Have You Been Watching...? Black Adam (2022)

 

I love a good superhero movie. While Marvel enjoys a huge following and appreciation, Detective Comics movies seem to struggle with popularity. That being said, I adore Man of Steel, Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman and Shazam. Now, this new entry, “Black Adam” was one I’d not heard of before, but gathered enough that it is set in the same storyline as “Shazam!” Would this movie, led by Dwayne Johnson, be a hit or a miss? I settled down to find out. However hard I thought about this, it’s going to be hard to discuss my thoughts without talking about plot. So, beware: SPOILERS AHEAD!

SO our story begins in Kahndaq, an Middle Eastern country under the control of a criminal group (Intergang!). A group of rebels attempt to find an ancient crown (Crown of Sabbac), forged by a magical metal that can be used to unite the people and rise up against the tyranny. The crown belongs to a mythical legend who freed the people of the land once before from evil king Ahk-Ton, and is an iconic hero. Plot happens, and the hero is resurrected in the form of Black Adam. Now, Black Adam is not the hero everyone hoped he would be and in an attempt to reign in the problem of an all-powerful god like entity, imbued with the power of the Gods from Shazam!, who can be called in to save the people and stop a reckless god? No, not Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Cyborg or Batman AKA The Justice League. We get a knock-ff version of the X-Men, complete with Jet. Now, DC fans, please don’t go mad with this – I don’t know who any of them are and have approached this movie as a cinemagoer, not a fan. This group consist of previously unheard ofs “Dr Fate” (Pierce Brosnan), a “kind of” Dr Strange. “Atom Smasher” (Noah Sentineo) a wise-cracking kid who can grow to a huge size similar to……Antman, “Cyclone” (Quintessa Swindell) who can control the weather (well, wind) kind of similar to Storm, and “Hawkman” (Aldis Hodge), a winged flying superfighter, the only one I can’t think of with a Marvel alternative. Supporting our Anti-Hero Adam, is freedom fighting archaeologist Adrianna (who accidentally unleashes Black Adam) and her son Amon, played respectively by Sarah Shahi and Bodhi Sabongui. Plot turns out that Black Adam is not the hero everyone thought he was, but is in fact “Teth-Adam”, the father of the original “Adam” who was imbued by his son’s powers when he was killed and went on a murderous rampage. It is Amon that gives him his new name Black Adam. Movie eventually crawls to an end after a set-piece featuring actual zombies, but stay for the credits as a JL member makes a cameo.

This is a long movie and sadly, not a very good one. Not one of the characters is sympathetic or endearing, coming across as a long list of cliches and stereotypes. Johnson is his maudlin best as Adam, but for some reason, despite being imprisoned for thousands of years, adapts remarkably well to 21^st century life and pop culture, even taking on a catchphrase from Amon. Brosnan is his usual charming best as Dr Fate, but the character is so two dimensional he is nothing more than a cartoon, and I can’t imagine what went through his mind when he read the script (he may have signed up before reading it). Another downside is the over-reliance on computer generated imagery. There’s far too much (not just in this move, but superhero movies in general these days).

It's not ALL bad, though. Saboguni is a great little actor and brings an innocence and charm to Amon, while Sentineo plays Atom Smasher with the awkwardness of an adolescent. While great fun, it’s hard to believe he would ever be dispatched to reign in Black Adam. When one of the main characters is killed off, I felt nothing whatsoever as I hadn’t (as a viewer) been given enough about them to care. The movie also raises a VERY important question, that is mentioned in the film: In a world where they have all these superheroes, why do none of them come over to help the citizens of Kahndaq? The answer is fully addressed in the film and leaves a very bitter taste. I can’t help but agree with the question. Why aren’t they being saved? Who can answer this? At the time of writing, “Shazam – Fury of the Gods” has yet to be released so I don’t know if this is a set-up for that movie or not.

I hate being negative about movies and shows, because a lot of people work really hard on projects like this. However, Black Adam is a terrible movie. There is far too much CGI and exposition, characters are woefully under-developed and plot points are so easy to spot coming that there is nothing in the way of surprises for the viewer. DC fans may enjoy it and get all the references, but after a run of quite enjoyable DC movies, this feels like the first major mis-fire for them.

Year: 2022

Availability – cinema, at the time of writing not available commercially.

HYBW rating – 2/10