Black Adam Review
After his endless spruiking, one could be forgiven for thinking that Dwayne Johnson’s passion project of the last 15 years would strive to bring something new to the table. And, while entertaining at times, Black Adam serves up little to distinguish itself in the superhero-saturated media market.
A bloated expositional introduction to the land of ancient Kahndaq, ruled by a tyrannical king intent on forging the Crown of Sabbaq - a demonic crown that gives the wearer ultimate power. In the midst of a slave uprising, a boy is granted the power of Shazam, and transformed into the demigod Teth Adam (Dwayne Johnson). After the King is vanquished, Teth Adam is entombed and the Crown is lost. 5000 years later, mercenary group Intergang are the new de facto power in Kahndaq and narrowing in on the Crown’s location with only Professor Adrianna Tomaz (Sarah Shahi) standing in their way. As Teth Adam rises to defend his homeland once more, he finds his violent brand of justice at odds with the globalist, bureaucratic powers of the modern world.
The DC universe has been plagued by a flip-flopping creative direction, with the tone of entries varying from dark and brooding, to the hyperviolent comedy, to the goofy family-friendly blockbuster that was Shazam. In this sense, it appears director Jaume Collet-Serra envisioned Black Adam to bridge these worlds into something more universal. In doing so, Black Adam fails to stand out in any category. Instead of unique action that harnesses the near-limitless extent of Black Adam’s power, we have slow-mo riddled sequences that will leave you questioning how this movie wasn’t directed by Zack Synder. The dusty and dreary environments provide little visual inspiration. The scale of the conflict (which should be substantial given the powers at play) rarely make us feel as though there is much at stake, whether that be for our lead characters or the people of Kahndaq.
And yet, underneath this generic exterior, there is an interesting commentary about Western ideals of “justice” seem to be unequally distributed across the globe. These elements shine with the introduction of the Justice Society and are carried by strong performances from Aldis Hodge as Hawkman and Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate (yes, these are real, unironic superhero names that are definitely in no way derivative of other superheroes from another franchise…). Yet even here we are let down by a performance from Johnson that can only be described as bland. This is rare to say for Johnson, who normally exudes charisma in spite of the quality of his role. In what must be an attempt to emulate the deadpan fish-out-of-water humour that was so successful for a character like Drax the Destroyer of Guardians of the Galaxy fame, Johnson robs Black Adam of not only personality but also convincing motive. Given his enthusiasm for giving this origin story its own feature film, we are not sold on the rage that supposedly drives his disregard for life and elevated him to the revered antihero status of his comic book counterpart.
