![]() ![]() ![]() “A bad plan is better than no plan at all,” shrugs Hawkman, thereby seemingly articulating the thinking behind Black Adam and the DC Extended Universe as a whole. While genre fans may delight in the sight of Adam obliterating a kid’s bedroom decorated with Justice League posters and toys, the main impression-emphasized by a post-credits scene with a supersized cameo-is that this is a trial run for Adam ahead of potentially bigger future showdowns, should box-office receipts justify a sequel. Unfortunately, like Atom Smasher and Cyclone’s flirty exchanges, those moments are crushed under the weight of spectacular fights in which no one actually gets hurt (until, randomly, they do) and nothing really changes. The material only flickers to life during those sparse instances when Hodge and Brosnan are granted a shot at building a rapport rooted in their shared history. For all its epic intentions, the film feels small, confined to a generic fictional locale that it promptly decimates. The Rolling Stones’ “Paint It, Black” also blesses the Black Adam soundtrack, providing a musical cue that’s as cheesy as a The Good, the Bad and the Ugly gag is out-of-left-field groan-worthy. “This is all as routine and mundane as such ventures get, and when it comes to the proceedings’ paint-by-numbers politics, let’s simply say that using anti-Semite Kanye West’s “Power” as a theme song for one of Adam’s rampages does the film no favors.” They’re no Batman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman, but at least Hawkman-outfitted with golden wings, a matching helmet, and a formidable mace-proves a reasonably captivating do-gooder. Consequently, he recruits his old pal Doctor Fate ( Pierce Brosnan), who can create illusions and see the future with the aid of his golden alien helmet, as well as rainbow wind-twirling Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell) and body-enlarging Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo). There’s absolutely nothing thrilling about such bedlam, though Black Adam does provide the reborn demigod with a mildly interesting opponent in the figure of Hawkman ( Aldis Hodge), who’s hired by Suicide Squad mastermind Amanda Waller ( Viola Davis) to put together a Justice Society team to take down Adam. Yet otherwise, he’s a pretty dour fellow whose expressions range from furious glare to even more furious glare.Īdam makes a titanic entrance by demolishing helicopters, jeeps and their inhabitants in one of director Jaume Collet-Serra’s numerous slow motion-drenched set pieces, which provide plenty of opportunities to inspect the care with which every flaming explosion has been crafted by a CGI artist. Certainly, the hooded, black-clad Adam has no qualms about slaying Adrianna’s foes. In the present day, Adrianna (Sarah Shahi) goes searching for the crown and, when confronted by members of Intergang-a group of foreign “neo-imperialist” invaders who now rule Kahndaq-decides to escape trouble by bringing Adam back to life, figuring he’s the mythic liberator needed by her people. With the word “Shazam!”, the kid is transformed by wizards into Teth-Adam (Johnson), a dark Superman variant who’s invulnerable, has the power of flight and super-strength, and can shoot lightning bolts from his fingertips. He’s a big bad who’s big mad, although it’s moviegoers who are apt to be irritated by this lame comic book-based origin story, which mimics Venom by pivoting around a supposed villain who’s destined to ultimately do good-minus the sense of humor that at least made Tom Hardy’s Marvel vehicle intermittently amusing.Ī brief prologue sets the contextual scene: 5,000 years ago, in the made-up Middle Eastern city of Kahndaq, a slave boy fights back against a tyrannical king who covets a demonic crown made of magical Eternium. 21), Johnson’s first official foray into superherodom, in which he does a WWE-style heel turn by embodying the title character, an ancient, resurrected meta-human who thinks that murder is the best way to dispatch enemies. ![]() That streak continues with Black Adam (Oct. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a charismatic and popular star who-with the possible exceptions of Michael Bay’s Pain & Gain, Peter Berg’s The Rundown, and Justin Lin’s Fast Five-has never made a very good, much less great, film. ![]()
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