Hawkman: In this world, there are heroes and there are villains. Heroes don’t kill people!
Teth-Adam: Well, I do.
Yeah, Mr. Adam doesn’t quite play by the rules per se. I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t know a whole lot about Black Adam prior to hearing about this film. The origin story is nicely explored in the movie and will give you his reasons for the why he is the way he is. So the movie has got that going for it, and I was pleased to understand this character a little better.
Hawkman: We’re here to negotiate your peaceful surrender.
Teth-Adam: I’m not peaceful. And I don’t surrender.
So Black Adam is not quite a hero, but not quite a villain, thus the label anti-hero. And as powerful as he is, your going to hope he is on your side. Again, forgive my ignorance for those of you that are comic book gurus, but simply put, he is a more seasoned Shazam-like superhuman who is not necessarily motivated to be a do-gooder. He is super strong, super fast, can fly, is practically indestructible, and, of course, can shoot lightning bolts from his hands. Now I’ll tell you the next and overall best thing this movie has going for it. I believe that Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson has found his spot in the comic book superhero genre of film. For years there had been a lot of chatter over if, when, and who the Rock would portray in the comic book world. The time is finally here and this is a really good fit for him. Dwayne gives us a powerful performance (pun intended) as Black Adam. He is serious, gritty, and believable. He literally takes over every scene he’s in.
As for the film itself, well no doubt we are treated to some eye popping action sequences. There are some really cool moments in the action where slow motion is used and it is effective as opposed to just gimmicky. A prerequisite of good action, especially in this genre, is good special effects and we definitely have that here too. The story being told is pretty interesting but the presentation of said story is not as sharp. And using that as a transition, let’s bring up some of the not-so-good aspects of the movie. If you suffer from comic book/superhero movie burn out, then yeah, this might not be for you. There is a bit of cookie cutter going on here along with some silliness and corniness, especially in the dialogue, that might turn off some viewers. I personally can’t get enough, even with all that. Why you ask, cause ultimately the movie is fun, and at some moments actually funny. There are some cool music selections that come out at appropriate moments, but it just didn’t seem to match. Does that make sense? The songs were appropriate for what was going on, but they didn’t match the setting or something, I don’t know, it just felt a little awkward. Unfortunately, there’s nothing particularly noteworthy about the other performances by the cast except for Bodhi Sabongui as Amon and Sarah Shahi as Adrianna. Also, some of the characters are dreadfully underdeveloped which is a shame because they seemed fascinating. I mean I understand that movies don’t have an unlimited amount of space and time to do all that, so at least they got the title character covered.
Again, even with all the negative, the movie is still very fun. Please, stop twisting my arm, okay I’ll do it, I’ll compare (something that I love to do, just ask Priscilla). Let’s keep the comparison in the DC universe shall we. In my opinion, and just to slip it in between a few of the DC selections, this film is just a step below Man of Steel, Wonder Woman, Batman vs. Superman, Justice League but I would put just above Aquaman and both Suicide Squad films.