The Mosley Review: Black Adam
I have said it before and I will say it to the day I die. In the ever dividing war of comic books, DC Comics has always been my home. Ever since I was a child, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the Green Lantern Corps, The Flash, Aquaman and many others have been the definition of heroes for me. It isn't because of their powers, but their ability to flawed humans and demigods. Their “Rogues Gallery” of villains are a staple as well and I have loved their battles with the Justice League. What I've also loved is their line up of anti-heroes like John Constantine, Amanda Waller and Lobo. Ever since the first Shazam film was released, I was excited to see the day that Black Adam would come to the big screen. Over the years in this new DCEU, the films have been hit or miss and unfortunately this film sits right in the middle for me. Yes we get a fresh take on the titular character that showcases an alternate version of his origins, abilities and noble allegiance to his people, but its all bogged down by an almost emotionless plot and almost endless action. Don't get me wrong, you can't have a massive DC character like this and not have him shell out an insane amount of death and destruction, but it has to have a motivation behind it or else it becomes boring. That's what happened in this film and to me it was half the film it could've been. I loved the themes of calling out the self righteousness of heroes, excepting ones fate and freeing an oppressed nation, but it was almost all for nothing by the last 30 minutes of the film.
Dwayne Johnson looked amazing as Teth-Adam / Black Adam and he nailed his wrath. What he failed to grasp is the depth of the character. He was a man out of his time and I wish there was more to his grief. He comes off as a character that is just robotic as he is constantly killing and destroying his environments. It's all about the character growth and Dwayne's charm does come across in a few scenes, but it wasn't enough since he was for the majority a floating one trick pony. Maybe under better direction he'll have another shot at cracking the character correctly. Aldis Hodge was great as Carter Hall / Hawkman and nailed the characters determination of justice and fortitude. He came off as a hot head most of the time and not really much for reason which was annoying at times. After while, there are moments where he actually communicates with words instead of violence. Pierce Brosnan was the moral compass and carried the most emotional weight of the film as Kent Nelson / Doctor Fate. I loved that we got a taste of the characters' constant strife with the visions others fate haunting his mind and every decision. There is so much depth to the character and I’m really glad we got a good serving of his abilities. Noah Centineo was alright as Albert "Al" Rothstein / Atom Smasher. I did like some of his comedic moments, but that's all he was actually good for. Quintessa Swindell was good as Maxine Hunkel / Cyclone and her powers were visually impressive. The chemistry between her and Albert was so short sided and forced and lacked the amount of charm or depth as Carter and Kent. Sarah Shahi was great as the archeologist and freedom fighter Adrianna Tomaz. I liked her scenes with Black Adam as she was his link to the new world. Marwan Kenzari did well as Ishmael Gregor / Sabbac for the amount of screen time he had, but he was just a carboard cutout villain you've seen a million times over.
The score by Lorne Balfe was great as it lent a hand in delivering the epic feel of most action scenes and a great theme for the titular character. Where I had the most problems with this film is the fact that it almost had no idea what type of tone it was trying deliver. It could've kept the 1999 "The Mummy" style of fun and discovery it started out with and then delivered a story that made the action scenes more compelling and gave the titular character some form of depth. Alas, we got another soulless action film where nothing but popular songs playing over nonsensical CGI explosives scenes that do nothing but bloat the runtime. If anything, this was your standard popcorn summer blockbuster flick that is good for just that and background noise. Its truly sad when the best thing to come out of a 2 hour film is the 3 minute end credit scene. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!
