Movie Review: 'Black Adam' is Fine Forgettable, Passable, Meh
I don't dislike Black Adam, I just don't care and the movie didn't make me care.
Black Adam (2022)
Directed by Jaume Collet Serra
Written by Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani
Starring Dwayne The Rock Johnson, Pierce Brosnan, Aldis Hodge, Sarah Shahi
Release Date October 21st, 2022
Published October 21st, 2022
Black Adam is the film version of a shrug. It's a movie that exists and doesn't effect the world in any way. It's a mild, distracting, passing fad. I don't dislike Black Adam, but I am struggling to care about its existence at all. I admire Dwayne The Rock Johnson but he's distinctly average when not working with a great director and Jaume Collet Serra is not a great director. Serra is a serviceable director, a studio hack. Serra is the director you hire if you want a movie to be remarkably average. That's the best description I can think of for Black Adam, remarkably average.
Black Adam tells the story of the fictional Middle Eastern country Kahndaq. For centuries Kahndaq has been subject to numerous conquering armies and dictators. Only once in history has the country been able to fight back against oppression. This was through the sacrifice of a Champion who stepped forward to destroy a great evil. This came at a great cost however, as the Champion, known as Teth-Adam (Dwayne Johnson), created immense destruction through his God-like powers in his attempt to stop evil. For this destruction, Teth-Adam was imprisoned for centuries in a tomb in Kahndaq.
In present day Kahndaq, a researcher and professor, Adrianna Tomaz (Sarah Shahi), has discovered Teth-Adam's final resting place. This happens to also be where a crown of ancient evil power is located. Tomaz aims to take the crown and hide it away so that no one can wield its terrifying power. When she and her partners are nearly captured by an invading force, Tomaz uses her knowledge of ancient languages to recite a chant that raises Teth-Adam from the dead. Adam destroys the men who are chasing Tomaz and they begin a tentative alliance.
Finding out that the 5000 year old meta-human Teth-Adam has been raised from the dead, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis in a minor cameo) dispatches the Justice Society to take Teth-Adam into custody. The Justice Society is led by Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), and his partner Dr. Fate (Pierce Brosnan.). Joining them for this dangerous mission are newcomers Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo) and Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell), meta-humans whose superpowers mirror those of Ant-Man and Storm from the Marvel Universe.
The middle portion of Black Adam is taken up with The Justice Society facing off with Black Adam while ill-defined baddies take advantage of the chaos to try and steal the ancient cursed crown. The fight between Black Adam and The Justice Society amounts to a lot of chaotic wheel spinning. The one nice thing I can say about it is that Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Fate emerges in this portion of the movie as the most charismatic and interesting character in the movie. The debonair former James Bond plays an aging superhero with magic powers with a strong sense of dignity and good humor. It's honestly one of my favorite Pierce Brosnan performances in some time.
As for Dwayne The Rock Johnson, well, he's okay. This is not a challenging role for Dwayne Johnson. He already looks the part of a superhero so playing the part was halfway done when he accepted the role. The problem comes in the scripting and direction which has Johnson partnered with a nattering teenager named Amon (Bodhi Sabonguo) whose function is to be a fount of exposition and then to be placed in danger to spark a big action scene. He's also played as a counterpoint to underscore the bravery of Black Adam's son who, in a flashback scene, is shown to have been the true freedom fighter in his family.
Black Adam was supposed to be born as a liberator and protector but when Black Adam's son transferred his powers to his dad and was subsequently killed, Black Adam used the powers for vengeance rather than for heroic purposes. This tragic backstory posits Black Adam as an anti-hero but in the limited imagination of this film, Black Adam is merely misunderstood. He was always a hero, he just got mad that one time and had to be punished by the Gods for it. They didn't take his powers though, conveniently leaving him to rise again as needed by the plot.
To use wrestling terminology, in honor of The Rock, Black Adam is supposed to be a 'Tweener,' a good guy who does bad guy things occasionally in order to win. In this movie conception however, Black Adam is a pure 'white meat babyface.' He's always a good guy who only punishes bad people. The other good guys question his murdering of the enemy but what they don't know, and the plot conveniently keeps from them to create conflict, is that the people Black Adam is killing are bad guys who deserve it for being faceless baddies harming the good innocent people of Kahndaq.
The supposed dark elements of the character, what makes him 'Black Adam' are simply missing and Dwayne Johnson unfortunately mistakes muting his innate charisma in favor of a stoic glower is how he's going to tell us that this character is dark and different. A better script and director would find ways to give the character nuance but the gutless makers of Black Adam are constantly undermining the idea of Black Adam as part bad guy by reminding you of his good intentions. These moves neuter the character even as other characters try and fail to establish his dark credentials.
I'm no comic book guy, I cannot claim any knowledge of these characters from their history. I only know what we have been told about the character in marketing and trailers and such and all media seems to portray Black Adam as a 'tweener,' a good guy with a dark side. The movie doesn't communicate this at all. In the film conception, Black Adam is naïve of the modern idea of justice and sets about killing people he sees as harming others for their own benefit. He's told along the way not to do that but it's clear that we aren't intended to blame Black Adam for his behavior because he's killing faceless baddies who are also killing people.
The action of Black Adam is... fine. There is nothing particularly wrong with the presentation of the action in Black Adam. The problem is that the story fails to engage and the the film is too weak willed to give the character of Black Adam any nuance. The story is bland and the super-heroics never give any sense of danger for the characters involved. When one of the Justice Society characters is placed in mortal danger late in the film there is no sense of danger. The scripting has removed any notion of suspense or excitement by failing to create any tension in the story. Every aspect of the plot feels like a screenwriter ticking off the boxes on a superhero bingo card.
Black Adam is not a bad movie, merely a mediocre one. Pierce Brosnan is really good in the movie while Dwayne Johnson is at his most bland and forgettable. It's not an easy feet for a movie to render Dwayne Johnson bland but the makers of Black Adam pull that off with shocking and unfortunate success. A muted Dwayne Johnson and a desperately rote superhero adventure work to create a special effects fest that is passable by the low standards of action adventure but fail to be truly exciting or engaging.
Find my archive of more than 20 years and nearly 2000 movie reviews at SeanattheMovies.blogspot.com. Follow me on Twitter at PodcastSean. Follow the archive blog on Twitter at SeanattheMovies. Listen to me talk about Black Adam and other movies on the Everyone's a Critic Movie Review Podcast on your favorite podcast listening app. If you've enjoyed what you have read consider subscribing to my work here on Vocal. If you really want to support my work consider making a monthly pledge or leaving a one time tip. Thanks!
About the Creator
Sean Patrick
Hello, my name is Sean Patrick He/Him, and I am a film critic and podcast host for the I Hate Critics Movie Review Podcast I am a voting member of the Critics Choice Association, the group behind the annual Critics Choice Awards.
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