|
|
BLACK ADAM
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Aldis Hodge, Sarah Shahi, Pierce Brosnan, Noah Centineo, Quintessa Swindell, Bodhi Sabongui, Mohammed Amer, Marwan Kenzari, Djimon Hounsou, Viola Davis MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 2:04 Release Date: 10/21/22 |
|
Review by Mark Dujsik | October 21, 2022 By the end of Black Adam, there's little understanding of who the title character is, what he stands for, or why we should care about him—except that he'll apparently figure into at least two other future stories in the DC Extended Universe, as this franchise of superhero movies is called. Someone might determine what the character's role is by the time of his re-appearance, but for this origin tale, he's neither a hero nor a villain. Indeed, it would be tough to dub him an anti-hero or a bad guy with some understandable motivations, and that's primarily because Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam is barely the protagonist of his own story. It starts to feel as if that's by design, as a trio of screenwriters (Adam Sztykiel, Rory Haines, and Sohrab Noshirvani) waver between who this character should be. At the start, he's the mythical champion of the fictional country of Kahndaq who, some 4,500 years ago, saved the first human civilization from a tyrant king. An extended prologue introduces that idea, but it mostly introduces some mystical element called Eternium and a magical crown made of the rare material. The crown might be the most important thing, either inanimate or human, in this story. It's definitely not Teth Adam, as the character is called for the entirety of the movie, until a belated title card announces his new moniker and a mid-credit sequence lets us know that some producers have big plans for the character. Why the filmmakers would wait that long and only hint at some future significance for him is, perhaps, the biggest mystery and shortcoming here. As for his connection to this established—albeit continually troubled—franchise, the magic that created Adam is the same that made a kid into the affably likeable and weird Shazam (An exclamation mark after his name is implied). The same wizard, played by Djimon Hounsou, responsible for that superhero plays a brief part in this story, seemingly imbuing Adam with the powers of the gods. The truth is a bit more complicated and tragic than that, but since we're supposed to see Adam as a cold-hearted and murderous villain for about half of this story, that truth is kept a secret—up until the point that the filmmakers decide that maybe an all-powerful monster of a protagonist isn't a particularly endearing or sympathetic one. It's not as if the movie, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, buys into Adam's villainy at any point, anyway. After being awakened by Adrianna (Sarah Shahi), an archeologist and freedom fighter in modern-day and occupied Kahndaq searching for the crown, Adam uses his super-strength and electrical powers to blast and dismember soldiers of some generic corporate force, going so far as to melt one man's flesh until only a skeleton remains. It's fairly nasty stuff, but once Adam meets Adrianna's superhero-obsessed son Amon (Bodhi Sabongui), the villain starts learning concepts like deadpan delivery, one-liners, and sarcasm. Johnson's typically consistent charms are lost in this moral and personality vacuum of a character, who's wicked until his wickedness becomes a joke—and only a joke until the movie starts taking him much too seriously. In order to give some sense of balance to this uncertain character, the screenplay gives us and eventually focuses upon a team of superheroes called the Justice Society (They're apparently well-established in this world, although one imagines we haven't heard of them until now because of the confusion the name might produce). They consist of the upright Hawkman (Aldis Hodge), the clairvoyant Doctor Fate (Pierce Brosnan, bringing some understated class and, in a climactic moment, genuine pathos to his character, the most intriguing one here), the engorging Atom Smasher (Noah Centineo), and wind-controlling Cyclone (Quintessa Swindell). The team arrives in Kahndaq to detain Adam, but that crown brings about another threat for all of them. The way that the plot, these new heroes, and the supporting characters keep sidelining Adam either shows how little faith the filmmakers apparently have in eponymous figure or is further proof of a general indecisiveness about his, well, character. That's a terrible position for Adam to find himself in his own origin story, and it's most noticeable when Adam's biggest contributions to the third act consist of a flashback and him sitting out most of the climactic battle with the real villain, a demon from Hell who randomly appears just give the movie a final fight. Black Adam, much like how the title character's personality and purpose are treated, just seems to be making it up as it goes and as is required to keep things going. Copyright © 2022 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
Buy Related Products Buy the Soundtrack (Digital Download)
|
(for sequences of strong violence, intense action and some language)
