‘Black Adam’ brings hope for the future of the DC Comics movie universe

BLACK ADAM (2022)

Rating: ***

For a long time, The Mountain Advocate published movie reviews by Sean Jump, and those were well-received. I’ve always had my opinions on movies and music, so I thought “Why not?” fill the void when it comes to movie and music reviews for my newspaper. We’re going to call my reviews “Unacclaimed Critique” for now. The name might stick, but it might not. We’ll see. Be kind. 😉
The first review of this series will be covering Dwayne Johnson’s entrance into the world of superheroes with his much-hyped “Black Adam” movie, which is now available to stream on HBO Max, since, after all, it’s a Warner Bros./DC Comics entity. If it were of the Marvel variety you’d find that on Disney+ sooner or later.

I’ve always been a fan of “The Rock” since he made his debut in professional wrestling. Back in the days that I watched wrestling, he was one of my favorites. I can still smell what the Rock is cooking. Well, not really, but almost. If you follow his social media, he’s a foody and shares a lot of his cooking. And believe me, the man eats. You don’t keep the muscle mass and size he has without a lot of food. We’re talking a LOT of food here.
When he ventured into acting I was unsure. Hulk Hogan had made his share of movies over the years, and while he was an entertaining presence in the squared circle, that didn’t translate as well to the big screen. One exception for Hogan was his movie “No Holds Barred” where he played a version of himself named Rip, facing a formidable foe in Zeus, played by Tommy Lister Jr., who later entered the real world of professional wrestling as, you guessed it, Zeus. The movie sort of came to life. The 90’s was a great era to be a wrestling fan.
Fast forward to Johnson. He’s made several movies over the years since his roles in The Mummy franchise and his stint as “Scorpion King.” We can all forgive him, he had nothing to do with the horrible CGI those movies. But, when in his original human form, he was a solid actor. That prowess continued through movies like Spy Kids, Jungle Cruise, Jumanji and the latter Fast and Furious movies.
The role of Black Adam, a slave from ancient times endowed with miraculous powers – the same as Shazam! If you’re keeping up with the comic lore here (thus the lightning bolt) – was a leap I feel for the Rock. Comic book movies can be dangerous territory for an actor. Ask Ryan Reynolds. Yes, he’s had two very successful turns as Deadpool and will likely continue so for a long time. But, he was Deadpool a long time ago. And Green Lantern as well. Those two roles didn’t capture the fans like his current iteration of the foul-mouthed, sword-slinging hitman. The first time out as Deadpool might have worked better had his mouthy-ness not been a punchline of the movie leading his “creators” to literally sew his mouth shut. Having said that, Johnson had a lot riding on him to get it right.
Johnson plays a slave saved by the powers his son was initially gifted with, leaving him to mourn the loss of his family. Black Adam, properly named Teth-Adam, was imprisoned for thousands of years before he was released in a moment of desperation. Awaking in this new, modern world was a challenge for the man who fought against the establishment of his day.
Teth-Adam was never a bad guy. Not really. He just didn’t play by the rules. Even thousands of years later, he was blanketed in grief for his lost family and the blame he felt for that.
Black Adam serves as a redemption story of sorts for the anti-hero. Comic book fans will correct me, I’m sure. I don’t read comic books so I’m not going to get into those arguments. I go by the story presented in the movie, and it was a good one.
The action sequences were wonderful, and CGI was very well done. My biggest gripe about the movie is not about Black Adam himself, but rather the supporting cast of superheroes. The introduction of the Justice Society, DC’s version of the Eternals it seems, felt rushed. There are good characters in that ensemble, and I feel a movie, or movies, leading up to and introducing them before Black Adam would have helped. Comic book fans would know these people, but I did not. Just like the Eternals from the Marvel universe, I had never heard of them until the film. Yet, many knew about them and excitedly anticipated their arrival.
Bringing in such a powerful cast like the Justice Society in this movie felt like fan service and nothing more. But for someone who isn’t a comics fan, it wasn’t service but rather more confusion about what’s going on.
The only problem with Black Adam is a reticent one that DC Comics and Warner Bros. has become known for. They just can’t be cohesive with multiple storylines. With some shifts at the top to include James Gunn from Marvel success, I have hopes they can finally get it together and tell stories in a way that make sense. The Marvel Cinematic Universe managed to keep 20+ movies and Disney+ plus shows together in a cohesive storyline that makes sense from one movie to another. That’s where DC must go in order to compete with the Disney Marvel machine.
Watch Black Adam and be entertained. I certainly was, and I look forward to future installments. It’s a solid movie overall.