No, the hierarchy of power in the DC universe did not change with the introduction of "Black Adam". This was a very mediocre film, and felt like a very colour by numbers superhero film, designed and tested to please as many audiences as possible. Meaning it plays it safe and doesn't take any risks. But I enjoyed it, it's a very entertaining watch with lots of huge setpieces! In fact, once it gets going it doesn't stop... it's a non-stop, action-packed thrill ride! It's only problem - it's so average; something we've seen a million times before. It almost left me feeling a bit of superhero fatigue, as everything just felt recycled. I kept waiting for it to do something fresh and new, and while there were a few good moments, overall the movie was incredibly predictable. I even had moments wishing the action would slow down so we could get another dialogue scene or something that would flesh out the characters more. The script just isn't great, frankly. But it's still a good time. I think of it like this; Black Adam is a bad movie held together by some AWESOME moments!
So let's get these negatives out of the way. The script is extremely weak and very predictable, heck the trailers even spoiled a "twist" near the middle of the film. It's not hard to figure out what the movie is doing, especially for those of us who've seen a lot of these superhero movies over the years. It doesn't try all that hard to keep eventual reveals hidden, as it's more focused on giving its protagonist the flashiest, most murder-filled debut in the DCEU (even though I would look to "The Suicide Squad" for that). It really felt like the creative team saw Black Adam being an anti-hero as an excuse to let them have the character kill everyone. It felt so overplayed and obnoxious, like they were trying to say "see look how brutal we can make this" without actually earning the audience's investment. The scenes where Black Adam just goes around dominating everyone just felt empty, like sure it was cool to see him be so powerful and instantly kill people, but it took all the tension out of the scenes. It felt like they were beating me over the head with "look how powerful and ruthless he is". The novelty of it wore off very quickly too, so thank god the film introduces the Justice Society pretty quick! They did make the smart choice of making this equal parts a Justice Society film as they did a Black Adam film, and I gotta say while I did find the character of Black Adam quite interesting, it was the Justice Society (mainly Hawkman and Doctor Fate) that I loved!
It's when the Justice Society comes in that the movie remembers how fun exciting superhero stories can be. I enjoyed their part in the story the most, and instantly loved the characters. Pierce Brosnan's Doctor Fate was awesome, it was so cool to see Brosnan in a superhero role. He did feel a little reminiscent of a certain Marvel Doctor, but that's okay because they both have some COOL scenes; Fate had some of the most memorable in the film! Hawkman was also pretty badass, I really hope to see these characters again! And I gotta say, I did love Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam. He suits the role very well and I'd love to see this iteration of the character return. I'm just not sure how I feel about him in this movie. It makes him look cool and all, and Johnson's physique is perfect for the character, but he had almost no story. Like they introduced his backstory and everything, but once the movie got going it never stopped to examine his character; we never understood how he felt about anything, which made him just come across as an uncharming sociopath. This is especially unusual for Johnson, as we all know how undeniably charismatic he can be, and he just isn't here. But damn he sure is magnetic and does command the screen with his hulking form and brooding looks. The only cast members I didn't like, and this was more because of the way their characters were written, were Adrianna and her son. They really did not work for me and made some really dumb decisions throughout the movie, and had some very cringey scenes. But luckily that was only a minor part! There was some cool cameos too, surprisingly from James Gunn's "The Suicide Squad" and of course a certain cast member from "Shazam!". I did love these little connections- it's nice to see the DCEU try to be interconnected again! And the "Shazam!" stuff was awesome, it showed some things I wished we got to see in that movie! And how could I forget... There was one other cameo I did really love. It's definitely the worst kept secret in Hollywood... but made for an awesome end credit scene and made this fan very happy!
The filmmaking here is abysmal. Jaume Collet-Serra has never made a great movie, instead making B-level movies at the studio level... and this might just be proof he is not capable of directing films of this scale. He makes every moment feel mundane; from Black Adam going on a killing spree to the big fight between the JSA and Black Adam, these moments should feel engaging and cool, but instead just bored me, frankly. It feels like he is trying so hard to show spectacle, but he ultimately fails, making it all feel cheap and generic. I also couldn't stand the cinematography. It seems like they shot the film to look like Zack Snyder's "300", with bland colours and lots and lots of annoying slo-mo. At least the CGI was good! There were some moments that had their flaws, but overall this movie has some awesome CGI (and a seemingly obligatory CGI filled 3rd act). Don't even get me started on the truly awful sound mix, it just felt like sound was being blared in my face for 2 hours and I couldn't discern what I was hearing. It just sounded messy. The score isn't memorable, instead it just sounds like a jumble of notes and digital instrumentation, it has no emotional core to the music and it is just noise. Even the dialogue is not mixed well, but that's okay because the dialogue is horrendous anyways.
So why, after all that complaining, did I ultimately enjoy myself while watching? Well, because it has enough cool moments that I came out satisfied. I have never seen a movie so bad that I still enjoyed this much. It's remarkable how well a few moments and ideas can make for an enjoyable viewing experience. The disappointing part of this is, if only they put the good moments together in better ways this could have been an awesome film, but instead it misses so many opportunities. There was one moment that really stands out to me because it made me want to cheer however, and that was the awesome reference to "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly", I feel like many superhero fans will miss that reference, but for me as a cinephile that scene quickly became my favourite in the film! The film felt like it was made in the 90s, before the MCU, before X-Men, before superhero flicks became popular back when they were still trying to figure them out, it was just all over the place. And it also happened to be pretty derivative of other films- "Avatar", "Black Panther" and "Captain America: The First Avenger" especially. But despite all my issues I have with this film - and I have many - it somehow still managed to entertain me and leave me satisfied by the time it was over (possibly because of the awesome end-credit scene). It was kind of like "Venom"... just some mindless superhero fun! I wish it was a better movie because it did have some awesome elements, but as a film it ultimately fails. I would like to see more of Dwayne Johnson's "Black Adam", especially in a potential "Black Adam v. Superman" movie he keeps talking about! With some improvements, it could be a much better movie than this, while still being entertaining!
