This is a spoiler-free review for the 2D screening of Black Adam – directed by Jaume Collet-Serra. Had the pleasure of being invited to Warner Bros. Entertainment UK, to watch this in their preview theatres before the official release.
Plot summary
The movie is about a character called Teth Adam, a man who was struggling under the oppressed city of Kahndaq. Teth then breaks from that oppression with a gift from the almighty powers of the Gods. However, the power was too much for him and he was imprisoned. Until 5,000 years later… he’s set free!
Review
Black Adam is an adrenaline ride! Dwayne Johnson doesn’t hold back in this movie, when he makes the grandest entrance as the unstoppable force that is the Man in Black. This is an epic anti-hero action flick!
Teth Adam has a great backstory set up, there were a few flashbacks to the past as the story develops; this helps to strengthen and develop his character in the present day.
There’s a villain in this movie and their introduction felt quite rushed in the beginning, however, this character does end up fitting into a plot that makes sense. The showdown at the end is a spectacle!
Justice Society of America were cool to see theatrically for the first time, superb acting from Pierce Brosnan who played Doctor Fate and Aldis Hodge as Hawkman; they both dominated the screen in this movie.
The dialogue was a highly noticeable weakness; simple repetitive conversations, some of the lines were definitely funny to me as as the actors bounced dry-humour jokes off each other, however the characters kept the same style of joke running through most scenes and that became quite predictable and mediocre.
The VFX was an awesome spectacle for the most part; especially seeing Doctor Fate use his abilities; the golden metallic colour renderings on his suit and mask, and the mirror dimension style glass patterns were stunning!
Black Adam’s slow-motion scenes were some of the best moments when witnessing his abilities… literally an electrifying display!
I’ve seen a few versions of Hawkman in live-action media (Smallville and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow) series, and Aldis’ iteration has to be my favourite, the suit design looks amazing, strong leader, this movie has shown just how powerful he can be. The fight sequences were so fun! It would have been great to see more of his backstory explained in this universe.
I was surprised by how interesting they made the power of wind look for Quintessa Swindell’s Cyclone; filled with the colours of the JSA character’s outfit: purple and green, Cyclone wasn’t used a lot but the character was likeable and impressive when fighting.
There were weaker moments where Noah Centineo’s Atom Smasher enlarged; the movements for the mask was choppy and textures needed refining. Other noticeable jarring VFX was for the villain that just needed refining on more detailed skin textures and their henchman-like characters could have been designed better. (Can’t say anymore about that due to spoilers).
Overall, I had such a great time with this movie, although, it is a lot more comedy-centric than I was expecting. It’s the action, VFX and Dwayne Johnson’s bold screen presence, that’s left me wanting more and it seems like Warner Bros’ DCEU movies are starting to get back on track.
Also, there’s only one credit scene and that’s something worth waiting for!
