Black Adam (2022)
A long time in the making, Black Adam arrives, finally giving a powerful face to a 77-year old character with surprisingly few appearances in other media. His first theatrical turn was a partially uneven, yet highly effective continuation of the DCEU, but as in the case of any film, there’s the good And bad to examine…
GOOD:
Dwayne Johnson’s unflagging dedication to the character—his personal and professional investment is plain to see, starting with the complete absence of the “Rock-isms” he’s pretty much trademarked throughout his career. Being a self-described long-time DC fan, Johnson zeroed in on all that was necessary to create a living, breathing version of the anti-hero, both respectful to Black Adam’s Fawcett origins, the better DC stories involving the character, and the DCEU’s overall tone and direction. He’s as near-perfect in the role as Cavill, Affleck, Gadot (and a handful of other performers) are in theirs—easily among the best representations of comic book characters ever seen.
Brosnan: In only one, reserved performance, Brosnan as Doctor Fate delivered one of the more interesting interpretations of a comic-book hero to date. He crafted a man who clearly experienced too much in his time, weary of his own future the moment he joined the mission, as opposed to the justice-minded Hawkman, who was all about the job, and did not have the of fear death to hold him back. If there was an issue with the relationship between Fate and Hawkman, it was that on several occasions, Fate refers to Hawkman as his “old friend” and there are moments where one can see the friendship is genuine, but the buildup of their arc hinted of more that might have been filmed but failed to make the final cut. I found myself longing for some flashback to their earlier adventures--how or what shaped their relationship.
Aldis Hodge's Hawkman was so "all about the business" of stopping Black Adam, but he behaves like an extremely by-the-book policeman who is not at all in favor of his team stepping outside of what he sees as JSA boundaries, getting too cute with their powers. Back in Hodge's days on Leverage, I imagine next to no one ever envisioned him as a superhero of any kind, yet here he is--a strong, believable superheroic presence, easily able to avoid being overwhelmed by Johnson. At long last, a 1st rate Justice Society has been brought before cameras, and Hodge's Hawkman--along with Hunkle's Cyclone and Centineo's Atom Smasher--have earned their right to more adventures.
Black Adam sent clear sociopolitical messages against colonialism not only from foreign governments but its acting as a gateway for criminal benefactors (even with native Ishmael Gregor acting as the leader of Intergang in the region), with most of the main Kahndaqian characters (Adrianna and Amon in particular) repeating their awareness and resentment of the colonialist domination and needing a way to free their people. This is was not a futuristic, hyper-prosperous kingdom like the MCU’s Wakanda—where one of the running themes of Black Panther was the kingdom’s isolationist position / refusal to share their technological advantages with others of their race around the world (mainly a Killmonger argument), instead, it was—like some many of the real world middle eastern nations—occupied with the native population either living in a caste system, or a select number betraying their own for colonial power-authorized benefits.
The film ends with Black Adam not being an official protector with fireworks shooting off with celebratory cheers--there was no sweeping, super-heroic answer to a long-lived problem, which was a wise move on the part of the writers/producers, as any Pollyannaish solution would certainly be insulting to any people in and/or from real middle eastern regions who will likely see no overnight liberation.
The one and only Superman: Although Dwayne Johnson waged a strong campaign to keep Cavill in the DCEU, I have the impression that the plan for Black Adam’s interactions with Superman going forward will not be a team-up / conflict, but Black Adam—despite his behavioral shift toward the end of this film—will need to be drawn into / recruited into another conflict, but he will remain some dangerous outlier character no one will be able to handle.
BAD: Nothing truly bad at all, but there were thematically inappropriate and corny moments—
The use of The Rolling Stones’ 1966 song “Paint it Black”: if anyone knows what the group said it meant (in the year it was recorded), then it explains why the song’s use in the film momentarily took some viewers out of the attack sequence. One filmmaking ploy I’ve never been fond of is using longtime, popular rock/pop songs to “punctuate” a scene (or trailer) or borrow a feeling from songs with a meaning so well-known, viewers are not going to forget it, or the fact the filmmakers believe its “cool” (or in this case, the word “black” was the reason for using it) instead of being inapplicable to the what the characters are doing in any given moment.
While Amon as an adolescent protagonist was fine, I felt his turning up too often in life-threatening situations stretched believability to the point of snapping. His fleeing / fighting Ishmael & the Intergang soldiers in the apartment served the story, and his trying to inspire his fellow Kahndaqians was telegraphed early on, yet the “be a hero” business with the makeshift cape was so corny. Yes, his room was plastered with comic books and superhero posters, that said, if anything, his constant belief in / admiration of Black Adam should have inspired him to reject the cape—and the idea of heroes who—as Adrianna repeatedly pointed out—do not use their power to help nations like Kahndaq.
NOTES:
It has been said Black Adam was originally intended to be introduced in the Shazam movie, but Johnson nixed that idea, wanting a solo origin film (very astute decision), and to not only introduce the Justice Society, but set up the meeting with the one character Johnson felt was of equal or superior power to Black Adam…and it was not Shazam.
Earth 2 pretty much confirmed by Waller:
Waller: “Okay…Black Adam. My name is Amanda Waller. Congratulations--you have my attention. This is gonna be your only warning. You don’t want to stay in my prison—that’s fine. Kahndaq is your prison, now. You step one foot outside of it, and you will not live to regret it. “
Black Adam: “There’s no one on this planet that can stop me.”
Waller: “I can call in a favor and send people* who aren’t from this planet. “
Black Adam: “Send them all.”
Waller: “As you wish.”
Superman: “It’s been awhile since anyone’s made the world…this nervous. Black Adam—we should talk.”
*Initially, some believed the “who aren't from this planet” reply only referenced Superman—a nod toward his alien status, but she said ”people” and obviously not referring to the JSA (the first responders) which would imply the heroes of Earth Prime, aka the Justice League (and possibly Blue Beetle, now that the film will be released).
Earlier in the film, Adrianna Tomaz argued that other heroes were not coming to save them—naming a few, which would contradict the theory that Superman, Batman or Aquaman only existed on Earth Prime…or perhaps Tomaz’s statement implied they cannot help because they’re dead.
In any case, the DCEU was already hinting at gradually growing population with the appearance of J’onn J’onzz and a Green Lantern (from ancient times) in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, and its just a bit bigger today. I realize the intention is the introduce more heroes into the DCEU, but I prefer its depiction of the worlds as not having heroes practically oozing out of every city window, keeping the fantastic nature of the heroes as something rare—special to the world.
I’m sure DC fans realize, Adrianna Tomaz of the comics is the superheroine Isis—of course, Isis was a originally a creation of Filmation--the Andrea Thomas version from The Secrets of Isis TV series (CBS, 1975-76), and with her printed association with Black Adam, it is no stretch to believe Tomaz—if she makes another appearance—might end up as the Isis in the DCEU. Despite a DCEU Isis being the Tomaz version, i'm sure longtime Filmation fans would enjoy the recognition of the character in any form.
The JSA in the DCEU’s timeline: Apparently, the Justice Society existed on Earth-2 for quite some time, if we take the ages of Doctor Fate and the original Atom Smasher (the Henry Winkler cameo) into consideration (arguably long before the events of Man of Steel on Earth Prime), so it made we wonder if any of their older foes still exist, or who else was a JSA-er at the time. Sounds like the foundation for a HBO-Max series.
GRADE(S):
A: Interpretation of new characters and how they fit compared to the established DCEU heroes, thanks to the out-of-the-park casting of Johnson, Brosnan and Hodge. Their co-stars—Hunkle (Cyclone) and Centineo (Atom Smasher)
B: Falling just below the A grade due to Black Adam’s origin sequence, which was interesting, but felt too truncated where the personal motivations of Teth-Adam and his issues with his father's complacency. For Black Adam to take on the role of merciless, one man judge and jury, his past needed a bit more exploration.
The DCEU has benefited and grown from all this film had to offer.
