Black Adam
Black Adam is the story of Black Adam as he is awakened from a 5,000 year sleep and defends his home Kahndaq from the mercenaries who have established a military rule. This is a passion project for Dwayne Johnson that he has spent the last fifteen years championing. But is the film worth the fifteen years of investment?
Pros: Black Adam is one of the few DC films where the audience can actually see what is happening on screen. They have swapped out the signature dark, foreboding lighting for a bright, sunny landscape. This is a relief to all viewers as it not only fits the Middle Eastern landscape, but also makes it easier to follow the story.
Cons: Black Adam has swapped out DC’s signature dark sets where the audience can’t see a thing, for an overwhelming amount of slow motion. The idea behind the slow motion was to emphasize how much faster Black Adam is over everyone else. Which was effective for about one scene. The filmmakers overuse the slow motion to the point you question if they had run out of story and were trying to fill time.
Another issue the film has is the lack of motivation for its main character. From beginning to end, Black Adam seems to be just going with the flow, with no real reason or conviction for being there. While his adversaries in the JSA have at least the underlying motivation of needing to capture him, Black Adam doesn’t really seem to know why he is there.
Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam in Black Adam (2022)
Best Performance: Pierce Brosnan is the best part of this film. The audience can feel his experience radiating in the character and performance. In a film riddled with one sided fights, characters lacking motivation, and way too much slow motion, Brosnan as Doctor Fate brings a steady hand to the film. Even in a CGI suit, Brosnan is still believable and feels like he should be in a superhero film. As Doctor Fate, Brosnan is grounded, wise, and a mentor who shows he does have some motivations.
Worst Performance: Dwayne Johnson somehow manages to be the worst actor in his own film. While his co-stars commit to their roles and feel like they should be in the film, Johnson is the odd man out. His stoic performance makes for an unsympathetic character that the audience can’t relate to or feel for at all. While his character is from a seemingly Middle Eastern country, Johnson does not add any kind of accent to his performance. Which is odd considering everyone else in the county has an accent. This makes him even more of an outsider in his own film. Watching him perform, the audience can only see Dwayne “The Rock'' Johnson because, other than a stoic performance, nothing about him is different from his normal persona.
So was the film worth the fifteen years of development? Not in this viewer’s mind. Black Adam as a character is already hard to sympathize with as he often walks the line of villain and anti-hero. The screenwriters of the film didn’t seem interested in even attempting to make him relatable to the audience. While the visual effects were impressive in the film, they swapped out one tedious trope for another. And while the acting line up was great, the lack of motivation for the characters made for a half baked story. While the film is made for the large screen, it would be worth it to wait for the small screen price.
Pierce Brosnan as Doctor Fate in Black Adam (2022)