Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, Black Adam takes place in the country of Kahndaq and follows the story of Teth Adam (Dwayne Johnson) who was bestowed with the almighty powers of the gods. But after using these powers for vengeance, he was imprisoned, becoming Black Adam. Nearly 5,000 years have passed and Black Adam has gone from man to myth, to legend. Now released, his unique form of justice, born out of rage, is challenged by modern-day heroes who form the Justice Society: Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), Dr. Fate (Pierce Brosnan), Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo) and Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell).
Black Adam has been Dwayne Johnson’s passion project for many years, having gone through many obstacles in order to make this film and his portrayal of the character a reality. But now it is finally here as part of the DCEU and I have been eagerly waiting to see it for a long time ever since it was announced. And I can happily say it was worth the long wait for me.
Black Adam was a heart-racing blast that didn’t hold back and lived up to what Dwayne Johnson promised. Awesome new characters with fantastic performances, a good story with epic action, surprising amounts of effective humor, jaw-dropping visuals, and much more. It’s a film that hits the ground running and doesn’t stop, making for a fun action popcorn flick that was made with passion on many fronts.
We get a lot of great performances in this film from a dedicated cast that obviously had so much fun playing these roles. There are some massive standouts, starting off with Dwayne Johnson himself as the titular character who he honestly plays to perfection. This was not a case of Dwayne Johnson playing a fictionalized version of himself but playing an actual character full of darkness, untamed rage, dangerous superpowers, and archaic views of justice. He fully embraces the role of Black Adam, showing that he really was meant to be this character, and he makes for a very investing anti-hero that you do feel sympathy for even when his actions are considered morally wrong and extremely destructive.
He is a truly powerful force that gains quite the body count from the very moment he enters the screen and lives up to the character’s brutal nature from comics and I fucking loved it. And while Dwayne Johnson does play the role in a serious manner for most of the film he does manage to deliver some very funny moments with the character at times that worked so well even when you think they wouldn’t on paper. Also, it goes without saying that his powers and costume are phenomenal in action. He truly was born to play this role.
The other massive standouts in this film that were also perfect castings were Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate and Aldis Hodge as Hawkman. These two were absolute powerhouses, both on their own and together in their performances.
Brosnan plays the role of Fate with such captivating elegance and wisdom that you can’t help but absolutely love his character every time he is on screen. He is a veteran that has great mystical power and visually mesmerizing abilities but it all comes at a cost. You could see both through his dialogue and expressions that he has seen a lot in his many years on Earth, and Brosnan is able to perfectly deliver that on an emotional level. And based on how they established his long life on Earth, just like in comics, I would honestly love to see them potentially explore this either in a film or spin-off series of his own.
Aldis Hodge delivers a truly intense performance as a strong-willed warrior full of unbreakable self-righteousness, making for one of the most unique and engaging heroes I’ve seen in the DCEU so far. He also really makes for a fantastic rival for Black Adam in the film with their opposing morals that felt far more investing than whatever Batman and Superman had going on between them in BvS. And to add to that, he looks absolutely magnificent in his costume, both in its practical and CGI form, making for one of the coolest winged heroes I’ve seen on the big screen. And just like with Doctor Fate, he is also a character I wouldn’t mind seeing in his own film or series, especially given his special comic history.
As for the other two JSA members, Cyclone and Atom Smasher, they too are great additions to the film, given great performances from their respective cast members and having very cool powers that we get to see in action. Quintessa Swindell gives beauty, grace, and vibrant energy as Cyclone both in their performance and in action. The way Cyclone’s powers of air manipulation are adapted on screen is visually beautiful and done in a way that fits the character’s personality.
Noah Centineo plays the major greenhorn of the group who wants to prove himself as an asset to the team though hasn’t exactly nailed down being a good superhero yet, much to the dismay of his allies. He definitely was the comedic one of the group that I enjoyed and I honestly liked how animated his mask was, similar to Deadpool. Overall, I really loved the introduction of the JSA and I’d honestly like to see more of them in the future just as many others do.
Outside the metahumans we get some good supporting characters and performances like Sarah Shahi as Adrianna Tomaz, Mohammed Amer as Karim, and Bodhi Sabongui as Amon.
As for the villains of the film, we get the mercenary group Intergang led by Ishmael Gregor (Marwan Kenzari) who becomes Sabacc, the champion of demons. As far as DCEU villains go he isn’t that layered or deep of a villain but is a suitable opponent for this film and is given a great performance by Marwan Kenzari, who feels more menacing here than he did in his previous villainous role as Jafar in the remake for Aladdin. The character takes a more sinister turn when he becomes Sabacc, having a truly hellish yet awesome design like his comic counterpart, and proves to be a challenging foe to defeat that sets the stakes and forces the heroes to make desperate decisions.
And of course, we do have the brief appearance of Viola Davis’s Amanda Waller who is perfect as always.
The story is pretty straightforward and doesn’t necessarily reinvent the wheel in terms of comic book films, yet it feels massive in scale, providing adrenaline-fueled entertainment and abundant with investing development for the DCEU in terms of introducing new characters, having some underlying themes and world-building that makes you want more. Black Adam shares a lot of parallels with Shazam in its story, making this a very interesting antithesis to that film as well as sharing some common themes and lore. This film has a darker tone but it’s not afraid to have some fun with its characters and the scenarios it presents.
In some ways the film has a 90s feel to it, matching the same kind of fun energy of films like Blade 1 & 2, especially in regards to the action, intensity, and even humor that surprisingly works. Yes, there are even some quippy one-liners that come up that some could consider cheesy, but I honestly found them hilarious because of the delivery.
The film keeps you on edge with a lot of exciting sequences one after the other and does manage to have a lot of impactful scenes that keep you engaged and never bored. Understandably the pacing may throw off some people who may prefer more slower moments and further development for some characters, but I feel the film gives enough to get you invested and wanting more of these characters and expansions to the universe in the future.
Admittedly, I do wish the first act was a bit longer as it does contain an exposition of Kahndaq that needed more time to breathe. That being said I do like the way Kahndaq was adapted in this film, highlighting its dark history as well as its political situations that reflect real-life events like the Arab Spring.
Now about the action. Holy shit is it incredible. Even with a PG-13 rating this film goes to some really brutal places and offers massive spectacles that are done extremely effectively and have your heart pumping continuously. It doesn’t feel held back in the slightest and it goes for a visually pleasing style that one could say is similar to Zack Snyder’s work in his DCEU films, but here it felt more energetic and ruthless. The effects, visuals, and cinematography of this film are absolutely beautiful. A lot of care was definitely given to all the technical aspects of the film as it feels like everything oozes with rich life and adds to the electrifying energy this film has as well as continues to make it feel larger than life.
Another one of my absolute favorite things in this film is Lorne Balfe’s masterful score. There are so many memorable tracks and themes present that truly enhanced the pure epicness and glory of this film in many scenes and it really stands out among other DCEU scores. Easily my favorite has to be Black Adam’s main theme that feels full of savage rage and merciless brutality. A fitting theme for the character and a top contender for my list of favorite film themes this year.
Black Adam has things I could nitpick here and there but it really satisfied me overall in a lot of ways that I wasn’t expecting, and it gave me such a grand time that I’d love to see it again multiple times. Dwayne Johnson succeeded in delivering his passion project, but more than that he paved a potentially bright future for the DCEU going forward. He has done so by not only introducing new characters and expansions to the universe but also with what he made happen in the mid-credit scene. I can’t tell you how much it affected me emotionally and made me feel so much excitement for the DCEU that has been currently lacking as of late. A very large setup has been put in place that makes me eager to see what future lies ahead for the character as well as the conflicts he may have with other individuals in this universe. I highly suggest you go see this film on the biggest screen you can find because you will probably have a hell of a ride like I did. I’m going to give Black Adam an A = 97.
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