Spoilers Black Adam (2022) - Review

[kirk55555]

I am absolutely shocked by the poor reviews this is getting. Its a really good movie, probably6 on par with Aquaman and Shazam in my opinion, and I like those movies a lot. Its far from flawless, but it hasd a good story, good characters, and The Rock was great (like he usually is).

Of all the DC movies in recent years that got bad reviews, I literally can't understand 90% of the complaints I've read about this movie., To me, the biggest flaw is that the main villain isn't that compelling, the JSA come off as a bit too up their own ass when they first show up and the woman's kid is a bit annoying (but tolerable).

A solid 8/10 for me. Not quite as good as The Suicide Squad or the original Wonder Woman, but much better then crap like Joker, The Batman, WW84 or Snyder's films (including The Snyder Cut).

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I haven't seen the movie so I haven't actually watched this.

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[The Lensman]

I’d give it a 7. It was enjoyable enough, but not amazing. And that’s perfectly ok. The JSA has been my favorite team since I was intoduced to them almost half a century ago, and I feel like they decently represented, especially Dr. Fate and Hawkman. Especially Hawkman. He was a bad ass, though I don’t remember him being so rigid about heroes morality. But I guess they needed someone for to say those things so Adam could say “I’m no hero”


Here’s hoping we see Fate, Hawkman and the JSA again. I’d really like the first 2 to get solo films. I enjoyed Hawkman when John’s brought back the original (which they screwed up again iirc) though I can’t recall reading too much Dr. Fate since All-Star Squadron, Giffen’s back up in The Flash in the 80s and when Silver Scarab became Fate in the late 90’s or early 00’s.


Seems like Inza became Fate, then a kid, then Kent again and most recently another kid.


Anyway, liked the movie, glad they tied it in to Shazam like they should have.

 

[Ovation]

Saw it today. A good, rather than great, film in the genre. Could have done with a touch less of the skateboarder, would have liked a bit more of Fate (the standout performance to me), perhaps in flashbacks as suggested above, but overall, I was entertained. VERY happy Cavill is back. A B/B+ final rating.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Could have done with a touch less of the skateboarder

Yeah, his actions needed to be toned down a bit.

would have liked a bit more of Fate (the standout performance to me), perhaps in flashbacks as suggested above, but overall, I was entertained. VERY happy Cavill is back. A B/B+ final rating.

 

[crookeddy]

So, I am a big Johnson fan, but I think this role needed a top level actor to take it over the top. Compare the performance of Christian Bale in Thor to The Rock in this one... Rock is great as the Arnold of this generation, but this role required just a tad more nuance than he has the ability to give.

 

[crookeddy]

Looks like China will make a sequel VERY unlikely (and a Dr. Fate spinoff too). Movie will be banned in China due to Pierce Brosnan being pro Dalai Lama.

 

[JD]

Must you always be so negative.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I thought this movie was going to start with Adam as a reckless villain that the Justice Society would be brought in to subdue resulting in an hour of fighting. (EDIT: Just occurred to me, the jet scene in the trailer isn't in the movie.) Turns out the Justice Society are a bunch of bootlicking lackeys who attack Adam for existing...resulting in an hour of fighting. The trailers made this feel different but they were basically a Task Power X whipped together by Amanda Waller to maintain the status quo. And judging by the oh-not-so-well-kept-secret end credit scene even Superman is at her beck and call.

So it's not hard to root for Adam to fight against these imperial intruders. Even later in the film when the "real threat" is presented they just run in before he's actually done anything and with zero thought start shooting him with pew pew guns prematurely bringing the attack into the populated city. Well, as Hawkman says, a bad plan is better than no plan.

To the movie's credit, it does recognize this and calls it out by the civilian characters that serve as the audience's lens into the movie. There's a funny moment when Adam says that the heroes have taught him that prisoners are meant to be treated with dignity and respect that needed another beat or two, heroes who insist on not killing but have no problem abusing or otherwise depriving criminals of due process. It's surprisingly critical with some of this stuff even if it's not too interested in putting too fine of a point on it (then again, I haven't seen people bitch that the movie is too woke).

While it's nice to have a movie that isn't pushing three hours the movie does shortcut Adam's origin a little and the introduction of the Justice Society and Intergang to jump straight into the action. If you want to see superpowered beings pummel each other this is the movie for you. Throw in some of the oddest most out of place contemporary music beats and what the hell was that spaghetti western scene?

Still it's fun to see the Rock as Adam. Pierce Brosnan makes a nicely droll Dr. Fate and Aldis Hodge could be quite good as Hawkman when he's not being a dick. There's a couple of genuinely funny moments with Hodge when he's trying to keep a handle on people. Cyclone is fine and has some cool visuals associated with her powers and Atom Smasher is likable in what reminded me a lot of Ezra Miller's take on The Flash. I wish the kid was a little less "John Connor", he even urges Adam to add a catch phrase though I think he stops just short of saying "cool, my own superhero". The characters keep it watchable and there are some nice visuals along the way. The Rock's indifference to the people he's fighting (and sometimes their ill-advised indifference to him) can be amusing. I don't regret seeing it but it's a bit slap-dash.

 

[Saul]

Watched it tonight. Yeah, that was alright. I didn't have many problems with it. I felt it was coming from a good place with good intentions. I'm glad that it was finally, FINALLY made.
Cyclone and Atom Smasher weren't really needed. Cyclone flying unfortunately reminded me of Morbius. Skateboard kid too was a little bit too much at the end.
I look forward to the future of Black Adam.

 

[Morpheus 02]

Our family thought it was a fun movie.... but for all of The Rock & @TREK_GOD_1 's hype...

It was a solid movie, but not a game-changer.

Also, my family luaghed a lot through the film -- just like a Marvel movie.

I liked the twist of his son was the one with powers but he gained them instead, and his "abuse" made sense. ANy idea how long he "ruled" back then?

I would love to see more from these characters... the thing is, The Rock is getting old, so they better hurry with not just BA vs. Superman, but also against the Shazam family too.

 

[StarMan]

Trudged thru this yesterday in a couple of bursts. Got about 30 minutes to go. Turned it off and on throughout the day 'cause ... oh boy.

Fairly awful dialogue, subpar acting in spots, The Rock ... well, it's The Rock. The pacing was facepalm-inducing - hi I'm Atom Guy, hey I'm a Wind Girl - Justice Society huh? Yadda yadda okay cool - ready and positioned for the CGI fest. The humor is quippy garbage - the catchphrase bits were especially irritating. I did laugh once at something - not that I can recall what it was.

I've been fairly underwhelmed by what I've seen of Marvel's Phase 4, but there's nothing in their line-up near this sort of bad. I've had a better hit ratio with DC in recent times, but this was a one-dimensional misfire. I can't imagine the last half hour will do much to redeem it.

Surely someone at the top saw the dailies and/or a rough cut and started getting antsy, or did they assuage themselves with Dwayne's star power and shrug any concerns away?

1 1/2 out of 5 - one of the worst superhero flicks I can recall seeing.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Well after all the bad news about HBO MAX it looks like Black Adam should be available to watch this Friday Dec 16.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

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[StarMan]

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Next time I knowingly watch a flick that's been panned, I should double check there's an Honest Trailer to pick me up.

I knew nothing of Black Adam prior to seeing the movie. I dig the idea of an anti-hero on par with Supes. I don't want to suggest every superhero film needs to be nuanced, multi-layered and mature, but at the very least make an effort on the character front.

I felt this may have resonated more with established fans e.g. Hawkman and Fate's relationship - fine if you know their history (do they have history - buggered if I know), but it was big ol' nothing for me as they referred to each other as "old friend". I get we don't have time to do an in-depth backstory on the two, but the one-dimensional style of character & relationship building we got here was pitiful. Fate's sacrifice was empty; everything in this movie was empty.

You ought to be able to flesh out characters in the span of a single film e.g. Man of Steel has you invested in the key players within the first hour so that by the end, Clark's agonizing choice to kill Zod has the desired impact. The characters in Black Adam were nothing more than a few attributes rattled off in exposition, with a bit of quippy dialogue tacked on to pad out the movie.

Maybe it could have been tolerable dumb fun had there been a threat that - I dunno - actually threatened Adam?

Also, if there is ever to be an invasion from the depths of Hell, I'm keen for the version we got here. Those demons / zombies were as robust as paper. Just a light tap from a pipe and they're down for the count.

 

[Commander Troi]

We watched it this weekend and it was better than I expected. Standouts were definitely Fate and Is... I mean Adrianna. It did seem a bit rushed in several places.

 

[thribs]

It’s a shame all this DC nonsense recently has effectively killed this movie. Even my preorder for the crown replica has been cancelled.

 

[theenglish]

I watched the movie this weekend in two sittings. Second time I've fallen asleep toward the end of a Pierce Brosnan film--and I really like him as an actor. I had no problem with the characters or actors (except--see below) but it was so by the numbers, I could have put a number of super movie templates over it. There was no background given for Intergang's presence and Dwayne Johnson was just not up to the task of portraying the nuance that Black Adam deserved. Black Adam is a character that requires depth to be seen as anything more than a villain and Johnson was just not the actor for this part. Sure the lines and the story were adequate but it really needed something more. This could have been a Black Panther level story and instead we got a more serious version of Green Lantern.

That's my review--and I know that there are others out there who disagree, but I will not turn this into a debate because we all have our own opinions and I know full well mine is my own subjective reaction to the film.

 

[Guy Gardener]

The head of intetgang was the descendant of the King who Black Adam killed 5000 years ago.

Intergang was there to find the crown.

He entire plan was to get killed wearing the crown and turn onto a Demon.

 

[thribs]

Isn’t the head of Intergang Darkseid?