After fifteen years of lobbying for a Black Adam film, Dwayne Johnson finally dons the black and gold uniform. Johnson leads a cast of talented actors playing heroes and villains relatively unknown to those who don’t follow comics. With DC films seemingly in a tailspin from controversy and decisions made after the WarnerMedia, Discovery+ acquisition, can Black Adam right the ship?
What’s it about?
The land of Kahndaq is ancient, with its civilization preceding that of Egypt. Five thousand years ago, a cruel dictator obsessed with black magic and demon worship ruled the land. He forced his citizens to search for a rare metal needed to create a crown that would bestow him with the demonic powers of hell.
Teth Adam’s (Dwayne Johnson) son stands up to the dictator but pays the price. Teth gains the powers of Shazam (remember that movie, right?) and faces off against the evil dictator. He defeats him, but at a significant cost to Khandaq.
Fast forward five thousand years, and Khandaq still suffers under oppressive rule. This time by an organization called Intergang. The oppressors are searching for the demonic crown of Kahndaq legend. Professor and archaeologist Adrianna Tomaz (Sarah Shahi) discovers the tomb where the crown resides and takes it for safekeeping. Unfortunately, Intergang is tipped off about Adrianna’s finding and follows her and her crew to the tomb. Adrianna unknowingly wakes the resting Seth Adam, who takes out the Intergang members.
Amon (Bodhi Sabongui), Adrianna’s son, tries to convince Adam to become Kahndaq’s superhero and liberate the country from Intergang. However, Adam is no hero, at least not in the traditional sense. He has no qualms about ruthlessly killing those who dare attack him.
His actions draw the attention of the Justice Society of America (JSA), a superhero team that includes Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan), Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo, and Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell). They are sent in by special agent Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) to take Black Adam into custody. Can Black Adam defeat Intergang, who is still seeking the ancient crown, while fighting the JSA?
My Reaction
Black Adam is a traditional, slightly throwback superhero film. It has your natural sidekick, comic relief character, supernatural MacGuffin, and forgettable villain. It feels somewhat dated in a world with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and The Batman, as its conventions mirror those of superhero films a decade prior. But that’s ok, as this type of film sends audiences home happy.
It also helps that Dwayne Johnson is one of the few action heroes of today, and he approaches the film as such. He plays the role of a brooding badass, a man of few words, and comfortable with his morals, regardless of how the world has changed around him. This almost robotic fish out of water reminds me of Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2: Judgement Day and Kurt Russell in Soldier. But as the film progresses, it is easy to connect Black Adam with Clint Eastwood’s iconic antihero, Man with No Name. (It also helps to see the connection since Black Adam is full of not-so-subtle references to Eastwood’s spaghetti westerns).
You’ll never hear me complain about action icons Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, or Jackie Chan never disappearing into their roles either.
Because of the hero’s persona, Black Adam is one of the least Dwayne Johnson-like films of recent memory. There are no charismatic smiles or banter that you are used to in his roles. Still, it is hard not to see Dwayne Johnson as nothing but Dwayne Johnson in these films. He is too distinct and massive of a man to disappear into a role. I’m ok with that. You’ll never hear me complain about action icons Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, or Jackie Chan never disappearing into their roles either. That’s not why I go to see their films in the first place.
The rest of the cast is relatively good. Pierce Brosnan especially brings a level of gravitas to Doctor Fate. Sarah Shahi is sometimes forced to deliver some corny dialogue, but she is at least convincing. Even child actor Bodhi Sabongui offers something here, reminding me of John Connor from Terminator 2: Judgement Day, only 75% less annoying.
Noah Centineo and Quintessa Swindell aren’t given enough to do in the film. I almost wish the JSA got a movie before Black Adam to flesh out those characters.
Aldis Hodge is also a great Hawkman and leader of the group. Albeit his character’s conflict with Johnson’s Black Adam over the fact that “heroes don’t kill” is a bit silly, as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman put plenty of people in the ground in the other DCEU movies. Maybe Hawkman’s definition of hero actually signifies a reset at DC, after all. Otherwise, JSA’s next target must be the Justice League after the Man of Steel and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice murder sprees.
Is it possible to have too much action? Don’t get me wrong, the action sequences and special effects are pretty enjoyable, even with the final villain looking rather cartoonish. But it almost seems that the action is packed to hide the fact that there isn’t enough plot otherwise. Or maybe there is less plot as a means of protecting the persona of Johnson’s character. After all, it wasn’t like The Man with No Name films paused to give Eastwood a chance for deep reflection in his westerns. I could have taken ten minutes of action away to give Swindell’s Cyclone and Centineo’s Atom Smasher a decent backstory. But this is a Black Adam movie, not a JSA origin.
The only genuine surprise of the project was its handling of geopolitics. How normal humans in these worlds feel about their superheroes has been discussed in film and television for the past decade, particularly Captain America: Civil War, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Yet, Black Adam goes one step further and uses the JSA as a proxy for western interventionalist policies. Surprisingly heavy commentary for a relatively simple film.
Overall Rating
Black Adam is a success… depending on your expectations of the film. I wasn’t expecting an Aaron Sorkin-esque script or a convoluted plot that engages in the minutiae of comic book lore. Did I really want Dwayne Johnson to attempt a Middle Eastern accent? Absolutely not. All I expected from Black Adam was some comic book shenanigans and The Rock punching things.
Sure, critics may complain about how safe the storytelling is, or superfans will nitpick the liberties Black Adams takes with its characters. This is fine; superhero films are no longer covered in Teflon as they once were. But there is much more good than bad here, especially if you want to stuff your face with popcorn and watch things go boom. Almost every Dwayne Johnson film is approachable in this way, which is why he continues to dominate the box office, despite his detractors.
