The Stream: Annoying repetitive script and a little classic DC movie execution

The Big Screen: Entertaining fights and a few chuckles

The Final Bill: The Rock lays down the law with some hit or miss DC execution

– S2S: Movie Review
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Writers: Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Aldis Hodge, Pierce Brosnan
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi,
Rating: PG-13 (violence)
Runtime: 1 hour 55 minutes
Production Companies: DC Entertainment, Flynn Picture Company, New Line Cinema
Platform: Released in theaters October 21, 2022
Notable Trailers: Plane, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, I Wanna Dance with Somebody, Glass Onion, The Super Mario Bros, House Party, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Streamers, the long-awaited DC Comic adaptation of Black Adam is finally here. We finally get to see Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam. Black Adam is set about 5,000 years after he was bestowed with powers. After freeing his hometown, Kahndaq, Black Adam finds himself waiting in confinement for his time to return as Kahndaq’s savior. Freed from his tomb, Black Adam is ready to unleash his justice on modern day Kahndaq and dares anyone to stop him. DC Comic action ensues.

Let’s get this out of the way: the movie is quite entertaining but of course DC Comics will DC Comics. As we know from their previous installments, they come with a lot of hype but sometimes they just fizzle in the full execution. This movie is no different, but the fizzle is honestly quite less. The issues here are more annoying than bad. For instance, The Rock and the rest of the cast are going to bring us comedy, but I found that the one-liners that were supposed to make us chuckle missed the mark. Watching, I knew the line was supposed to be funny, but the flow of the movie blows passed the line or something. It seems like the editing of the movie messed with the timing for some of these jokes, and it happened a few too many times. There are still funny moments that hit hard, but those moments that fell flat are noticeable. Along with that, the script felt repetitive. Characters seemed to be saying the same thing over and over. I get that they were trying to drive home the theme of the movie but come off it!

Next, I hate when really smart people in movies conveniently forget something they know that is very simple just so it can lead to a twist or turning point in the movie. It happened here and it literally makes no sense. It’s just annoying that it happened. It’s not terrible just like eh come on DC, y’all couldn’t have thought of a better way to either make the situation harder to figure out or something. Again, annoying but not bad.

Lastly, we’re fighting this god-like figure, why do we bring someone to the fight that clearly can’t help. My girl, Quintessa Swindell wasn’t asked to do much with her character, Cyclone, so naturally she did perfectly well. However, Cyclone had no business in this movie. Her powers were demonstrated beautifully and very artistically but in no way would be helpful in this fight. Like come on DC Comics, y’all could’ve put any other character in this spot that might have been actually helpful. So again, it’s not bad just annoying or a missed opportunity by the filmmakers. On top of that, it’s hard to have a movie with characters similar to the MCU and then try to differentiate those characters. I find Dr. Fate and Atom Smasher a bit too close to Dr. Strange and Ant-Man. It’s hard to see them demonstrate powers and not get the feeling I’ve seen this before. This isn’t the movie’s fault but it’s just a byproduct of the DC and Marvel race copycatting each other over the decades. Nevertheless, it’s hard to shake that feeling, especially in the fight sequences.

Now, for the good. The movie is crisp, clean, hard hitting, similar to the other DC movies. On this alone, the movie is one of those movies you turn on just to ooh and ahh at the action sequences on FX. The characters are portrayed very well, and producers definitely cast the movie well. Johnson’s Black Adam is stoic, powerful, callous but caring and clever. Of course, we get the power for the character, but Johnson also shows some sentimental acting in the flick that helps show the character’s depth of emotions and burden in the movie. They could’ve easily taken the character into a typical Johnson film and comedy, but they toed the line pretty well, allowing him some comic relief without losing the stoic strength. Aldis Hodge’s Hawkman is suave, smart, powerful and relentless. Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Fate was quite fitting as well.

With that said, Black Adam is an entertaining movie that plans to keep the DC Comic Universe continuing over the next years. Black Adam isn’t without its issues which is typical to DC Comics and their finnicky execution. Dwayne Johnson and cast bring a hard-hitting character to life. It’s hard to say this movie is not worth seeing on the big screen but I also realize comic fans may also be annoyed with the movie a bit. You will not be mad seeing this on big screen but just realize there will be some DC Comic movie issues. I mean the movie is worth seeing for the after-credit scene alone… *Nudge Nudge*