Sha-mazingly average.
In the ancient city of Kahndaq resides Teth-Adam is bestowed with the power of Shazam to lead his people to revolt against the rule of King Ahn-Kot. After spending nearly five thousand years entombed, Adam is unleashed int modern-day Kahndaq by an archaeologist, Adrianna Tomaz, who is on the hunt for the Crown of Sabbac, which is said to give its bearer great power. Almost immediately, Adam’s fiery rage gets the better of him, and his actions attract the attention of the Justice Society of America, led by Dr. Fate. When a dark force gets hold of the Crown of Sabbac, the society vows to take Adam under their wing and teach him the virtues of being a hero to get him to use his powers to save the people of modern-day Kahndaq.
Following what seemed like an assembly line of content from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the DCEU has thrown its cape into the ring with their adaptation Black Adam, which Dwayne Johnson has reportedly spent 15 years trying to get made. One thing that can be said is that said passion can be seen through his lead performance as Teth-Adam (or Black Adam, as he will later be called.). While Johnson won’t be able to achieve the chameleon aspect as some other actors have, he has proven many times to be a capable actor, and he does perfectly fine here as well. One can tell from Johnson’s performance how much research, analysis, and understanding he had taken in preparation. As for everything else in the film, one must wonder where those 15 years of work have gone into.
Black Adam has everything modern day commercial superhero films have, including over-the-top CGI battles, complicated backstories, a bombastic soundtrack, and the promise for more films in the near future. What Black Adam does not have, however, is the ability to stand out amongst the others. It feels like the ingredients for a great and unique superhero movie are here, but not much is done to give it a long lasting impression. One could argue that the overwhelming catalog of superhero movies is a contributing factor to this, but even familiar material can still stand out given the right direction.
The film is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, who had previously collaborated with Johnson on Disney’s Jungle Cruise. He is not a bad director, as he made several decent action movies with Liam Neeson, but this more or less is the problem at heart. A great director like James Gunn can take a comic book character, and use his style to make the character engaging while staying true to its roots. Jaume Collet-Serra, on the other hand, seems to let this movie run on auto-pilot and not make any significant changes to the blandly written script. Even with a such a diverse cast, including the likes of Sarah Shahi, Marwan Kenzari, and Bodhi Sabongui to name a few, there is not enough material to provide the unique and world-changing superhero film one might expect.
Much of what happens in the movie feels like they are there to fill out checkboxes of what a film like this needs. For example, there is an action scene early in the film that is accompanied by the Rolling Stones’ “Paint it Black,” and it would have felt fresh had this not been done already in Westworld. There are also some scenes of fish-out-of-water comic relief involving Adam and Amon, Adrianna’s son, that feel slightly contrived, despite the actors’ charisma. Even the Justice Society of America feels like the filmmakers are trying to force a Justice League-style team into the story to get more dynamics going. While it may be accurate to the comics this film is based on, the connections between these characters feel either forced or undercooked.
Despite not being a standout film, it would be dishonest to say that Black Adam does not have its moments. While their performances are not groundbreaking, the actors all do a fine job with their roles. The action scenes, while synthetic and derivative, are still fun to watch, and seeing Adam use his powers is a visual treat. In addition, the grey area of superheroes is explored briefly when Adrianna Tomaz calls out the Justice Society of America for not liberating Kahndaq when they were under foreign rule. Granted, it is brief, but just where one might feel Marvel will end the conversation, this film will spend at least one more minute to let all of the characters get their words out. Even DC’s inclusive casting feels less transparent more nuanced than what Marvel is currently doing with their lineup of new superheroes. In a sense, where DC succeeds is more or less where Marvel has been lacking as of lately.
There will certainly be moments for fans of the character to cheer from their seats, but as much as it wants to be groundbreaking, all it can really do is distract from real life for two hours. Not much else can be said about Black Adam, not in regards to spoilers, but because there is unfortunately not much else to discuss. It may not be the worst film in the DCEU, but if Warner Bros. wants to take the mantel from Marvel Studios, they need to start hiring directors who can make familiar material fresh again. The ingredients for a great comic book movie are certainly here, but the cake needed a bit more time in the oven (hopefully not another 15 years) before it could be eaten.
