Black Adam' reviews

Black Adam has scant intention of wasting time with trifles such as character background, motivations or emotional attachments.

The Rock is always the center of attention of any scene he’s in, and there’s every reason to believe that he’ll soon push ahead to create a string of Black Adam films and make up for lost time. The characters are colorful and momentarily amusing to behold, but none of them are in Black Adam’s league. But massive resources and the sheer weight of its efforts aren’t necessarily enough to win you over, and even though a good bit of the action here is airborne, that doesn’t mean it ever really takes off. There’s little more than this in terms of exposition, which will be something of a handicap for the uninitiated but will be just fine with the fanboys who know all they need to know going in. But it doesn’t take long to realize that the script, by Adam Sztykiel (Alvin and the Chipmunks, Scoob!) and the team of Rory Haines and Sohrab Noshirvani (the very good and dead serious The Mauritanian), has scant intention of wasting time with trifles such as character background, motivations or emotional attachments. No matter what one might think about this Black Adam movie as a whole, The Rock grabs your attention and keeps it no matter what he’s doing.

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"Black Adam is decent when it comes to world-building--Collet-Serra's depiction of old Kahndaq is a standout, although he could have cut down on the many slow-motion action sequences throughout the film. Johnson is also a welcome part of this world, and while the DCEU has attempted to bring moral ambiguity to characters like Superman in ways that weren't entirely successful, Black Adam allows DC to play in this darkness with an antihero that doesn't betray their world or characters." As with Shane, sticking a kid in the middle of the story brings the entire project down to a middle-school-level intellect. "The movie is essentially Shane on steroids, set in the Middle East instead of the Old West, but still seen through the eyes of a young boy--Adrianna's comic book-obsessed son Amon (Bodhi Sabongui), in this case--who idolizes a figure of questionable morality. "Black Adam overindulges to the point where it's hard to enjoy the DC anti-hero's debut. We're going to guess that Black Adam talks to the camera less, but it's still noteworthy that Johnson fought so hard and for so long to make what even DC fans would consider a C-tier character in terms of popularity, and even lesser known than pre-Jason Momoa Aquaman.

Not long into “Black Adam,” a preteen boy looks up at the muscled hulk of Dwayne Johnson and begs for his help: “We could use a superhero right now.

Two and a half stars out of four. They nicely include pockets of humor that DC has not always done well — a recurring bit with “Baby Come Back” and teaching Black Adam satire are fun; a Clint Eastwood gag fails — and there may have been three natural endings piling up before the final, manipulative one. Black Adam replies: “Well, I do.” It is Shahiby’s character who notes that it’s easy to call someone a hero when you’re the one drawing the line. The Justice Society members are shocked to find that they aren’t seen as heroic to the residents of Kahndaq, living 27 years under oppression. Most intriguing — and the angle most fruitful to lean into — is the notion of hero itself. Comedian Mohammed Amer is a much-needed bolt of bright humor. At one point, with the audience exhausted by all the carnage, they introduce skeletons who rise up as a legion from hell, just what we wanted. that has wizards, a blood-thirsty king, a magical crown and Eternium, a rare metallic ore with energy-manipulating properties (Hello, Vibranium from “Black Panther”). They apparently left at home the superhero with the ability to open jars. Is he a force for good or bad? Do we need another superhero with another convoluted origin story that stretches back thousands of years and fulfills a whacko destiny? Why he hasn’t had a starring role in a DC or Marvel superhero flick until now is astonishing — c’mon, he’s built himself into a freaking superhero in street clothes already.

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Black Adam is a movie that would have you believe that the aforementioned country’s population would chant “champion” at the guy who helped demolish most of their homes and buildings. It is a movie where such in-world story logic concerns like that take up more of your investment than most of the characters and spectacle do. (The JSA are sadly dealt a crappy hand when, after spending most of the movie speechifying about the negative toll destruction can have on a potential savior’s soul, they essentially “peace out” of the movie after kick-punching holes through an entire country. While this relationship provides the movie with some of its few genuine heartfelt moments, it gets somewhat shortchanged by all the sulking and repetitive “murder is bad” arguments Adam finds himself in. With the crown in the wind, Black Adam struggles to adjust to a non-kill ethos when confronted by the Justice Society of America, who have been dispatched by Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller to contain him (and provide some clunky interconnectivity across DC’s disjointed live-action films). A movie full of under-cranked, slow-mo action (it’s really okay to let this aesthetic go, Warner Bros.) and over-plotted world-building that delivers more information than emotion because the movie struggles to ground this world on the backs of characters worth emotionally investing in.

The reviews for Black Adam are in and while the critics enjoyed Dwayne Johnson's take on the DC antihero, everything else disappointed.

[Black Adam's Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.cbr.com/black-adam-rotten-tomatoes-score-dceu/) score is an indication of many other reviewers' thoughts. [Rolling Stone](https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/black-adam-movie-review-dwayne-johnson-dceu-superheroes-1234608737/), David Fear similarly praised Johnson's performance but lamented the movie's underdeveloped supporting characters, clashing tone, and at times, incoherent writing. These sentiments were shared by [IndieWire](https://www.indiewire.com/2022/10/black-adam-movie-review-1234773729/)'s David Ehrlich who describes Black Adam as a safe, predictable superhero story that doesn't do enough with its edgy protagonist. [CBR's own Gregg Katzman](https://www.cbr.com/black-adam-movie-review/) notes that while he expects the movie to satisfy fans, he was also aware that critics would likely be unimpressed. [CBR](https://www.cbr.com/black-adam-movie-review/), [THR](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/black-adam-dwayne-johnson-pierce-brosnan-dc-jaume-collet-serra-1235241643/), [Rolling Stone](https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/black-adam-movie-review-dwayne-johnson-dceu-superheroes-1234608737/), [IndieWire](https://www.indiewire.com/2022/10/black-adam-movie-review-1234773729/) Despite these points, he also praises Johnson in the leading role, noting that he brings "just enough motion and empathy into the character" and works well alongside Justice Society of America standouts Hawkman (Aldis Hodge) and Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan).

"Black Adam," a comic book adventure starring Dwayne Johnson, will loom large over the weekend box office.

Those initial ticket sales would fall in between “The Lost City” ($30 million debut) and “Bros” ($4.8 million debut), the most recent rom-coms to play in theaters. The movie cost $60 million to produce, which is fairly expensive for modern romantic comedies. “Black Adam” has generated mixed reviews. But the anti-hero adventure is expected to earn far less than the studio’s most recent live-action comic book adaptation, “The Batman,” which impressed with $134 million in March. But the movie does look to inject a little sizzle in the otherwise sluggish October at the box office. That’ll easily be enough to dethrone “Halloween Ends,” which took the No.