bunditthedeadmen

An iconic superhero film and one that is important to the current boom of the Golden Age of comic book films, 1989's "Batman" is Tim Burton's attempt at doing a blockbuster superhero film and is met with mixed results. Following the traditional origin story centered around Bruce Wayne's beginnings as Batman as he mourns the death of his parents during the infamous night in Crime Alley, we see him encounter his arch nemesis in Jack Napier aka The Joker who falls into a chemical pit and comes back with a heavily disfigured face and extremely pale skin and Batman does whatever needed to save Gotham City news journalist Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger), as well as stop Joker from spreading his toxic chemicals all over Gotham and its citizens. The production design and art direction is of course superb with bright colors and and a great use of miniatures creating a version of Gotham that definitely feels lived in, while Danny Elfman's score is big, bombastic, and grand and makes for a great entrance for the Caped Crusader. However, Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman falls completely flat as he comes across as more of a normal everyday guy than the billionaire playboy persona and the lack of intimidation he gives off to criminals makes his character not seem memorable in any way despite how iconic this role was for the actor. Jack Nicholson as Joker chews up all the scenery in this film, being maniacal and funny throughout but also embodying the zany aspect of Burton's world of Batman while Basinger as Vicki Vale provides a proper love interest for Bruce Wayne. The story would make for a great Saturday morning cartoon episode of a show but isn't investing enough due to the clashing tones of this darker subject material and Burton's youthful and cartoonish gothic tone, and you never feel a sense of tension or danger whenever Joker has Vicki Vale in his clutches and he came s across more dangerous when engaging in other criminal activities. Even the use of music here with Prince leading the film's soundtrack doesn't work for a Batman movie and while this Burton's take on the dark knight it is truly a mixed bag that makes for something you'll either love or despise.

Teth Adam awakes after 5000 years trapped in his tomb into a world he is not familiar with. Many view him as an ancient hero returned, but Teth Adam hides a dark secret and possesses powers that could destroy the world if not kept in check...

Dwayne Johnson seems like he would be the perfect fit for a superhero or supervillian and in Black Adam he proves this theory... sort of. He certainly looks the part, but the performance is wooden and flat even if it is occasionally pretty funny. The action is fun and intense, lots of explosions and heavy hitting slow mo and a welcome amount of gore. The action scenes were a mix of serious and surreal and it felt a bit odd as it flicked between the two and sometimes back to back. There are a lot of characters in this film with little back story to them, it didn't bother me much having read comics and watching animated shows but I can see how it would be very confusing for anybody else. Outside of the gore and violence, the film didn't feel that different to other entries in the DCAU infact it also felt a bit like X-men with the inclusion of the Justice Society. The story moves briskly but also felt a bit hollow abd pretty cheesy towards the end, but it was also predominantly action based and you know what - i dont care, i enjoyed it.

Visually it's not the most impressive film, it's dirty and dark but not horrible.

Final Verdict: Black Adam is an interesting film. As a comic book lover, I enjoyed it. As a coherent film with a decent plot - not so much. There's too many characters, not enough explanation and it all feels a bit too similar to other films in the DCAU just with increased mortal kombat like gore. It's better than most reviews state but you better have an understanding of the characters before you go in..