I have already seen one of these shots spreading like wildfire online as a meme. And of course, there are just some downright bad CGI shots in this film. It isn’t often, but when they happen they are impossible to ignore.
In the end Black Adam isn’t an outright bad film. There is clearly some potential at the heart of the film, and I genuinely think the film is worth at least one watch just for Doctor Fate alone. This film will undoubtedly have its fans, but for me it is ultimately more bland than anything else and among one of the weaker superhero outings of this year.