A Short Review Of Black Adam (2022)

Well! against all odds the Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson fronted Black Adam movie has finally been granted permission to see the light of day, but can it claw its way out of the DC bin fire? Let’s see shall we.

The Rock has now reached his final form which is somewhere between a golem made of pure granite and the kind of thing that stalkes you in a Resident Evil game, seriously he’s so jacked it’s almost parody. He looks like a Cenobite that got taken out of the oven a little early, and if anyone can sell a film with this much riding on it he’s definitely the guy.

Black Adam definitely puts the DCEU’s best foot forward and throws in some nods to previous entries which is nice to see as it proves they are showing at least a trace level of commitment to build on the foundations of what they’ve spent an ungodly amount of time and money so far on.However while there are definitely hits, a lot of it comes across as a desperate last ditch effort to try and peice its fractured universe together like a drunk 5 year old with a 5000 peice jigsaw of the Yorkshire dales, but as I said its not all doom and gloom and i enjoyed parts of that aspect.

For me the films greatest strength was also its greatest weakness, and that was its pacing. The action sequences come so thick and fast that it plays out more like a series of vignettes that while are thoroughly entertaining make character growth and plot points speed by at breakneck pace.However with this type of film I feel it would be a little unfair, as to criticise a comicbook action flick starring The Rock for being a little heavy on spectacle would be like complaining that a Tarantino script is a little thick on its dialogue, And so it’s safe to say that nobody can call Black Adam slow or dull.

Now for the highlight section, and that comes in the form of The Justice Society. Not only do they represent the most fun aspects of the movie but also the most interesting characters by far. Hawkman was the one I thought could never be done right but here he was great.However it was the big screen return of the awesome Pierce Brosnan that stole the show for me, as not only was he playing the role of one of DCs more interesting characters in Dr Fate but the handsome git was as charming, charismatic and just damn watchable as ever.

Black Adam is neither great nor terrible, it’s rushed fish out of water story starts of with the old action hero meets annoying kid trope that has big The Last Action Hero/T2 energy, and speeds along from one action set piece to the next.The Rock continues to entertain and I’ve no doubt will carry this franchise to whatever heights it can reach, and I definitely look forward to more adventures from The Justice Society, however at the same time I’ve no doubt that come tomorrow I’ll have jettisoned this whole experience from my brain like a turd from an airborne plane.

It’s a mess for sure, but it’s an entertaining mess, That’s why it’s fitting that I give Black Adam, two and a half daddy Brosnan’s out of five.

Thanks for reading 😊