Black Adam (2022)

[Eric the Fall Guy]

Discuss the hierarchy of power of the DC universe over here!

[filmlover]

An underwhelming extension of the DC brand that's high on bombast but low on actual excitement and interesting storytelling. It almost feels as if the script was put together using a checklist of every cliché in a blockbuster: the kid sidekick, the team of superheroes with future spin-off potential with little to distinguish themselves from being second rate versions of characters we've seen in other comic book movies, the overblown CGI-driven action scenes, and perhaps most glaringly groan-inducing, the seemingly required world-building meant to set up a bunch of DC movies going forward (complete with a mid-credits cameo designed to get a reaction from the crowd, which worked with mine). It's ironic that for all the hype that this was a passion project for Dwayne Johnson for more than a decade, he actually seems miscast as the rather emotionless Black Adam, which raises the question...why cast The freakin' Rock as a superhero if you're going to almost completely suppress his natural charisma? Everyone else in the movie, from Pierce Brosnan collecting a check filling the "mentor" role to another bland villain performance in a Hollywood production from Marwan Kenzari, barely registers enough to be worth mentioning.

 

It's not the worst comic book movie you can find among either of the two major brands (it certainly beats dreck like Morbius or other DC fiascos like Suicide Squad '16 or Green Lantern '11). But as the start for what's supposed to be a whole new era for DC? Nope, sorry. They're gonna have to work a lot harder than forgettable efforts such as this.

 

C

[Napoleon]

I was unironically enjoying this up until the last 30 minutes or so. By the moment the CGI villain appears, the movie gets real messy in many aspects. Black Adam being locked in the Task Force X underwater prison serves no purpose, Doctor Fate’s death didn’t feel earned, the kid calling the population to fight was lame, and the CGI villain was pure non sense garbage. Since it’s mandatory for comic book movies to have a CGI fest for a finale, I would have just reshot the scene where they go rescue the kid - expand that scene into a third act CGI battle, and no matter how bad it looked, I think the movie would work much better still. Because up until that point I thought it was a perfectly entertaining movie - fun, fast paced, with some really good story bits, and great action.

[CoolioD1]

this shit was worse than Morbius.