A Super Promise That Falls Flat (Black Adam review)

Dwayne Johnson has endlessly been promising that Black Adam was going to change the hierarchy of the DECU and the proof is here. Bringing the Shazam villain to the big screen comes with a set of challenges, taking a book of Sony's cinematic plan to adapt all of Spider-Man's villains in order to present anti-hero stories that dabble in villainy but end up heroic by the end of the third act. Surprisingly, DC takes this route to introduce not only to introduce audiences to Teth Adam but a team of iconic characters that were sidelined. 

One can only fly to Black Adam's aid for the sake of Dwayne Johnson's way of handling this role. The film adapts the character scarcely from the comics in order to make it more permissible to vouch for not all but only one of Rock's signature styles of acting. The monotone, stoic deliveries of dialogue and the character's mannerisms worked, but only so far to not lean into any other characteristic. What bothered me the most is the lack of villainy in this role. Black Adam was introduced as a reckless, almost clueless mindless animal that had to be leashed that was undeserving of the role given to him only by reputation. It is also affected the character when he decided (or forced by the narrative) to be a hero to the nation of Khandaq, despite being a questionable one. 

Despite being a part of Shazam's world or at least considered a vital one, Black Adam only made one connection to the Zachary Levi-led heartwarming DCEU film that could hardly be pointed out. One can't say if this is because of Johnson's adamant interest in having a showdown with a certain Kryptonian or if he just wants to disregard that part of the franchise with no reasoning whatsoever but it almost feels like a betrayal to the audiences when characters born from the same thread are separated by Hollywood executives or by actor's ambition. 

What happens behind the scenes is not what makes this movie suffer so much. Black Adam steadies on as a semi-stable superhero adventure through a mythological lens in the first 15 minutes but grows more mediocre as more elements are added to the equation. The first catalyst is the Justice Society's involvement in this movie. There are no faults when it came to the performances of Aldis Hodge as Hawkman; Quintessa Swindell as Cyclone; Noah Centineo as Atom and Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate. The script completely gives these characters less than nothing to care for them even if they were vaguely compelling or adaptations fans have been dying to see since the inception of the DCEU but unfortunately they were utilized terribly. 

Another catalyst - and surprisingly - is the plotline that was supposed to humanize the supposed anti-hero. We are introduced to Sarah Shahi's Adrianna and her son, Amon played by Bodhi Sabongui, who are meant to be the point of view below the superhero-filled skies. Once again, the problem isn't the talent but rather the arc that is given to them. Lacking oomph or agency to their inclusion in the redemption of Khandaq nor the depth that writers thought Black Adam needed, I almost feel guilty about how much I wanted to go back to learn more about the Justice Society or even, Black Adam himself. 

But nothing annoyed me more than the final act. So many aspects that made every fight scene I found intriguing in this movie were somehow reused in the short amount of time that encompassed an overly rushed final battle. There was also the issue of throwing so many unresolved or unexplained parts of the DCEU, specifically parts of the Shazam world that needed time and exposition to learn, and fear of the stakes that came with it. To use it only to stir the pot and make a bombastic CGI sequence was the last straw.

It's hard to find what you enjoy in a movie that blurs the lines of character development and lacks room to breathe for a narrative to flow in order to make a point that one's misconception of a successful movie in this genre is to have poorly thought action scenes. Black Adam is filled with potential franchise builders, even if it were not canon to the wider DCEU. It may be easier to assume that the people that were behind the production were not true fans of the source material but with the amount of drama that has been going on at Warner Bros, that is far from the truth but rather proof that this movie was a victim of the crossfire. Even with a showstopping end-credit scene, Black Adam is sadly a superhero movie where I agree with its faults.