Eli London
[May contain spoilers!]
Black Adam: this bold attempt at Johnson’s Terminator 2 did a really good job of splitting audience and critics but fell flat in making me care about the story or characters.
Overview of Black Adam
The movie opens 5,000 years prior, with Teth-Adam, enslaved among the people of Kahndaq, digging for Unobtanium – oh, apologies, it’s *Eternium* in this movie – to forge a crown of eternal power for their tyrannous king. Revolution brews and, when he is eventually given the power of the Council of the Seven Wizards, Teth-Adam ends King Anh-Kot’s rule. This – who could’ve guessed – didn’t go exactly to plan and the decision was made by the wizards to imprison Teth-Adam for the safety of humanity. In their attempt to do so, only Shazam was left alive to see it done.
In general, I don’t mind a bit of action, but I wouldn’t describe myself as an action fan. Of the Dwayne Johnson movies I’ve seen, most notably Doom, The Mummy Returns, or The Scorpion King, Johnson has really just been… alright. I think because of my ambivalence towards him as an actor I was never really looking forward to Black Adam in the way I look forward to other blockbuster releases (see Wakanda Forever). But my £14.99/month Odeon Limitless subscription and nerdy friend group were not going to let me get away with not seeing it!
“One or two comedic moments that actually made me laugh were the ones that mainly relied on timing and editing”
The film hits all your classic superhero narrative beats, with plenty of action scenes squeezed into two hours and five minutes. To give it credit, I enjoyed it significantly more than Eternals and Thor: Love and Thunder, but perhaps that’s because the script culled a lot of the Marvel comedy we’ve seen over the last few years (love it or hate it) and stayed …well, safe. One or two comedic moments that actually made me laugh were the ones that mainly relied on timing and editing, rather than screaming goats, but maybe that’s just my comedic taste.
The Characters
Most of the characters are unknown to the average cinema-goer, myself included, but it’s a shame that I didn’t really feel connected to a lot of them – Black Adam, Adrianna, and Amon aside. This is the first I’ve heard of Dr Fate and, honestly, he’s very cool. I don’t know what Marvel-DC crossover the fans are currently gunning for but let’s have a fight between him and Dr Strange at some point, please?
“I genuinely think those two could’ve been cut and the story would not have changed”
Pierce Brosnan’s performance among the supporting characters was really a highlight for me, but unfortunately Atom-Smasher and Cyclone didn’t blow me away. I know everyone’s different, but the whole ‘oh no, I can change my shape but I’m really clumsy with it cause I’m new on the job’ is really over done for me and I find it extremely annoying. Sorry Al, just makes me wonder why they bothered bringing you. Swindell’s Cyclone Maxine Hunkel really excited me when she was “brought onboard” to the mission, but I’m actually really disappointed with how the script allowed her to get lost. I genuinely think those two could’ve been cut and the story would not have changed.
I’m a bit of a sucker for a broody, angsty male lead, I love an anti-hero, and because of that I like to think I know what makes a good one. In my opinion, the script we’re given for our morally ambiguous Black Adam (Teth-Adam) genuinely doesn’t wholly explore the extent of the anti-hero and I’m not actually felt compelled to consider morality. Every argument from the Justice Society, or more specifically Hawkman, didn’t feel fully formed and were easily countered or dismissed. All he did was repeat his belief of the classic “you’re not a hero if you kill people”, Black Adam says he’s not a hero and doesn’t want to be, then after a short scene Hawkman essentially gives him his blessing to go kill the bad guy at the end anyway. Weird.
Themes of Black Adam
There are a few interesting parallels drawn between intervention and justice, the oppression of the backstory and Kahndaq’s current Intergang occupation, however I felt that once again the script didn’t go far enough exploring these ideas. It was a shame, but then again, I always get quite annoyed at movies when they have the opportunity to take a stance on issues that have analogous current events and then choose not to. I suppose the indifference or cherry-picking by the JSA is a reflection of reality in some way, but again, it felt lazy.
“Black Adam’s theme is strong and utilised to its fullest”
I have got to say, I enjoyed Lorne Balfe’s score, especially Dr. Fate and Not A Hero. Black Adam’s theme is strong and utilised to its fullest – the percussive layering and primal choral motifs used throughout provide a substantial backdrop for the movie. I really liked the production design from Tom Meyer (Orphan, 2009), who will be designing for Dune: The Sisterhood, and the general vibe from the costumes to locations and set design felt spot-on.
All in all, if you don’t mind a script that doesn’t push the envelope, a weird general public vs skeleton fight that was totally unnecessary and your anti-heroes not being anti-heroes, then it’s worth a watch even if just to get up to date with the significantly shorter DCEU movie list.
Featured image courtesy of Corina Rainer via Unsplash. See image license here. No changes were made to this image.
